Just over four years after his dismissal as Broncos head coach, Vance Joseph is back in Denver, this time as the team's defensive coordinator. Most recently holding the same title with the Cardinals, Joseph had reportedly also drawn interest from the Eagles. Now, he's joining Sean Payton's staff to replace Ejiro Evero, as CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones confirmed.
Joseph, 50, spent two seasons as the Broncos' head coach from 2017-2018, going 11-21 during that time. But he was widely considered one of the top defensive coordinator candidates of this year's hiring cycle. A longtime defensive backs coach with the 49ers (2005-2010), Texans (2011-2013) and Bengals (2014-2015), he emerged as a DC with the Dolphins in 2016. Since then, he's overseen three different top-13 scoring defenses. His first year as Denver's head coach, he also led the No. 3-ranked overall "D."
Evero, who served as Denver's DC in 2022, left this offseason for the same job with the Panthers. Joseph, meanwhile, becomes the second former Broncos coach since Wade Phillips to return to the organization as the DC. Payton reportedly also targeted former Jets head coach Rex Ryan as a potential DC for the 2023 campaign.
