The Broncos are reportedly hiring their former head coach Vance Joseph as defensive coordinator, according to Good Morning Football's Peter Schrager.
Joseph returns to Denver after serving as the Broncos head coach from 2017 to ’18. He most recently served as the defensive coordinator of the Cardinals. In his previous stint in the Mile High City, Joseph went 11–21 in two seasons and was fired after the ’18 season. He’ll work under new Broncos coach Sean Payton, who returns to the NFL with Denver after stepping away from the Saints after the 2021 season.
The news of Joseph’s return to Denver comes after the Cardinals released him from his contract on Feb. 16. Joseph became the Arizona’s defensive play caller under former Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired on Jan. 9.
During the ’22 campaign, Arizona (4–13) struggled defensively, ranking 21st in total defense (allowing 348.9 yards per game) and 31st in scoring (26.4 points allowed per game).
After the franchise fired Kingsbury, Joseph initially interviewed for the Cardinals’ head coach vacancy. However, Arizona eventually hired Jonathan Gannon.
Joseph also interviewed for Gannon’s previous job, Eagles defensive coordinator, before reportedly taking the job in Denver. Prior to landing Joseph, the Broncos interviewed several candidates for the defensive coordinator vacancy, a position that was previously held by Ejiro Evero, who became the Panthers defensive coordinator.
Those candidates reportedly included Sean Desai, Brian Flores, Matt Patricia, Kris Richard and Rex Ryan.
