(Photo: DenverBroncos.com)

Shortly after San Diego beat writer Kevin Acee reported that the Broncos had denied the Chargers‘ request to interview Matt Russell, Denver-based report Vic Lombardi was quick to report that it was Russell that turned down San Diego.

After further review, it has been determined that the Broncos and Russell collectively agreed to turn down San Diego’s offer.

Per the Denver Post, Russell spoke with the Broncos executive vice president of football operations, John Elway, who agreed to inform the Chargers that Russell likes his situation in Denver and San Diego can—uh, go jump in a lake.

“Matt’s done a tremendous job with the Broncos and he’s got a very bright future ahead of him,” said Elway.  If that future is going to be in Denver, the Broncos would be wise to officially promote Russell to general manager, to prevent any team from snatching him away.

But even at his current player personnel position, Russell is happy in Denver.

“I’ve got the best owner in sports here (Pat Bowlen) and the best boss in John Elway,” Russell said. “I want to be part of something special in the state I love.”

That’s the kind of team loyalty that many fans are wishing coordinator Mike McCoy and Jack Del Rio would display.  It appears likely that McCoy, who has drawn interest from three teams, could be headed out of Denver.  The case of JDR is different, however, as no teams have come calling—yet.

We found out on Monday that Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy had scheduled interviews with the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals regarding their vacant head coaching positions.  Per reports, McCoy will talk with Chicago and Arizona in Denver sometime this week.

On Tuesday, the Buffalo Bills threw their name into the McCoy sweepstakes. The Bills are the third team to inquire of McCoy and they may not be the last—there are currently seven head coaching openings across the NFL.

Buffalo has asked for permission to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy for its HC job.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 1, 2013

It’s not surprising to see McCoy draw so much interest; the Broncos offense has been very successful under him in recent years.  With so much interest, it appears likely that McCoy will be able to find a situation he likes, which could mean the Broncos will be hunting for a new offensive coordinator this offseason.

The coaching carousel has been going around since Monday, but the Broncos aren’t about to help another team in the AFC West fill any vacant positions.  On Tuesday, the Broncos blocked San Diego from talking to Denver’s director of player personnel, Matt Russell.

Teams are not allowed to interview coaches employed elsewhere in the NFL during the season without first gaining consent from the team holding the rights to that coach.  The Chargers fired their general manager, A.J. Smith, on Monday and are currently seeking his replacement.

San Diego asked the Broncos for permission to interview Matt Russell to be their next G.M.  According to U-T San Diego columnist Kevin Acee, the Broncos denied to Chargers’ request, ending their pursuit of Russell, at least until the season comes to an end for Denver.

Matt Russell’s name is a hot one out there, but it’ll be hard to pry him away because he’s got Colorado roots and already has GM-like duties.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 1, 2013

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(Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Celebrating the new year is always exciting, and we have a lot to look forward to in 2013.

But January 1 is also a very somber day for the Broncos and us fans.  Six years ago, young cornerback Darrent Williams was shot in killed on New Years Day, ending his life at the age of just 24 years old.

In remembrance of Williams, the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center was built in 2008, providing an academic and social safe haven for teens.

“I don’t want to overstate this, and I don’t think I am, but this place is going to save lives,” Dominique Foxworth, one of Williams’ teammates said back in 2008. “This is going to give kids a chance at life. Darrent was one of those kids. This place is going to be special. And it keeps Darrent’s name alive.”

We will never forget you, Darrent.  R.I.P.

We found out earlier today that the Chicago Bears will interview Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy to be their next head coach. ESPN’s Adam Schefter is now reporting that the Arizona Cardinals are also interested.

Arizona and Chicago have asked for and received permission to interview Broncos OC Mike McCoy for their HC job. Will interview this weekend.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2012

Our top candidate to replace McCoy would be Tom Moore, quarterback Peyton Manning‘s former offensive coordinator.  If defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio lands another head coaching gig, Lovie Smith would be a nice fit in Denver.

Another option for replacing McCoy would be promoting from within. Peyton is a big fan of Broncos’ quarterback coach Adam Gase (as was pointed out by Joey Baldwin in the comments) and Denver’s running back coach, Eric Studesville, has served as a interim head coach for the Broncos in the past.

Of course, all of this is based off the assumption that McCoy will leave Denver. That may not happen, as CBS Sports’ Andrew Mason says McCoy “will be choosy,” and there is no guarantee that he will leave this offseason.

The Broncos have a bye week so McCoy will have time for interviews.  As of 1:30 p.m. MT, there have been no reports of teams asking to interview JDR, but that doesn’t mean the brilliant defensive mind won’t be courted sometime soon.

(Photo: AP/Nam Y. Huh)

This is only a potential situation and a lot of “if’s” would have to happen for this to go down, but it’s a good Black Monday conversation starter.

As of 2:00 p.m. ET, seven head coaches have been fired, Chicago’s Lovie Smith among them. Per reports, the Bears are now interested in Denver’s Mike McCoy.

If McCoy, who will receive interest from multiple teams, does land in Chicago, the Broncos and Bears could potentially do a coaching swap. Denver’s defensive coordinator, Jack Del Rio, will also be courted this offseason, and if JDR lands elsewhere, the Broncos will be in need of a new defensive coach.

Enter: Lovie Smith.

There will be plenty of options to replace McCoy (Manning’s former offensive coordinator Tom Moore among them), but it could be harder to find a potential replacement for Del Rio.  If in fact JDR does land another top coaching gig in the offseason and assuming Smith is not hired as a head coach elsewhere, a McCoy-for-Smith swap would work out nicely for Denver.

All of this talk will be thrown out the window, of course, if Smith quickly lands a new head coaching job like John Fox did in 2010 and/or if Del Rio stays in Denver.  But it’s Black Monday, and we’re thinking ahead.

Meanwhile in the AFC West, the Chargers have canned coach Norv Turner and general manager A.J. Smith and the Chiefs have fired coach Romeo Crennel.  Regrettably, Jon Gruden is reportedly one of the top candidates to land in San Diego.

If everything falls into place to make such a situation possible, would you be in favor of Smith replacing Del Rio in Denver?  Dish out your thoughts in the comments below!

Here’s an interesting stat, via Deadspin:

The NFL’s shortest player is also its winningest. Return specialist Trindon Holliday just completed a perfect regular season, 5-0 with Houston, 11-0 with Denver, and he joins an exclusive club featuring the rosters of the 1972 Dolphins and the 2007 Patriots. If the Broncos go all the way, Holliday will be the only player in NFL history to go 19-0 in a single season.

It must nice to not lose a single game throughout an entire season.  His fumbling problems aside, Holliday seems to have brought some good luck to Denver.

(Photo: Byron Hetzler-USA TODAY Sports)

The game of coaching musical chairs has begun.

In Chicago, the Bears have fired head coach Lovie Smith and are now seeking his replacement. Per a report from NFL Insider Jay Glazer, Chicago has already asked permission to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy for their vacant head coaching gig.

McCoy has been credited for helping Denver’s offense lead the NFL in rushing last season after successfully running a read-option offense with Tim Tebow at quarterback.  This season, the offense has been even more effective with Peyton Manning at the helm and Denver finished as the No. 1 seed in the AFC Playoff race.

The Bears have already asked for permission to interview Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy. He’s a very, very hot name right now

— Jay Glazer (@JayGlazer) December 31, 2012

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The Denver Broncos (13-3) are riding an eleven-game winning streak, their longest since 1998, into the postseason.  During the regular season, the team broke many records and posted several monumental numbers—three of them listed below:

Dating back to last season, #Broncos‘ WR Eric Decker has caught 21 touchdowns—the same amount of TDs as Detroit’s Calvin Johnson since 2011.

— Jon Heath (@JHeath_DEN) December 31, 2012

Denver’s Eric Decker caught 85 passes for 1,064 yards and 13 touchdowns this season—marking the first time in franchise history a player has caught 20 touchdowns in a two-year span. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

2012 Playoffs picture (as of 4 p.m. games Sunday 12/30) -- CBSSports.com

We don’t know the who, but we know the where and the when — the NFL has announced that the Denver Broncos‘ first game of the 2012 playoffs will be held in Denver at 2:30 p.m. MT on Saturday, January 12, 2013.

Tickets go on sale at Ticketmaster.com Monday at noon.

The Broncos’ three possible opponents are the sixth seed Cincinnati Bengals (10-6), fifth seed Indianapolis Colts (11-5), and the fourth seed Baltimore Ravens (10-6). The Broncos beat both the Bengals and Ravens in the regular season by a combined 25 points. They have not faced Peyton Manning‘s former team, the Colts.

Should the Broncos prove victorious over their Divisional foe, they would advance to the AFC Championship Game, hosting either the New England Patriots (12-4), Houston Texans (12-4), Ravens, or Colts on Sunday, January 20 at 4:30 p.m. MT.

The football gods would want to see Andrew Luck and company come to Denver to face their former signal caller — and if the teams with the best regular season records win this coming weekend (Texans and Colts), they’d get exactly that. We’ll have much more on these three teams in the days ahead. Who would you like to see the Broncos face in two weekends?