Just before the President's State of the Union Address ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted that the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen would be named the 19th head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
Immediately Broncos' fans offered up offensive coordinator Mike McCoy instead, but soon calmed as the realization of several familiar names of available defensive coordinators pinged up on the Twitterverse.
Competition will be stiff and with Allen going to the Raiders he could be bringing several of Denver's position coaches with him. So expect this story just to thicken.
So who exactly is Denver targeting and what can fans look forward to in the upcoming weeks?
Del Rio and Fox came on board in Carolina in the same year (2002) and Del Rio lead the Panthers to being the second ranked overall defense in the NFL. He joined Jacksonville in 2003.
One caveat for Del Rio is that his son Luke Del Rio is currently one of the best prep quarterbacks in Florida and is only a Junior this year. Del Rio may be reluctant to move his family (and his son Luke to a third school in three years).
As far as in-house candidates go current linebackers coach Richard Smith is also a possibility. He came to the Broncos in 2011 with Fox, Smith had coached the linebackers in Carolina for two seasons (2009-10). Prior to that he was the defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans from 2006-08. He had spent previous time in Denver coaching the Broncos linebackers from 1993-1996.
He was coordinator in Houston when the Texans drafted DeMeco Ryans and Mario Williams. He was linebackers coach in Carolina when Jon Beason earned his first Pro Bowl honors in 2009. Both Williams and Beason are free agents this offseason.
One candidate to keep a close eye on is Green Bay Packers' defensive line coach Mike Trgovac whom was a defensive coordinator for Fox in Carolina from 2003-2008. Trgovac is an interesting one he coached a defense that placed in the top ten for overall defenses three times. He did turn down a contract offer from the Panthers to again be their defensive coordinator in order to coach the defensive line for the Packers in 2009, a position that he has held every since.
Those are three of the strongest candidates as far as I see it, but we will keep you up-to-date as new names come into play and old names drop out. As for you, our community who should Denver be targeting?
4 recs | 78 comments
Continuity
The reason I would prefer a coordinator like Mike Trgovac (or Richard Smith) over someone like Del Rio is longevity. We need several years of continuity at that key position. Del Rio would just be marking time for another Head Coaching opportunity. Trgovac (and Smith) are more likely to be content in the role of defensive coordinator. Any former HC’s or younger “Up-and-comers” will just move on as Allen did.
areferee - January 25, 2012
I only think former HC"s will move if they have had lots of success at HC
Del Rio was just mediocre at Jacksonville. Had some winning seasons but not enough for anyone to consider him any time soon.
trumanj - January 25, 2012
good point, although I thought we were going to have that with Allen. I'm surprise he got a job with only a year experience as DC
macklure - January 25, 2012
Dude, it's the raiders...
They’ll hire anyone…
Trapped in O.C. - January 25, 2012 via Android app
McDaniels??
we tried the same thing with McD. Hot, young, cordinator with one good season.
BroncsBombers - January 25, 2012
But McD had a few years as OC. And I believe McD's faith would have been different had he put in Tebow.
macklure - January 27, 2012
He was already a hot up and coming HC in waiting before he even got here.
Reports I’ve heard are that teams had Allen in very high regard as a potential HC candidate before he even became our DC.
BroncoMath101 - January 25, 2012
potential candidate longterm
most teams aren’t interested in coaches without coordinator experience. It reminds me a little of the Raheem Morris hiring.
jack_ - January 26, 2012
Del Rio would actually probably give us more continuity than those coordinators.
If the coordinators do very well in year one they will probably get interviews like Allen did this year. Already being a lackluster HC Del Rio wouldn’t get as much attention because teams would already have an idea of what they are getting as a HC.
Look at Nolan, Capers, Phillips.
I expect that when Norv Turner gets fired it will be a long time before he is a HC again no matter how good his offenses become.
BroncoMath101 - January 25, 2012
this is a good point
the new Bradfather - January 25, 2012
I agree, we need more continuity, and Smith would be most likely to give us that
I also think, as appealing as the Del Rio idea seems, as you said there are reasons he may not want it. If I had to put any money on this, which I don’t, i’d put it on Smith. And I think he’d be a solid choice.
Sounded like Fox may have been talking to Del Rio at the Senior Bowl, but not sure if that’s confirmed. At any rate, any of the 3 you mention would be solid guys imho.
underdog - January 25, 2012
Continuity isn't always best (Wink Martindale).
Smith has been a DC before and not a very good one. I’d rather change again and bring in Del Rio who is a proven good DC than promote just for the sake of continuity.
BroncoMath101 - January 25, 2012
To be clear, Jack DR is still my own personal hope and choice. I just don't know if he's gonna wanna do it.
But would be very happy if he does.
underdog - January 25, 2012
What about Spagnuolo?
Didn’t he and Fox coach together on the Giants staff before Fox went to Carolina? I liked his defense with the Giants before he moved to the Rams and I bet he’d have some great ideas on how to use Miller and Dumervil
cougdude50 - January 25, 2012
He went to NO
Calikula - January 25, 2012
Yes
Spagnuola went to the Big Easy, Gregg Williams replaced him in St. Louie, and I believe Mike Nolan took over the D in Atlanta. Tons of movin’ and shakin’ so far. I hope we end up with someone worth a darn.
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
We'll likely end up with a 4-3 guy
Although I wish Foxy was a 3-4 guy. Like fabio said, we are one big NT away from having a monster of a defense with VonDoom
Calikula - January 25, 2012
He'd be good for Denver too. He did a good job for NYG.
KoloradoKaos - January 25, 2012
Was it him though?
I mean… I know the D there in NY fell off a little bit after Spags left, but it’s right back on top now. If the G-Men had a stud MLB (like they used to with Antonio Pierce) and some scarier DB’s, they would probably be the most feared D in all of the land. It’s kind of hard to screw up that defensive front (Tuck, Umenyiora, Pierre-Paul, Kiwanuka).
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
that's always the question
but we don’t know how involved Spags was with creating the defense. Adding the necessary players, good game planning, scouting…etc.
Sounds like he’s a Saint now so the point is moot. Should be a good addition to a very good team but maybe the Saints should practice out of doors a bit more and build a team that can compete out of doors when necessary.
KoloradoKaos - January 26, 2012
the Saints' offense competed
in both playoff losses, but the defense is soft for sure
the new Bradfather - January 26, 2012
I wonder if being John Fox’s DC is just a little like being Mike Shanahan’s OC….
Along those lines, I’m betting Smith.
Pigskin - January 25, 2012
At first I liked Del Rio, but Im liking the idea of Trgovac or Smith
I would prefer Trgovac however, as Houston has had some atrocious defenses before this year
Calikula - January 25, 2012
Del Rio can run a 4-3 like Foxy likes
Trgovac has coached up some great players in GB… I like them both. But…. something tells me we’ll scour the college ranks this time around. John Fox was brought here for his defensive wisdom… he can take over the D right now and there will be hardly any fall off. But we have to groom someone to take over that D one day… and preferably a person who will stay here for a decade + (like Lebeau). In order to ensure that person staying put, we may need to groom an unknown.
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
Yeah but we tried that already with Allen
and he was snatched up quick. I would rather have an older dude who’s not likely to be offered another HC job for a while, like Spags, Nolan, or JDR
Calikula - January 25, 2012
Wasn't Trgovac one of McDaniels candidates?
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
Won't we want a new DC from outside????
Allen obviously knows the defense and their schemes and we play the Raiders twice. So I don’t think it would be too helpful unless Smith has his own playbook.
Puckhead1 - January 25, 2012
Everyone needs to remember that while Allen was a good DC....
The players were the ones out there getting it done. The players don’t seem to get enough credit for our turnaround on D. Allen was helped out a lot by Von Miller coming in, a healthy Dumervil, bringing in Bunkley and we were much healthier overall. We didn’t lose Champ, Dawkins, and Ayers for an extended period of time like we did last year. Same goes for John Fox. He doesn’t get enough credit for the system he put in place on the D.
Losing Allen definitely sucks, but the guy has no head coaching experience (college or pros), and has only had one year as a coordinator (college or pros). The guy has just been a position coach for his entire career except for last season. He’s another wunderkind coordinator, the up and comer that everyone wants a piece of. We know all to well how those turn out. He is just following in the footsteps of McDaniels, Raheem Morris, and Spagnuolo.
And most importantly, the guy is taking over the RAIDERS! Lombardi himself couldn’t help those sorry losers. Dennis Allen will get fired in 2-3 years, after no playoffs. Guaranteed. Who knows, maybe this will turn out like it did with Shanny. He’ll go to the raiders, get screwed over by them, come back to Broncos and beat the crap out of them. I wouldn’t mind another raider hating coach. Shanny had his faults but you had to love his raider hatred. Until then though I wish Dennis Allen nothing but bad luck and a truly awful head coaching career. GO BRONCOS!
Eddie.Teach - January 25, 2012
Fair points
the Broncos’ D will go as far as their players take them. THey need to keep rebuilding the defense, draft some more studs, fill in the depth, and then whatever solid guy they have at DC will work with John Fox to mold them. They need to decide what kind of defense they are and find more good players to fit that mold.
underdog - January 25, 2012
2 or 3 years?
Nah, they’ll fire him next year. Tom Sucker Punch wins all his games against divisional opponents and returns the Raiders to some level of competitiveness and get’s the door. Hue Jackson earns the respect of his players and get the Raiders playing as a somewhat cohesive unit despite bad drafts and FA defections and for his troubles gets “Romney’ed.” (I like to fire people!) Allen’s not gonna last…
Since1993 - January 25, 2012
*gets
Internetz is making me stoopid!
Since1993 - January 25, 2012
So true Eddie.Teach
If we can keep drafting players as good as Von Miller (at least relative to where they’re picked), then we’ll be fine. John Fox knows how to coach a good defense. We have to find at least 3 more starters in this draft as well. But you’re so right… it’s the players who make most of these coaches look good (even though I think Allen is a good one). Execution is everything.
As I see it, these are the places we need a starter to step up:
RB ~ Slot WR ~ 2nd DT (Under Tackle) ~ MLB ~ FS ~ SS ~ 2nd CB ~ and possibly TE if Fells goes ~ 3rd pass rush option (preferably a backup, situational DE to Ayers).
I hope we put a big emphasis on finding a MLB, a Safety of any sorts, and that disrupting DT who makes a living in opponents backfields.
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
Players can make a coach look good but so can coaches make players look good.
What Del Rio did with almost the same roster in Carolina when they were last in D and taking them to 2nd. That wasn’t just players. Good coaching made that happen. Sure they picked up Peppers and while his impact was big it wasn’t alone what made them go from worst to practically first.
BroncoMath101 - January 25, 2012
You do have a point
but Carolina was getting some outstanding production out of more players than just Peppers (as if Peppers alone wasn’t enough). Remember back…. Kris Jenkins in his prime was a dang brute!!! Who else… who else. Will Witherspoon was playing lights out back then…. Chris Gamble at CB…. Dan Morgan was another one (in his prime… before all the injuries ruined it for him).
Deon Grant at Safety, in his prime. Mike Rucker was getting sack after sack… most times in the double digits. Trgovac took over that squad and they only got better (they went to the SB)… so, it’s not only coaching. Carolina had some players (even though a lot of them ended abruptly due to injuries).
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
True but the point is that he did it with largely the same roster.
Those guys the year before were still the 30th or so ranked D and went all the way to #2. The majority of that has to be coaching. If there was a major roster overhaul then I would agree that the majority was players.
BroncoMath101 - January 26, 2012
If you think about it...
It’s harder to keep a Denver Broncos Defensive Coordinator than it is to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts.
PatDog13 - January 25, 2012
SinDonor - January 25, 2012
I kinda feel more like they're becoming like Spinal Tap drummers
underdog - January 25, 2012
I'd take Severus Snape right about now
even knowing there was a curse associated with him… I’d still take him.
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
2 options to make me happy
1. Mike Nolan back
2. Jack Del Rio
Fabio Broncos - January 25, 2012
Nolan coaches the falcons D now
Scotty Payne - January 25, 2012
I didn't get when he was out of Miami, but bad news.
Then bring me Del Rio.
Fabio Broncos - January 25, 2012
yes
Nolan is in Hotlanta
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
And I for one am glad he's not available.
I really don’t think it’s time to go back to a 3-4 after putting so many of our defensive players back in their “natural” positions in the 4-3
broncofaninIL - January 25, 2012
But our 2 superstar players on D are in a "natural" 3-4
VonDoom. Havoc
Calikula - January 25, 2012
Richard Smith doesn't sound terrible
but neither did Wink and he was awful. I could get behind Trgovac or Del Rio though
DBroncs1414 - January 25, 2012
Jack Del Rio is getting serious consideration for the job, per NFLNetwork...
bfree2bronc - January 25, 2012
Sweet! He's my number one choice.
BroncoMath101 - January 25, 2012
I would love to have Del Rio!
the new Bradfather - January 25, 2012
exactly
the Wink thing makes me nervous with Smith. There’s a reason he was demoted from DC to positional coach, and he hasn’t switched back yet.
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
His defenses in Houston when he was DC were not very good. Bottom half of the league every year.
BroncoMath101 - January 25, 2012
Well, another young talented defensive mind sails off into obsurity...
bfree2bronc - January 25, 2012
I am practically glued to the internet right now hoping that some breaking news comes across that we've agreed to terms with Del Rio.
I’m sure something won’t happen until later in the week or even after the Senior bowl but this is driving me crazy!
BroncoMath101 - January 25, 2012
My preference would be Del Rio or Trgovac. Either of those two and I will be happy.
I’m certainly disappointed in losing Allen, but not crushed. He certainly did a VERY good job with the defense, but you can’t forget the fact that 1) the D still was mediocre and 2) the personnel was markedly improved from the previous year (+Von +Doom +Bunkley +Harris), so a leap in productivity like we got should have been expected. I don’t say that to take credit away from Allen, but I’d like us to dispel the notion that Allen was some sort of genius who turned a bunch of awful players into a good defense. More like he turned mediocre talent into an average defense, which is still good – just not remarkable.
scooter17 - January 25, 2012
I would take it a step further and say he turned a horrible unit into a mediocre one
the 20th ranked unit is still below average and the most important aspect of a D- points allowed- was at 24th, bottom qtr of the league
Calikula - January 25, 2012
That's fair
I just mentally round up because our O led the league in 3&outs which of course means the D is on the field more frequently, which probably skews the numbers slightly. Still though, the point remains.
scooter17 - January 25, 2012
Fair point however,
we won T.O.P in that last game vs the Pats, yet still got blown out 45-10. And the Lions game was a disgrace on the same level
Calikula - January 25, 2012
Yep for sure
The defense had some horrendous games – our gameplan against the Patriots was odd both times. I continue to think Allen is good coordinator with considerable upside, but he’s no miracle worker. Just need an equally good hire and we’ll be fine.
scooter17 - January 25, 2012
I dont think he's a good coordinator...yet
along the same lines as I dont think Tebow is a good QB…yet. With time, he would have been a good one, but he has moved up too fast. He did not fall into a good situation in Oakland and I think he will struggle considerably his 1st year
Calikula - January 25, 2012
Not to mention that our D two years ago was average
2010 was a very poor year – with some bad luck thrown in – for our defense. We are a worse than average defense with some bright spots and some holes and no depth at all
Allen’s biggest contribution IMO was psychological. Which is important but hardly groundbreakingly unique
yibberat - January 25, 2012
Allen - Doom =
same if not worse than 2010.
Digger24 - January 25, 2012
Agreed completely. Allen minus VonDoom = Wink 2010 I'll bet
Calikula - January 25, 2012
Very good point Scooter
BroncosRock! - January 25, 2012
Beason is a Free Agent?
Is he a RFA or UFA?
AvalancheRescueDog - January 25, 2012
He is going nowhere
yibberat - January 25, 2012
and he isn't a FA - he got a $50 million contract extension
yibberat - January 25, 2012
Thats what I thought. I was thinking how did I miss that info?
AvalancheRescueDog - January 25, 2012
IMO EFX made abig mistake by not countering with an offer of DC/Asst HC.
But then the news was Dennis really wanted out and Oakland was best bet.
DLMyers - January 25, 2012
well Hopefuly we are pulling the McJedi mindtrick
Put Allen over there and they get rid of all there goodplayers and in a few years he will be back.
CenCalBronco - January 25, 2012 via mobile
I can only dream
maybe old Foxy does have connects like Bill B. Who knows.
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
Is Fox good to work for?
Both of his coordinators seemed eager to interview, Allen went so far as to interview during playoffs and join the Raiders. Maybe they wanted to get away from Fox? Just throwing it out, I have no inside knowledge
si_ice - January 25, 2012
Absolutely not!!!
I’m going to squash this one before it gets started. Our success this year is the ONLY reason our coordinators interviewed. It has nothing, and I repeat… “NOTHING” to do with John Fox being incorrigible. What coordinator wouldn’t interview for a job that entails a gigantic pay raise? You’d be completely ignorant not to.
When the Raiders and Dolphins put their candidate list together, they didn’t think, “these guys prolly hate John Fox’s guts… let’s see if we can’t steal them away in the night.” No sir…. they were interviewed because of the fantastic jobs they performed this year, and under stressful circumstances I might add.
Every coordinator (okay…. most) has the ultimate goal of becoming a Head Coach one day… especially younger coaches like Allen / McCoy.
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
OK then. Some coordinators clearly are best where they are, though
Even Dick LeBeau tried to become a HC. Went to HOF as coordinator and never was a good HC. And look at McD – great X’s and O’s mind, but he won’t be a successful HC any time soon.
It might be that Allen and even McCoy are the opposite – OK coordinators, but great HC material. I just hope he doesn’t bloom in Oakland, to our detriment
si_ice - January 25, 2012
Not that I know of. I highly doubt it also. Most NFL coaches would jump at the chance to run their own team. It is the goal of most coaches in the NFL.
BroncoMath101 - January 25, 2012
If I was Allen...
my first hire would be Hue Jackson as the OC. I would reach out to him and say let’s win now and get you a new head coaching gig for another team soon if that’s what you’d like. The Raiders would be dangerous.
BaldMatt - January 25, 2012
I bet Hue is pretty bitter about that and doesnt want to return to the Raiders
If I were the Broncos the first thing I would do is reach out to Hue and say “lets get some payback”
Calikula - January 25, 2012
What do you guys think about this...
Since Fox is so well versed in defense… why not scour the college ranks for that next up-and-comer. We need to find someone who won’t automatically leave after one good season, and coaches like Del Rio could leave at any time. Maybe my Mountaineers will part with Jeff Casteel and he can bring the 3-3-5 to the pros?
PaleHorse78 - January 25, 2012
I think that no matter who it is, if they don't have previous HC experience, and they turn around our defense and make it a top 5 unit
then they will be considered for a HC gig the next year. I think Del Rio, having HC experience and it not being very good, will give us more continuity if we have success than any coordinator, college or pros will.
NFL teams are trending towards the young hot coordinators that haven’t had their shot yet.
BroncoMath101 - January 26, 2012
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