Getty Image / Billie Weiss
Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos are still looking for a defensive coordinator to add to Payton’s staff in his first year with the team.
They have interviewed some big names during the process, including Rex Ryan and Vance Joseph.
Now they are adding a surprising candidate to their list of options for the job.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Broncos are interviewing Matt Patricia for their vacant defensive coordinator job.
The #Broncos spent today with an intriguing candidate for their vacant defense coordinator job: Matt Patricia. Sources tell me and @TomPelissero the former #Patriots assistant is in Denver speaking with Sean Payton today. Rex Ryan and Vance Joseph are also top candidates.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 22, 2023
Patricia’s reputation has had a rough few years. First, it was a disastrous tenure as the head coach of the Detroit Lions. The team never finished higher than last place in the NFC North with him as their head coach and he was fired in the middle of his 3rd season at the helm after struggling to a 13-29-1 record.
After being fired by the Lions, Patricia headed back to the Patriots. His first year back went fine when he was a senior football analyst. However, year two was a mess.
In his 2nd year back in Foxborough, Patricia was put in charge of the offense despite having been a defensive coach throughout his career. It didn’t go well.
The offense struggled. Mac Jones regressed in his 2nd year in the league. The team became frustrated with the coaching staff.
However, Patricia is an accomplished defensive coordinator. In 6 years as the defensive coordinator for the Patriots, they had a top-10 scoring defense every single season, including 1 season where they allowed the league’s least point. They won 2 Super Bowls in those years and appeared in a 3rd.
Patricia has some tough competition for the job, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Broncos make him their choice to be their defensive coordinator.