The Latest Coaching News for the Denver Broncos

Oct 13, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans assistant head coach Bill Kollar coaches before the game against St. Louis Rams the at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos and new Head Coach, Gary Kubiak continue their search for a defensive coordinator but added an important piece to the defensive staff on Thursday night. We’ll get to the defensive coordinator position in a moment but first let me introduce to Bill Kollar.

Kollar is one of the best defensive line coaches in the game and many believe he is the best. He has been with the Houston Texans for the last few seasons and has worked for Kubiak before. The Texans did the honorable thing and let Kollar make a lateral move to the Broncos, allowing him to work for Kubiak again and be closer to his grandchildren.

Everyone knows about JJ Watt but the entire defensive line for the Texans has been good for years, and Kollar is the reason why. The Broncos have a lot of young talent up front and the addition of Kollar will be big for players like; Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson and Sylvester Williams. Make no mistake, the addition of Kollar is a huge win for Kubiak and the Broncos.

As for the next defensive coordinator, there are five names that are currently being tied to the job. I’m going to give them to you in the order that I would like to see.

Vance Joseph: He has always been the Broncos top choice and for good reason. He is one of the bright young defensive minds in the game and impressed the Broncos when he interviewed for the head coaching position. Joseph would have been hired already if the Cincinnati Bengals were not being, well, the Bengals. They have blocked Joseph from taking the job and even though it would be a promotion, there’s no rule against it. As long as any assistant coach has more than one year left on their contract, a team can block them from leaving unless it’s for a head coaching position. Most teams do not stand in the way of a promotion but it has happened before.

The Broncos have not given up on the idea of hiring Joseph and negotiations with the Bengals are still on-going.

Wade Phillips: The Broncos reached out to their former defensive coordinator/head coach on Thursday. It appears that Phillips would be the Broncos top choice if they are unable to get Joseph. Phillips is easily one of the best defensive coordinators in the game and who would work wonders with the Broncos current defensive talent.

Phillips would have never let Andrew Luck sit in the pocket all afternoon in that playoff loss without making an adjustment, and sending a variety of blitzes. I understand that Phillips was a mediocre head coach and for some reason that has people scared of this potential hire but make no mistake, he is a great defensive coordinator.

Mike Smith: This is an interesting name to me and I would be fine with him if he got the job. Smith was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons before being fired following the 2014 season. He led the Falcons to their most successful three year run in their history and was only minutes away from leading them to the Super Bowl two years ago.

Smith, like Phillips, is one of the top defensive minds in football and would be an excellent addition if that’s the way the Broncos choose to go.

Richard Smith: Smith is currently the linebackers coach for the Broncos and served as Kubiak’s first defensive coordinator with the Texans. He was underwhelming as a coordinator and was eventually replaced by Phillips.

The one thing working in Smith’s favor is the fact that he already knows the Broncos personnel and the players love him. It’s just a guess, but I believe Smith is a fall back choice if the Broncos can’t get one of their top candidates.

Don “Wink” Martindale: Martindale, like Phillips, is also a former Broncos defensive coordinator. He worked for one season under Mike Shanahan and the results were not pretty. To be fair, Martindale did not have anywhere near the talent he would have now. That being said, it would be an upset if he ended up being the choice.

There’s no real timetable for Kubiak, who is coaching the Pro Bowl as his final act with the Ravens, to name a defensive coordinator but I’d be shocked if it went much past Monday.

Kubiak has put together a great staff to date but his defensive coordinator is his most important hire. The Broncos defense is ready to dominate with the right guy leading them.