Broncos DC Vance Joseph, a former head coach, enters the Titans' interview queue. Will his playoff bye give him the edge in the coaching race?
The Tennessee Titans are wasting no time in their head coaching search, and they have already requested interviews with three AFC West coordinators who were once head coaches. That includes Chiefs DC Steve Sapgnuolo and Chiefs OC Matt Nagy.
After the Week 18 game, there was buzz in the locker room about Denver Broncos DC Vance Joseph, and now he has received an interview request from the Tennessee Titans, according to NFL insider James Palmer.
"There was certainly buzz in the Broncos locker room postgame about DC Vance Joseph having opportunities to interview for head coaching vacancies with the bye. Defensive players think the world of VJ and they think he should get a job obviously. First interview I'm told, Titans."
The Titans are also set to interview Indianapolis Colts DC Loa Anarumo and Washington Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, and it is far from done with their requests.
Joseph is a former head coach who has received a lot of interest in the previous years.
He was the Broncos head coach in 2017 and 2018, going just 11-21 before being fired after the 2018 season.
Prior to that, he was a defensive assistant with each of the San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals and the DC with the Miami Dolphins before coming to Denver.
After being let go by the Broncos, he was the Arizona Cardinals DC from 2019 until 2022, and he returned to Denver as DC in 2023.
Joseph had received an interview for the New York Jets head coach position last offseason before they hired Aaron Glenn, so it's not a surprise to see his name circulate once again.
The big issue for the Titans and other teams who want Joseph is that the Broncos have a first-round bye in the playoffs and are viewed as legitimate Super Bowl contenders, which means it could be a long time before they make the hire official, if he is the guy.
On the other hand, with the Broncos on a bye week, their coaches are eligible to do interviews this week before they play their first game, which is a positive.
The Arizona Cardinals job also opened up on Monday along with the Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Raiders, so perhaps more requests will come in for Joseph.
So, as he prepares for the postseason, he will also be interviewing, and there is a chance he gets hired in this cycle.