Mile High Report
As ESPN reporter Sergio Dipp once said, Vance Joseph is having the time of his life!
Vance Joseph is the mastermind behind the Denver Broncos’ defense that is once again leading the NFL in sacks, proving to be an elite unit in the NFL, and a big reason why the Broncos are 9-2, leading the AFC West, and are currently the number one seed in the AFC. He has become a beloved coach in Broncos Country, but it hasn’t always been that way.
Honestly, Vance Joseph is having a Hollywood-like redemption arc with the Broncos.
Let us go back to the very beginning. The vast majority of Broncos Country wanted the Broncos to hire Kyle Shanahan as the Head Coach of the Denver Broncos. As we know, that did not happen, and they instead hired Vance Joseph to be their next Head Coach. So, Vance was already wasn’t our first choice, and on top of that, the Broncos continued to struggle while Kyle Shanahan had the 49ers back to the Super Bowl by his 3rd season with the team.
Joseph would only last two seasons with the Broncos before being fired and would finish with a combined 11-21 record. While it was not all his fault (No real ownership and on the back end of John Elway’s GM stint), Joseph’s tenure was deemed a failure, and we all wished they had attempted to hire Kyle Shanahan instead.
From there, Joseph would end up being hired as the Arizona Cardinals’ Defensive Coordinator and hold that position from 2019 through the 2022 season. Meanwhile, the Broncos would hire Vic Fangio, eventually fire him, then hire Nathaniel Hackett, quickly realize their mistake, and fire him.
At this point, most of Broncos Country has long forgotten Vance Joseph due to the constant coaching changes, a new GM, and the team being sold to a new ownership group. The Broncos would go on the hire former New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton to take over the Broncos, and his first choice to become his Defensive Coordinator in the Mile High City was former Broncos Head Coach…Vic Fangio.
After having a recent exit with the team, Fangio did not seem comfortable returning to the Broncos in a lesser role and would go on to become the Miami Dolphins’ Defensive Coordinator before ending up in Philadelphia a year later. So, Payton had to look elsewhere, and while the Broncos interviewed multiple candidates, another former Broncos Head Coach emerged as the leading candidate for the job, and it was none other than Vance Joseph.
Payton would end up hiring Vance Joseph as his Defensive Coordinator with the Broncos, and this hire was met with a bit of skepticism. As I previously stated, his tenure as Head Coach was deemed a failure, and his stints as Defensive Coordinator were average or sub-par at best. It wasn’t moving the needle for many in Broncos Country, and Joseph would need to do something big to earn the love and respect...
