The Broncos’ season is off to such a rough start that they’ve become the subject of a wild—albeit unlikely—rumor that would significantly alter the team.
ESPN’s Pat McAfee floated the possibility that the Broncos could fire defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and replace him with former Jets and Bills coach Rex Ryan during this season on Monday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show. However, when the network’s foremost NFL reporter, Adam Schefter, joined the show, he denied that Ryan will leave ESPN for Denver midseason.
“Rex is not going to Denver right now,” Schefter said. “You know who my source is there? Rex. We were talking about it [Sunday] as we were watching the games.”
Adam Schefter later informed Pat McAfee that he heard that this isn't happening (at least anytime soon).
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 16, 2023
"Rex (Ryan) is not going to [the Denver Broncos] right now... you know who my source is there? Rex. We were talking about it yesterday as we were watching the games." https://t.co/fUR05YWdNl pic.twitter.com/uBYuOJXU4c
In the offseason, Ryan interviewed for the Broncos defensive coordinator job to potentially join Sean Payton in Denver, but the job ultimately went to Vance Joseph. Through six games, though, Denver’s defense has struggled mightily. The Broncos, who surrendered 70 points to the Dolphins in Week 3, rank dead last among the NFL’s 32 teams in points and yards allowed.
Ryan hasn’t coached since the Bills fired him from his head coaching role at the end of the 2016 season, and he hasn’t served as a coordinator since 2008. Although it seems unlikely he will get a third head coaching job, Ryan may decide to rejoin the NFL as a defensive coordinator.
“Rex loves to coach. Could he go back to that one day? That would not surprise me,” Schefter said. “But right now, his job is with ESPN.”
Even if the Broncos do decide to fire Joseph, it is more likely that they promote an interim successor from within instead of bringing in a coach from the outside during the season.
