Vance Joseph’s second act in Denver is building a case that goes well beyond a strong season or two. The Broncos’ defensive coordinator has turned a post in the Mile High City into a credible runway back to a head-coaching job, and the resume keeps getting thicker.
That wasn’t the path anyone expected when Denver hired Joseph in 2017. The Broncos were drifting away from the glow of their 2015 Super Bowl run, with Peyton Manning retired after the title season and Gary Kubiak gone after 2016. Joseph arrived after making noise in Miami, where his work with a defense built around few big-name pieces helped turn heads.
With Ndamukong Suh as the unit’s lone household name, Joseph coaxed an 11.5-sack season from Cameron Wake, who earned second team All-Pro honors, a Pro Bowl trip and a second-place finish in Comeback Player of the Year voting. Kiko Alonso piled up 115 tackles, while Isa Abdul Quddus had 78 tackles, Andre Branch added 5.5 sacks and Tony Lippett picked off four passes.
That success brought Joseph a shot at the Broncos’ top job. He got it, but the results never matched the promise.
Denver opened 3-1 in 2017, then dropped eight straight and finished 5-11. The next year brought a mild uptick to 6-6 through 12 weeks, but four straight losses closed out a 6-10 season.
The two-year run ended at 11-21, and Joseph was moved out for Vic Fangio.
What stands out now is how quickly Joseph kept moving. He didn’t disappear after Denver.
He took over as defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals under Kliff Kingsbury and stayed there from 2019 through 2022, before Kingsbury was let go after Arizona’s 4-13 season in 2022. Joseph then jumped right back to Denver, hired by Sean Payton before the 2023 season.
The early adjustment year gave way to something much sharper. After settling in during 2023, Joseph has overseen a defense that finished third in points allowed in both 2024 and 2025. The Broncos also posted back-to-back top-seven finishes in rushing yards allowed and total yards allowed, and the 2025 defense piled up 68 sacks, leaving it just four shy of the regular-season record of 72 set by the 1985 Chicago Bears.
Joseph’s background as a defensive backs coach has shown up again too. He spent 11 seasons in that role across three different organizations, and the Broncos’ secondary has reflected that touch. Cornerback Jaquan McMillian and safeties Brandon Jones and Talanoa Hufanga have all made eye-catching leaps, with each now looking like a candidate for a contract extension at some point.
The buzz around Joseph isn’t just internal. On Oct.
24, Jonathan Jones of The Athletic asked, "Will this be the year Vance Joseph gets another shot as a head coach?" He pointed to Denver’s defense ranking third in points allowed in each of the past two seasons and noted that "With the Broncos offense playing at a low never before reached by Sean Payton, Joseph’s defense is keeping them among the AFC contenders."
Joseph was already on the interview circuit last offseason, meeting with the Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders for head-coaching vacancies. That alone says his name is very much back in the mix.
In Other News...
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Sean Payton spent the week sketching out what the Broncos want their offense to look like, and it does not appear to revolve around turning Bo Nix into a bigger part of the run game. The head coach made clear that, for now, getting more quarterback carries is not among the immediate items on his list, which offers a pretty good window into how Denver is thinking about balance and durability as it shapes the attack.
There was a more encouraging note for one backfield piece, though, as Payton said Jonah Coleman should see more touches after what he has shown. For a Broncos offense still sorting out its identity, that kind of comment matters because it hints at where the staff wants to lean as the season moves along, even if the exact usage plan remains a little murky for the moment. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Just Helped Expose A Worrying Broncos Offensive Trend
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The concern is showing up on third down, where Denver has looked far less efficient with Payton handling the calls than it did earlier in the season under Davis Webb. Even more troubling for the Broncos is the context around that slide, because the recent stretch has come against opponents that were supposed to be more manageable than the defenses Webb faced. The results are piling up in the standings, but the trend underneath them is hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Broncos Suddenly Have A Jaylen Waddle Problem Before Chiefs Rematch
A tricky offensive wrinkle turned into an even bigger concern for Denver in Week 7, when Jaylen Waddle aggravated a previous chest injury on a reverse against the Arizona Cardinals. The play itself drew attention after coach Sean Payton acknowledged it was poorly designed, and now the Broncos are left sorting through the fallout from a sequence that went wrong at exactly the wrong time.
What makes it especially frustrating is the timing, with Kansas City next on the schedule and a status decision still hanging over Waddle for Sunday. Denver was already bracing for a tight divisional matchup, and now the offense has to account for one of its key pieces being in limbo until later in the week. [Read more 🡒]