Insiders lend insight into Broncos coaching candidates Shanahan, Joseph

The Denver Broncos have been given permission to interview a trio of head coaching candidates after Gary Kubiak stepped down Monday, including two familiar names linked to the club in the past.

Denver will reportedly bring in Kyle Shanahan, Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator and son of former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan, Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, and Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub.

Joseph was interviewed by the Broncos in 2015 for its defensive coordinator opening, but the Cincinnati Bengals would not allow him to take the job.

“The Drive” spoke with two insiders Tuesday — D. Orlando Ledbetter, Falcons beat writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Mike Mreczko, a reporter for ESPN West Palm — to lend some insight into Shanahan and Joseph as candidates.

Kyle Shanahan — Falcons offensive coordinator

According to Ledbetter, of the four teams in on Shanahan, two truly have a shot at landing the offensive coordinator: the Los Angeles Rams and the Broncos.

“I couldn’t see him going to San Fran for a total rebuild, although maybe Eliot Wolf could talk him into it. I think coach Smith, former Falcons’ coach, is going to get the Jacksonville job. So, that leaves pretty much the Broncos and the Rams,” Ledbetter said.

Shanahan, despite his age (37) has been with NFL teams for nearly a decade and a half, spending nine seasons at offensive coordinator with the Houston Texans, under Kubiak, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons.

Ledbetter indicated that Shanahan’s staff could consist of some “old lieutenants and some young lieutenants” and would surround himself with “his guys.”

“I don’t know if that’s a ‘yes man’ mentality or if you want somebody in the room that’s going to disagree with you, but he would his staff together that knows what he wants to do and achieve and produce,” Ledbetter said. “So, he’d have a credible staff coming with him.”

Listen to the full interview here:

Vance Joseph — Dolphins defensive coordinator

Unlike Shanahan, whose Falcons have a bye in the first round of the NFL playoffs, Joseph will be unavailable for interview during the wild card round as the Dolphins take on the Pittsburg Steelers on Sunday.

But Denver is among a group of teams, even before reports came out, that were linked to having strong interest in Joseph, Mreczko said.

“Now to see the job he’s done with the Dolphins defense this year, which at times has not looked pretty, but considering the injuries, considering the way the players speak very highly of him, you had to figure that once the coaching carousel started to spin here in the offseason, Vance Joseph would be one of the names in the conversation often,” Mreczko said.

Miami’s defense ranks 29th in total yards and 18th in points given up, but Mreczko said given the outside factors like injuries that Joseph is still a strong candidate.

“There’s a lot of other things like being physical in secondary and the other things that Vance Joseph seems to be on the cutting edge where the game is, where it’s going, what you need to do to be successful, that it would be well worthwhile for a team to give him a long look,” Mreczko said.

Listen to the full interview here:

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.