Report: DeMeco Ryans Can't be 'Counted Out' as Broncos HC Hire
Like sands through the hourglass, these are the days of yet another Denver Broncos head-coaching search. With rumors swirling around Sean Payton and whether he will or won’t have a second interview with the organization, the opinions on who will be Denver’s next head coach seem to vary and change by the hour.
While it has been widely reported the Broncos would be looking for a candidate with experience following three first-time head coach hires over the previous six seasons, Denver might have been impressed by a first-time head coach candidate.
During a segment on a recent episode of Good Morning Football, NFL insider Tom Pelissero discussed the current picture of the Broncos' coaching search under first-year owner Greg Penner.
"The Broncos conducted initial interviews with eight different candidates for their head-coaching job. One of those, Jim Harbaugh, very publicly took him out of the mix and my understanding is that Broncos CEO Greg Penner has started to cut down the rest of that list. Who is still involved? We mentioned Dan Quinn, he remains a candidate there. Sean Payton, there are certainly going to be questions surrounding that. It logically always seemed like Sean Payton’s best fit was going to be in Denver. No second interview, though, set up there despite some reports to the contrary.
"The other name to keep an eye on here is 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. The Broncos flew out to Santa Clara, California to interview Ryans in person last Thursday. He’s a very impressive guy. Obviously his defense has been playing really well during this playoff run. He does not have the experience that the Broncos were looking for when they initially targeted Dan Quinn, Sean Payton, and Jim Harbaugh. But don’t count Ryans out just yet."
Denver seems to have gone into the interview process really prioritizing experience after the abject disaster that was the Nathaniel Hackett coaching staff last season. However, overcorrecting and not considering any first-time candidates would likely prove to be as foolish as Denver’s last coaching search, where the team went from one polar end of the 'old, scowling, curmudgeon-like coach' Vic Fangio to other in the 'everybody gets along with him happy go lucky' Hackett.
Of course, there were reasons for the ownership group to be pulled towards experience, given how poor things went last season. Still, if Denver is considering Ryans for the head-coaching gig and a second interview, he must have really impressed the decision-makers.
Further, given the reports that the Broncos are 'slow playing' the process right now, perhaps Penner is dragging his feet until Ryans can have a second in-person interview in Denver after Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.
If Denver hires Ryans, something the ownership group might be a tad skeptical to do, the staff he surrounds himself with as head coach will be of great interest and likely full of veteran coaches. Last season under Hackett, not only did the team have a first-time head coach, but also one of the youngest and least-experienced coaching staffs in the NFL.
Who could Ryans attract to coach around him (and who the Walton-Penners could likely pay more than most assistant coaching gigs in all of football) will likely be a big selling point for Ryans if he is to wind up as Denver’s next head coach.
Ryans was never perceived as a likely candidate for the Broncos, given the purported experience and offense-oriented preference for head coach. However, if Ryans interviewed as impressively as he was portrayed in this recent report by Ben Solak of The Ringer, then perhaps the Walton-Penner group will go against its reported preconceived wants and select the rising defensive coaching star to be the Broncos’ next head man.
Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.
Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!
