Giants target Broncos' special teams guru Darren Rizzi for HC job. Will Denver let their playoff-bound assistant interview during a Super Bowl push?
The Denver Broncos have their sights set on Wild Card weekend, as it will show them who they will match up against in the divisional round. After a 14-3 season that earned them the No. 1 seed in the AFC, everybody in Denver is excited about the possibility of finishing off the season with a Super Bowl ring.
Some teams in the NFL, however, already have their sights on the 2026 season, and that’s certainly the case for the 4-13 New York Giants. They fired their head coach, Brian Daboll, in November and went the rest of the way with interim coach Mike Kafka. Once their season concluded, the search for their next head coach officially began.
As part of their search to fill their head coach vacancy, the Giants have requested to interview Denver Broncos assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi.
Rizzi has spent a decade and a half as a coach in the NFL, starting as a special teams coordinator with the Miami Dolphins before moving to the New Orleans Saints for the same role in 2019. In 2024, Rizzi got a taste of head coaching duties after becoming the interim head coach when the Saints fired Dennis Allen with eight games remaining. He won three of those eight games as New Orleans’ coach.
He joined the Broncos in 2025 under Sean Payton, again asa special teams coordinator and assistant head coach. As the special teams coordinator, Rizzi saw the Broncos convert on 100% of their extra point opportunities and even return a punt for a touchdown.
Rizzi has the attitude of an NFL head coach, but it won’t be easy for him to land the job – that is, if the Broncos allow the Giants to interview him in the first place. He’ll be competing against names like Mike McCarthy, Kevin Stefanski, John Harbaugh, and many others with greater experience.
Though Denver fans are happy at the opportunity for one of its own, they don’t exactly want any distractions right now as they gear up for the playoffs. For now, Rizzi and the Broncos will keep their full attention on preparing to win the AFC and return to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2016.