ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – John Fox just finished his fourth regular season as Denver Broncos head coach and he is poised to lose at least one of his coordinators to a head coaching job for the third time.
After his first season with the Broncos, in 2011, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen left to be the Oakland Raiders' head coach. After Fox’s second season, in 2012, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy left to be the San Diego Chargers' head coach.
And Monday, both the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons formally requested permission from the Broncos to speak to offensive coordinator Adam Gase. League rules permit assistant coaches with playoff teams with a bye in the wild-card round to interview for head coaching jobs.
The window closes after this week. Then assistant coaches with playoff teams can only be interviewed when their teams’ seasons are over.
Last season, the Cleveland Browns requested to interview Gase, but Gase said he didn’t want to interview for a job while the Broncos' season was still going. The Browns, even after taking another pass at Gase to see if he changed his mind and would interview, hired Mike Pettine as the Broncos went on to the Super Bowl.
“We’ve always been open to [interviews],’’ Fox said Monday. “Not our first rodeo that way; we’ve been through this many times. It’ll be done in a way where they’ve got to come here and it won’t bother our coaches as far as their prep; all of their focus is on what we’re trying to accomplish.’’
To interview Gase, both the Falcons and 49ers would have to send representatives to Denver this week. The Broncos are practicing Tuesday and Wednesday in days that will include meetings for the coaches.
The players will have Thursday, Friday and Saturday off and the coaches will have time off within those days as well. So, if one, or both, of the teams follow through with interviews for Gase, it’s expected they would be within that three-day window.
When McCoy interviewed with the Chargers, he interviewed with team officials the Monday following the Broncos’ loss in the AFC divisional round and was offered the job that same evening.
In the two seasons Gase has called plays with Peyton Manning at quarterback the past two seasons. The Broncos finished with a single-season league record 606 points last season and the team’s 486 points this season were the third highest single-season total in franchise history.
Manning has thrown 94 touchdown passes in the 2013 and 2014 seasons combined. Gase has also worked with Nick Saban, who has won four college national championships, and Mike Martz, who won a Super Bowl as a coordinator. Gase also was with the Broncos when they converted the offense to a read-option look for Tim Tebow and made the playoffs in 2011.
McCoy said earlier this season that Gase “would be an excellent head coach, a bright, bright coach with tremendous work ethic.’’
Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio is expected to get some consideration as well for at least one of the five head coaching jobs currently open, but as of Monday afternoon, no teams had formally requested permission from the Broncos to interview Del Rio.
