Vance Joseph was fired by the Denver Broncos after the 2018 season after going 11-21 in two seasons as a head coach. Four years later, Joseph is now set to return to the team as a defensive coordinator.
It’s an interesting situation, one that has drawn mixed reviews from fans and pundits, but it is not unprecedented.
Wade Phillips served as the Broncos’ head coach from 1993-1994 before being fired with a 16-16 record. Phillips went on to coach with five other teams — and even landed two more head coach jobs — before returning to Denver as defensive coordinator in 2015.
Phillips had instant success upon his return, coaching one of the best defenses in NFL history and winning Super Bowl 50 in his first season. He coached the defense for one more year before the team let his contract expire. Phillips then joined the Los Angeles Rams as a defensive coordinator.
Phillips, who won the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2015, is now 75 years old and serving as the head coach of his hometown Houston Roughnecks in the XFL.
Phillips reached out to Joseph before the latter’s defensive coordinator interview with Denver, according to ESPN’s Jeff Legwold. Phillips must have given a good report on the franchise because Joseph ultimately decided to return to the team that fired him, just like Phillips did eight years ago.
The Broncos have gone through two more coaches (Vic Fangio in 2019-2021 and Nathaniel Hackett in 2022) and an interim coach (Jerry Rosburgh for two games in 2022) since firing Joseph. Denver hired Mike Shanahan immediately after firing Phillips in 1994, and Shanahan later won a pair of Super Bowls with the Broncos.
Fans in Denver will hope that Sean Payton has similar success to Shanahan — and that Joseph has similar results to Phillips.
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