Jason Garrett, Josh McDaniels, Raheem Morris, and Steve Spagnuolo are among seven candidates the Broncos are interviewing this week. (Getty Images)

Of all the candidates interviewed or of rumored interest, who tickles your fancy? Who do you want to be the Denver Broncos‘ next Head Coach? Take the poll and dish it out in the comments.

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“The first four guys were terrific, the next three will be terrific. It is truly fun to listen to these guys and see their passion and their knowledge come forth. What a great process. We are going to have a tough decision.”

– An unspecified member of the Denver Broncos Head Coach selection process, per Adam Schefter of NFL.com

What? Football? Fun? If I’m here chewing my fingernails to the bone and watching my heart condition degrade, there will be absolutely no fun in this Head Coach search. I won’t allow it. Zero fun.

Perhaps Bill Parcells isn’t coming to Denver, but one of his disciples just might.

The Denver Broncos have added a seventh name to their growing list of Head Coach candidate interviews – Miami Dolphins Assistant Head Coach/Secondary Todd Bowles. Bowles will interview with Owner Pat Bowlen and company on Thursday, Mike Klis of the Denver Post reports.

Bowles is a hot name in this offseason’s coaching carousel. He joined the Dolphins after eight years as an NFL assistant, including three years with the Dallas Cowboys. Bowles helped the Dolphins secondary tally four more interceptions in 2008 than 2007 in his first year with the team.

Bowles is also a candidate for Head Coach openings in St. Louis and Detroit.

Another defensive-minded Head Coach candidate. After Bowles interviews tomorrow, the Broncos will have completed all of their known interviews. The coaching search is heating up, folks!

• Todd Bowles bio [Dolphins official site]

I was at this game, and I have to say, the video of this fight sums up the atmosphere pretty accurately: nasty. You’ll see a couple of San Diego Chargers fans gang up on a Denver Broncos fan wearing a #7 John Elway jersey. After security splits it up, one of the fans pretends to help the guy, then dishes out another round of cheap shots.

I’d wager there were at least 20 other incidents like this that night. I was privy to two of them. Alocohol + different colored jerseys = idiocy. The LT fan who delivered the cheap shots deserves a beat down. Chargers fans are starting to act like Raiders fans. At least Raiders fans sell out their stadium and have won a few championships. Where does this false sense of entitlement come from, SD? This is drunken, bandwagon BS.

From Busted Coverage (via)

As news surfaced that former Denver Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe would be one of the 15 finalists for the Hall of Fame — news of another potential Hall of Famer came to light. Broncos center Tom Nalen is likely to retire quietly by week’s end.

Fresh off the only head coach he has ever known in the NFL being fired; Nalen is expected to retire as he played, silently. A former practice squad turned pioneer in the zone blocking scheme, Nalen will forever be remembered in Denver as the anchor to the team that pledged omertà to the media.

Although Nalen is not necessarily a first ballot Hall of Famer, he will most likely join several of his Super Bowl teammates bronzed in Canton, OH. It is not known at this point what caused the former Broncos center to decide that this was the best time to announce his retirement. Nalen participated in part of training camp prior to the Broncos 2008 season and was expected to play in the first game before being relegated to the injured reserve. He last played in 2007 before being placed on the injured reserve, all to never return.

Nation, place your favorite Tom Nalen memories in the comments section, along with your thoughts: at 37 should he have given Casey Wiegmann one more go at training camp? Is there a place for him on the staff? How will Nalen be remembered historically?

For those of you who are unaware the Miami Dolphins are in the middle of an ownership change from Wayne Huizenga to Stephen Ross. Huizenga and Ross have vastly different ideas regarding ownership. Rap Artist T.I. wrote a song that summarizes the relationship between Huizenga and Parcells titled “You Can Have Whatever You Like.”  Ross on the other hand, is the type of owner who is thought to bring an “NBA approach” as Miami Herald’s Armanda Salguero puts it, and usurp control over the organization. Anyone who has ever seen a Parcells press conference knows that he is not a kind of guy who would mesh well with Ross.

 

The Lucrative Out

If Parcells feels as if he doesn’t gel with the new organization he can exercise a contract clause that gives him 3 years of pay for the price of 1. Thats right… don’t we all wish we had that clause in our work contracts?

 

Why Denver?

You might as well brand Parcells “Bill the Builder” because no one understands the fundamentals of building a team better. The Big Tuna wants to be exactly what his name infers, the head honcho, the man in full control. At Denver he could take on the General Manger position where he would have complete control over personnel and draft picks. As many sports writers, coaches, and analysts have put it, Denver is the dream job of the league right now.

 

Defensive Minded

The Big Tuna is known for a few defensive milestones such as the popularization of the 3-4 defense the coaching a of a certain Lawrence Taylor, and the drafting of the 20 sack monster DeMarcus Ware. The Broncos may switch to a 3-4 defense which would benefit potential bust Jarvis Moss, but thats all in the specifics. Parcells has the focus and power to iron out inconsistencies on both sides of the field, the Dolphins lead the league in least amount of turnovers allowed. 

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Shannon Sharpe (SI.com)

Denver Broncos all-time great tight end Shannon Sharpe has been voted a finalist for the 2009 Class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NFL announced today. Sharpe is among 17 finalists that includes three other first-year eligible players.

Running back Terrell Davis, who was among the semi-finalists announced earlier in the season, was not nominated a finalist. Sharpe is the only Bronco nominated.

Sharpe played 12 seasons with the Broncos and 2 with the Baltimore Ravens, ultimately winning three Super Bowls between the clubs. He retired with NFL tight end records in receptions (815), receiving yards (1,060), and touchdowns (62).

There’s no doubt Sharpe deserves to get in the Hall of Fame, this year. Don’t blow it, HOF voters. The full list of candidates is after the jump.

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I was initially taken back when, over holiday dinner, my mother asked me if I were going to follow Mike Shanahan or the Broncos from this point forward. I instantly replied, “the Broncos.” And it wasn’t until much later that I reflected on why she had asked me that question at all.

See, I am not a Denver native (I’ve only visited Colorado once in fact) so my fandom doesn’t come from home-town loyalty. My love from all things Orange & Blue began in the 80’s with a quarterback named Elway. It seems ironic, now, that one asked me if I would continue to follow the Broncos when Elway retired. But then, I guess, by the time Elway retired he had become only one of a pantheon of players and coaches I loved on the team – and it was easy to continue cheering for guys like Rod Smith and TD and the rest.

However, upon further review, I’d have to say that it was Shanahan that bridged that gap in my fandom. Shanahan coached us to two Super Bowl victories at the end of the Elway Era. But he also was a constant in Denver during a time when the NFL began to be called the Not For Long league. When players would leave Denver or retire, Mike Shanahan was always there – providing fans with a consistent identity and face for the team they loved. Looking back, I have to admit that it was Shanahan that allowed me to ‘keep the faith’ through many of those ‘bad’ years we had between Elway and the rise of our new offense. And for providing the Broncos with a stable and calm captain through those stormy years, I will always appreciate him. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

“Are you s—ing me? If anyone can change that organization, it’s him. This guy is a forward thinker. He is qualified as far as giving a team a fresh look,” Simeon Rice, former Denver Bronco, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer (on Raheem Morris).

Maybe Broncos owner Pat Bowlen was just fulfilling the NFL’s obligation to interview at least one minority candidate — though would the Italian guy count as well? How many Italian coaches are coaching in the NFL? I also read on a local Denver website a quote stating that although Colorado may have voted Obama, they’re not ready for their highest political position to go to a black candidate. I’ll refrain from the Ol’ Dirty Bastard album reference (for the kids sake, but thumbs up to those that get the reference). I guess Bowlen’s just taking the Rooney Rule and running with it by interviewing Leslie Frazier on Wednesday.

I’m going to come right out and say that I have very little insider information, the information that I do have apparently is disinformation, because the primary candidate that I knew of isn’t even on the radar as far as I can tell.

So here’s what we’ve got, in the can are interviews with the New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and the New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Monday was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Raheeem Morris, today we have Bob Stoops, Rick Dennison and the heir apparent Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

Who else can we look forward to? Well, the San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivera has said that he is definitely not interested in interviewing with anyone until the Chargers are done with their playoff run (strike one on saying that the Chargers would end their playoff run and strike two for thinking anyone’s going to want to interview for their head coaching job, douche bag.). We’ve got the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, we’ve got dark horse candidates like Jim Ryan, Urban Meyer, Dave Logan (just kidding), Jim Fassel (who came in second to Shanahan, when he was hired), Marty Schottenheimer, Brian Billick and Steve Mariucci…

You want my guess Nation? Well, check the podcast coming this week, but I’ll give you a hint — Raheem Morris. He’s not giving motivational speeches in the Tampa locker room because he’s got A.D.D. Ignore the Adam Schefter’s and the Michael Lombardhi’s they know what we know. Keep it here, what do you guys think? Who’s the next coach in Denver?

P.S. The Utah Utes are number one, no matter what happens with Bob Stoops’ team.