Jack Del Rio Linked To USC Job

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The Denver Broncos have felt the impact of Lane Kiffin’s tumultuous career in a number of ways at this point. In the past they were able to benefit from his presence as the Oakland Raiders coach, but now the effect might not be so positive.

Since he left Oakland, Kiffin managed to fail upward all the way to filling Pete Carroll’s shoes at USC. It appears that the gig is finally up for him, as he was fired this week in what sounds like a bizarre situation. Anyhow, as the Trojans seek a high-profile replacement, Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio has topped a number of early lists of candidates.

Sources, guys. Sources. Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman had it first:

ESPN’s Adam Schefter followed up with the following information.

If Del Rio does “want” the job, it sounds like he does not have a Bobby Petrino-type mid-season exit on his mind. From the Denver Post’s Mike Klis:

Then things got a little silly, 2013 style. There were some reports that Del Rio was “spotted” in LA, rousing suspicions that he might be pursuing the job secretly and immediately. Also from Klis, Broncos head coach John Fox refuted that report:

Del Rio’s importance to the Broncos cannot be denied. Those who were reluctant to hop on the Broncos’ bandwagon this preseason felt that way because of the missing pieces on defense. Through four games, it is the understated defense that has been almost as dominant as the Peyton Manning-led offense. It is hard to know how directly Del Rio influences those results, but suffice it to say that the Broncos would like to keep everything intact for a potential Super Bowl run this season.

At the moment, it looks like things will play out that way. For now, at least. For now…