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Rumblings emerge of Broncos making a head-coaching decision as soon as Wednesday, with DeMeco Ryans and David Shaw among the perceived finalists. https://t.co/4dQ8EVr5iy

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 25, 2023

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The fact that co-owner Condoleezza Rice knows Shaw well and the rest of the ownership group is still getting their feet wet gives Shaw a huge advantage. Rice used to help Shaw with recruiting efforts at Stanford.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 25, 2023

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“I wouldn’t rule out David Shaw in Denver.� https://t.co/AEopxV4kmi

— Zack Kelberman (@KelbermanNFL) January 24, 2023

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No candidate has gained more traction in the Broncos' coaching search than David Shaw.

He certainly shouldn't be ruled out now.

— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevensDNVR) January 24, 2023

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Report: Broncos could make a head coaching decision soon with DeMeco Ryans and David Shaw as the perceived finalist https://t.co/aWSGioV4Nn

— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) January 25, 2023

The clock is ticking on the NFL’s five head-coaching vacancies. As is often the case, one will make a hire and then the others will follow, often quickly. Some believe that the Broncos could go first, as soon as Wednesday. They were very impressed by 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, who can’t be hired by anyone until his team’s current season ends. Former Stanford coach David Shaw also has emerged as a very viable candidate. Sean Payton looms over multiple jobs. The prospect of Payton waiting a year has begun to gather some momentum. As of wild-card weekend, we reported that it was a 50/50 proposition Payton would take a job this year or wait for 2024. Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn also interviewed for the Denver job. He coached the Falcons for six seasons, taking them to Super Bowl LI. It’s believed that he’d bring former Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell with him. Whether former Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is on board with that possibility isn’t known. [U]Shaw has ties to Broncos limited partner Condoleezza Rice. During Shaw’s time at Stanford, she’d help Shaw with recruiting. Recently, Mile Klis of 9News.com identified Shaw as a potential “sleeper” for the job. Shaw, 50, has NFL experience as an a*sistant, and he spent 12 years as the head coach at Stanford. Another former Stanford coach with NFL experience as an a*sistant became coach of the 49ers at age 47. His name was Bill Walsh. Other former Stanford coaches who excelled in the NFL include Dennis Green and Jim Harbaugh. The Broncos have had three straight head coaches who won the job with no prior head-coaching experience. The most recent coach, Nathaniel Hackett, was a disaster. While many think the Broncos will now lean heavily toward hiring a former NFL head coach, Shaw’s experience running a major college program for a dozen years could be seen as just as good as NFL head-coaching experience, especially since (unlike recent former college head coaches who failed quickly in the NFL), Shaw has nine years of experience working with NFL teams. The connection to Rice should not be overlooked, given that she has been directly involved in the interviews with the Denver coaching candidates. Familiarity always helps when rolling the dice on a head coach, and Rice has plenty of it with Shaw. [U] At a time when the football program needs stability and calm, the fact that Rice has a comfort level with Shaw becomes a real advantage — especially since the rest of the brand-new ownership group has zero experience when it comes to picking a head coach. As one executive with another team recently explained it to PFT, owners often become overwhelmed with the head-coach hiring process because, despite whatever success they may have had in other lines of work, they ultimately don’t know what to look for when hiring a head coach. If the Walton-Penner group has seen fit to include Rice as an owner and to involve her in the process, her voice could resonate when its time to make a choice, since the rest of the ownership group won’t even begin to be able to fashion arguments against Shaw or in favor of someone else. Thus, if Shaw is good enough for Rice, Shaw may end up being good enough for majority owners Greg Penner, Rob Walton, and Carrie Walton Penner and limited partners Mellody Hobson and Sir Lewis Hamilton.

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Broncos owners Greg Penner, Carrie Walton-Penner and Condoleezza Rice all have VERY strong ties to Stanford.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is now a minority owner in the Denver Broncos being the key to the Broncos new HC hire due to her past working relationship with a candidate is not something I would have saw coming (if it happens)

Teams should have to wait until after the season for coaches like they do players. Got conference chips going on and players and the coach mind is on if he staying or going. They preach no distractions and then allow things where it's not possible to be 100% focused on the game

Both would be good gets honestly.

rooney rule okiedoke

David Shaw makes absolute sense due to the word going around that Peyton and Harbaugh were #1 & #2 on their wish lists. Now with not getting either one, Shaw is probably their main want right now

philly337 said Teams should have to wait until after the season for coaches like they do players. Got conference chips going on and players and the coach mind is on if he staying or going. They preach no distractions and then allow things where it's not possible to be 100% focused on the game

The Bills have had their offensive (Daboll and Dorsey) and defensive (Frazier) coordinators interviewing for head coaching jobs during back-to-back playoff runs.

It is pretty wild that the NFL allows another team that has nothing to do with the playoffs interrupt and take away focus from teams that are in the playoffs.

I'm pretty sure Buffalo, Cincinnati, Philly, and San Francisco have had coordinators contacted about head coaching jobs during this year's playoffs. I would add KC but I am not sure if Bieniemy is still getting attention like that.

lilsnatch770 said The Bills have had their offensive (Daboll and Dorsey) and defensive (Frazier) coordinators interviewing for head coaching jobs during back-to-back playoff runs. It is pretty wild that the NFL allows another team that has nothing to do with the playoffs interrupt and take away focus from teams that are in the playoffs. I'm pretty sure Buffalo, Cincinnati, Philly, and San Francisco have had coordinators contacted about head coaching jobs during this year's playoffs. I would add KC but I am not sure if Bieniemy is still getting attention like that.

Yup, they need to do away with it and wait until the offseason.

I’d hire DeMeco.

Feel bad for Evero but I get it. More 3rd rd SF picks if DeMeco gets his dream HC job.

I wouldn’t accept without a 3 year min guarantee

ahonui06 said Feel bad for Evero but I get it. More 3rd rd SF picks if DeMeco gets his dream HC job.

Evero was with the rams forever. A lot of us rams fans felt he had a bright future. I’d love to have him back as DC if Raheem gets a HC job.

unless i had no other option i wouldnt touch that job with a 10 foot pole

Demecco Ryan like one of the Texans first draft picks aint he?

philly337 said Yup, they need to do away with it and wait until the offseason.

Seems like it may give certain teams that ditch their coaches early an unfair advantage

The David Shaw hiring sounds terrible.

philly337 said Yup, they need to do away with it and wait until the offseason.

It’s the off-season for 28 teams.

With limited time between the end of season and combine, it would be terrible for the NFL to say certain coach desperate teams have to wait up to a month before they can interview certain candidates. That’s a terrible disadvantage to teams looking for a new coach who will then have to put together a staff from the ground up.

Super Bowl is February 12th

Combine starts February 27th

That’s 15 days to interview candidates, hire a head coach, have the coach hire his own staff, all of them uproot and move their families, and then prepare for the combine.

Ryans is the only one the local media with ties to the team are mentioning. Well him and Quinn. Shaw's name came up because Condoleezza went ti Stanford. I could see him on the staff but he's not getting that head coach job

ahonui06 said Feel bad for Evero but I get it. More 3rd rd SF picks if DeMeco gets his dream HC job.

They interviewed Evero but he's got a bunch if 2nd interviews set up with other teams. Denver still interviewed him and didn't rule him out.

IversonToWebber said The David Shaw hiring sounds terrible.

so was Kingsbury and Rhule lol they still got the job

SeanDon122 said David Shaw makes absolute sense due to the word going around that Peyton and Harbaugh were #1 & #2 on their wish lists. Now with not getting either one, Shaw is probably their main want right now

It's funny because the only people saying those guys were their favorites were national media. All people who cover the team locally have been reporting all that Payton love they said on ESPN isn't true and Denver isn't sure they want Payton for what he's going to cost. Everyone covering the team thinks Payton is going back to Fox

IversonToWebber said The David Shaw hiring sounds terrible.

I don't think he really has a shot according to people who cover the team. Maybe as part of a staff but not head coach. It's more because Condoleezza went to Stanford.

Condie Rice playing this like the rest of owners do... "Who I like is who I'm gonna get" ... I respect it