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Published on 01/05/2011 at Wed Jan 05 13:42.
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Denver Broncos head coaching search begins

Posted Wed Jan 5th by

As Vice President of Football Operations, John Elway will head up the Denver Broncos' head coaching search. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

As Vice President of Football Operations, John Elway will head up the Denver Broncos' head coaching search. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

With John Elway officially under the fold, the search for the 14th head coach of the Denver Broncos can begin*.

The Broncos have already officially announced interviews for two candidates: Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who will interview in Atlanta on Friday, and current interim Broncos coach Eric Studesville, who will interview next week.  Mularkey will be the first to interview in part because he is only available this week as his Falcons enjoy a first round bye in the playoffs.

In addition to the official interview list, the Broncos are interested in the following candidates, reports The Denver Post’s Woody Paige:

  • Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh. Elway, a Stanford alum, attended Tuesday night’s Orange Bowl as an honorary captain but told the Post he did not have an opportunity to discuss the coaching opportunity Tuesday night.  “Jim has to make a decision about his future as a college or NFL coach — but he played in the league for 15 years and coached with the Raiders — and he could go either way,” Elway said.  Harbaugh is reportedly interviewing with the San Francisco 49ers today.
  • New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, who also served as an interim head coach for the Buffalo Bills.
  • New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, whose Saints won the Super Bowl last year and aim to repeat as a Wild Card in the playoffs this year.  Since the Saints do not have a first round bye (unlike Mularkey’s Falcons), the Broncos will have to wait to interview Williams as his team prepares to face the Seattle Seahawks.

The list of candidates is expected to expand.  Elway indicated the search will take “a week or two.”

Harbaugh is the hot name this year, but that’s an overall strong list of candidates it’s easy to get behind.  Who do you favor of the bunch (or someone not listed)?

*Naturally, if Studesville retains the job he will remain the lucky 13th head coach of the Broncos, delaying the search for the 14th by some time.

  • 5280

    HOLY SHIT WE'RE GOING AFTER GREG WILLIAMs!! Love this move! we could really use a defencive mastermind like greg williams. I hope he's interested. our D will be unstoppable with him at the helm. I think he should be our choice period if he so chooses.

    I love how straight forward Elway is about his decisions. He says exactly what he wants to do and what his next moves are point blank. i love his attitude.

  • areferee

    The media has stars in its eyes again and gave Elway a pass with all easy questions during his presser.

    Only three names were mentioned on the short list of possible new head coaches: Harbaugh, Mularkey and Fewell, yet no one asked about the fan favorites, like Cowher, Gruden etc.

    The media is going to have to do a better job of holding Elway to the promise of more transparency and restoring the faith of the Denver fans.

    This was a poor year for the Broncos organization, for sure, but it was an equally poor year for the typical member of the media, who only became interested about the Broncos when they smelled McDaniel's blood in the water.

    This is why Kyle, Jon, Ian and all the BT Guys are so important. We really depend on you to cut through all the “rah rah” for the reality of where we really are. Go get 'em guys!

  • robtink242

    Greg Williams! good with me aggressive hard hitting team… Cool who's gonna run the offense

  • RCT930

    I find it amusing that media outlets like Pro Football Talk say Elway doesn't have the experience and hasn't paid his dues like other operations execs who “work their way up”…and they're hammering him for calling Mularkey Mark instead of Mike at today's presser. Elway did get tripped up on the name, but I watched the entire presser. He referred to him as Mike also. And he gave a hell of a talk, quite frankly. We need this kind of personality and leadership. I'm looking forward to what I expect will be a very successful reboot!

  • NMBronc

    Gregg Williams…that likely means a 4-3.

    Dline- Doom-Crick-Bannan-Ayers
    LB – Haggan-Mays-DJ
    Secondary – Champ – McBath – Weddle- Peterson

    I could live with that.

  • RCT930

    How about…

    Dline: Crick-Bannan-Fairley-Ayers (+10 or 15 lbs)

    And we draft a safety like Moore or Tate in the 2nd round. We need LB help though. Free agency?

  • jdkchem

    Gruden and Cowher aren't interested. Get over it.

  • 12508

    I Love the Gregg Williams talk. Defense and alot of it. No problem with the 4-3. What ever works. Maybe we can make a move on fat Albert from the Redskins. He wants to play in the 4-3 and get out of Washington. I would also make a move on David Harris from the Jets to play MLB.

  • 12508

    I trust Elway will do a great job. No doubt about it. It might take a few years but we will be a factor again. I just hope we choose to get back on defense. Josh and Xanders set us back 100 years. If you look at the roster, defense is the fastest way back. Looks like we are stuck with Tebow so we cant get into shootouts.

  • 5280

    “Stuck” with Tebow??? boy people are still hatin! It's gonna be awsome to say i told u so when Tebow is leading a refurbished team complete with a strong running game and a feared respected defence deep into the playoffs and beyond.

  • The Mascot Army

    Does the coach's orientation really matter all that much? Wont everything actually hinge on who the coordinators are? Head coach really just needs to motivate and manage, right?

    As far as “I-told-you-sos” to Tebow haters, they never come because their claims and standards shift every time an I-told-you-so comes due. He has already graduated from “could never play QB in the NFL” to things like “He's no Elway” and “”will never be elite.” These things are only funny to we supporters, the haters actually convince themselves that they have been consistent all these years.

  • stav

    I can't – Ayers can't get to the QB, and I don't think we'll be staying at #2 to grab Peterson. Haggan and Mays, one of those guys should lose his job via the draft.

  • herc_rock

    You guys are really getting all moist for Gregg Williams?

    .354 – That's his winning percentage as a head coach.

    Selective dementia.

  • stav

    After beating Houston several analysts came out saying “I didn't think he could make this throw.”, and “he's got better arm strength than I thought.”, no offense but I think most of these guys just we're happy to rip on him just they could come back and confirm their criticism of his high pick and now they're a little surprised at where he's at currently. Screw them. This is our QB and yes he needs work, but you put the right players around him and we're going to see success.

    I feel like a broken record when saying this in almost every post I write, but it all comes down to our defense. We have none, we'll never win anything if we're giving up 155 yds rushing per game, and giving up, yes its a real number, 29.4 points a game. I don't care if Montana is taking the snaps for us, no one is winning when you give up that many points. Pathetic, that's what are defense has been for three years running. You improve the via the draft, which for some reason we haven't figured out yet. Hopefully we just hired a guy who realizes that we won't win if we can't stop anyone.

    Getting Elvis back next season is like signing a ProBowl FA, an obvious boost to the d, but if Ayers can;t do the job on the other end, then we need someone to push him for playing time.

  • flbronc

    hopefully ayers takes a step forward next year when the attention and expectation switches back to doom. i dont disagree that we need lb help via the draft- i'll vote mays off the island. he was a one man penalty machine in a couple games.

  • flbronc

    Mularkey cancelled his interview, per espn. will still interview with cleveland apparently.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/…

  • kerry

    i agree. Williams would be excellent. im not crazy about him being a 4-3 guy though. means Dumervil will be back at DE where is a terrible at run stopping.

  • kerry

    D-line is flawed. you forget Jamal Williams?? Williams over Bannan any day as far as a DT in a 4-3 goes. and our LB core looks even worse.

  • Kingpins10

    I agree. I gotta laugh because if we're honest with ourselves and remember correctly, a man named Elway didn't exactly rip it up for a few years.

    In fact, in '83 and'85, he threw more interceptions than touchdowns.

    I see many similarities between Elway and Tebow's game. Both were/are scramblers that had the ability to spread-out defenses with the threat of the run. Both needed work on accuracy when they got into the league. In fact, Tebow seems to need less work than Elway did.

    Tebow's teammates love playing for/with him. Keep in mind, football is and always has been a game of aggression. If a player can bring/keep a team up, that translates to pushing the other man where you want him to go. With a D we will be good to go.

  • Kingpins10

    Let me add, that Elway again in 1988 threw more touchdowns than interceptions. And he still went on to win 2 rings.

  • Kingpins10

    I meant to say more interceptions than touchdowns in 1988. Cerebral flatulence. :)

  • Garykelley82716

    Marty Shottenheimer!!!!!!!!!

  • areferee

    That wasn't my point.

  • Garykelley82716

    Marty Shottenheimer!!!!!!!!!

  • areferee

    That wasn't my point.