Do the Broncos have any future head coaches on Sean Payton’s staff?

Vance Joseph is the most likely candidate among Broncos coaches to draw head coach interest this offseason.

The best NFL teams often lose members of their coaching staff during the offseason. It’s a good problem to have.

For the Denver Broncos, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is the most obvious and most likely candidate to draw head coach interest this offseason. Someday in the future, quarterbacks coach Davis Webb might also get looks as a potential head coach candidate.

Sean Payton’s coaching tree includes Dan Campbell, Doug Marrone and Dennis Allen. Are there any coaches on his current staff who could become head coaches in the future?

It’s an interesting league,” Payton said in June. “We went through — you hear the term that it is a copycat league. There is success with let’s say a young Sean McVay, then there is a couple of years where I am getting calls from GMs asking about not only candidates on my staff, but other candidates. It was always, ‘We are interested in an offensive play-caller.’ So I would say, ‘So you are not interested in the next Bill Belichick?’ I think this past year, we saw a number of defensive coaches. We’ve seen special teams coaches with John Harbaugh, who I worked with in Philly. We’ve seen offensive line coaches. There is a little cycle to that.

“Ultimately, you are looking for and projecting who can lead. Sometimes, I think it is a little like the quarterback position. You may have a talented prospect that maybe ends up in the wrong place. In three years, he is back in the coordinator’s role and who knows if he ended up in another place. I’ve shared that story with you and the late [former Saints owner] Mr. [Tom] Benson coming to me those early years and saying, ‘Hey, we have all of these coaches getting interviews for head jobs. I said, ‘Mr. B, we need to worry if no one is interviewing them.’ I love seeing what Dan Campbell is doing, I love seeing Dennis Allen now, Doug Marrone and a number of these guys that I have worked with. I want that for them. It’s hard to predict though.” 

Payton wasn’t willing to give any predictions earlier this year, but Joseph seems likely to get interviews this offseason. Joseph, of course, previously served as Denver’s head coach from 2017-2018. We’ll see if other teams come calling in the offseason.

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Broncos have a promising up-and-coming coach in Davis Webb

Broncos coaches have been full of praise for young quarterbacks coach Davis Webb.

The Denver Broncos seem to have a gem in Davis Webb.

The 29-year-old coach was a backup quarterback in the NFL from 2017-2022 before jumping straight into coaching with the Broncos in 2023. Sean Payton hired Webb as the team’s quarterbacks coach last fall and the young coach quickly drew praise from his new boss.

“He’s been a great asset,” Payton said in 2023. Added offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi: “I certainly see a bright future for him in the coaching profession.”

After hiring Payton and Webb, Denver saw quarterback Russell Wilson improve his completion, touchdown and interception totals from 2022-2023. The Broncos moved on from Wilson this spring and Webb is now helping mentor the team’s rookie quarterback, Bo Nix.

“He has a lot of experience obviously playing the position, and that’s always helpful,” Lombardi said in June earlier this year. “A lot of energy, smart, works really hard. His meetings are always prepared. He gives them a lot of good information but makes them entertaining. He’s just really good with the technology and using the audio-visual to maximize the learning experience. [He’s] just real sharp and a hard worker, and that’s what you want from coaches. [He’s] easy to get along with.”

Payton has also praised Webb for those traits, and Nix is putting together a case to win Offensive Rookie of the Year this fall. Payton is the mastermind, of course, but a great head coach is aided by a great staff, and Webb’s experience at quarterback has been huge for Denver.

“I obviously went through it, and I had Eli Manning in the room, which was pretty great,” Webb said in June when asked about his experience playing QB in the NFL. “[Nix] has a different experience with ‘Stiddy’ (Jarrett Stidham) being his second year in the offense, Zach [Wilson] being in multiple systems throughout his career. So it’s a good room to have that for a young guy.

“Over the offseason, I called plenty of coaches, plenty of former teammates just kind of talking, ‘Hey, back then this is what we did. What would you change? What would you like now? What was really important? What wasn’t?’ So that’s been a process honestly since February in regards to just gathering information and kind of getting everybody ready.”

If Webb is going to move up the coaching ranks as some in Denver believe he will, the next logical progression would be an eventual promotion to offensive coordinator — either with the Broncos or elsewhere. After that, Davis could perhaps one day become a head coach candidate. That’s a conversation for down the road. For now, Denver’s happy to have Webb coaching up the team’s QBs.

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John Elway says Bo Nix can help Broncos compete for world championships again

“The sky’s the limit for him,” John Elway said of Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix.

Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway likes what he’s seen from Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix this season.

“I’m happy for him,” Elway said during a recent interview with Broncos Wire about Dupuytren’s contracture and his treatment. “I’m happy for the Broncos and the Broncos fans out there. It’s kind of been a long dry spell and I think that everybody’s excited about what’s going on there. Obviously, the new ownership group is tremendous, with Sean Payton as a head coach and then obviously we draft Bo Nix, who I think Sean really likes and obviously, everybody likes now because we’ve seen him grow through the first 11 weeks of the season.

“It’s exciting to watch. But I think there’s a combination of both in the fact that Bo Nix has great talent. He’s very mature. He’s got 60 starts in college, which I think has really helped him.

“But I think even more importantly is the way that Sean and (quarterbacks coach) Davis Webb handle him, they’re not putting them in situations he can’t handle. They’re bringing him on slowly, getting him to understand the NFL game, which is a big jump from the college game, and so I think the whole combination of what is going on there is showing up in Bo’s play.

“He’s got the ability; Sean and Davis are putting him in situations that he can handle and those situations keep getting more and more week in and week out. And so, you know, the sky’s the limit for him. He’s just going to continue to get better and better.

“And as long as Vance Joseph keeps that defense going and keeps (Nix) in games week in and week out, then that allows the quarterback to grow at his own speed too and also win football games.”

Nix has broken multiple franchise (and NFL) records this season, passing several former marks set by Elway in his rookie year. Does Elway feel bad about seeing his records fall?

“I don’t,” Elway said with a laugh. “You know what? I’m glad he’s breaking them because it was my rookie year, we weren’t very good, so it’s nice to see that he’s got out to a better start than I had. And I think that’s a good sign for all the Bronco fans out here to be able to watch that knowing that they’ve really got somebody they can build around right now. Because, you know that quarterback position is so important in the NFL and it looks like they found their guy and [he will] continue to grow and bring back that excitement and start to compete for those world championships again.”

John Elway spoke with Broncos Wire in a three-part interview this week. Elway dicsussed Dupuytren’s contracture in Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 3, featuring Elway’s take on Denver’s playoff chances this season.

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NFL team tried to sign Broncos coach as a QB during 2023 season

An NFL team approached Broncos assistant coach Davis Webb about unretiring and playing quarterback last season.

During an interview with Kay Adams on the “Up and Adams Show” earlier this week, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton dropped a fascinating nugget about quarterbacks coach Davis Webb.

“Davis Webb is doing a great job,” Payton told Adams. “He just — it’s unusual that you get a quarterbacks coach that literally just finished playing. And then even last season, gets an email from a team about possibly playing still. And he’s coaching that room. So you do have a little bit of a caddie there and a real smart up-and-coming coach who’s working with those guys.”

Payton convinced Webb to step away from playing as a backup quarterback in the NFL to join his coaching staff last year. Apparently, one team last season wanted Webb to make a comeback as a player. Payton did not mention the specific team by name.

Before joining the Broncos as a coach, Davis spent time as a player with the New York Giants (two stints), New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.

This certainly isn’t the first time an NFL team has asked a coach to switch to quarterback. During the 2020 season, the Broncos wanted coaches Rob Calabrese and Justin Rascati to suit up as quarterbacks after all of Denver’s QBs were deemed ineligible to play due to COVID-19 protocol.

The Broncos weren’t able to pull it off because NFL rules prevent coaches from playing for their team. Instead, Denver turned to practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton to fill in at QB (and it didn’t go well).

Webb couldn’t play for the Broncos in a pinch, either. He would have to step down from his coaching role and unretire and sign with the team as a player, but the league probably would not allow that to happen on short notice just like it wasn’t allowed with Calabrese and Rascati four years ago.

It’s a moot point, anyway, because Webb seems content to continue coaching. By all accounts, he has transitioned well to the new role.

“I think he does a great job,” quarterback Zach Wilson said earlier this month. “I really love working with him. You wouldn’t think he’s only been in the league coaching for a couple years. He does a phenomenal job [and] is just fun to be around.”

Webb, 29, seems to have a bright future as a coach in the NFL.

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Broncos HC Sean Payton praises QBs coach Davis Webb

“He was tremendous on keeping things simple and knowing how to read certain plays,” Broncos HC Sean Payton said of QB coach Davis Webb.

Earlier this offseason, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton said quarterbacks coach Davis Webb is part of a “new generation” of coaches that utilizes digital files in a way Payton has “no idea” how to access or organize.

Webb, 29, is less than half the age of Payton, 60. He spent six years as a backup quarterback in the NFL before Payton recruited him to coaching last spring. So far, so good for the young coach.

“[H]is meetings are extremely organized,” Payton said on May 30. “He’s played the position. I think even as a player at this level, when you talk to — and I spoke with Eli [Manning] and various players. He was tremendous on keeping things simple and knowing how to read certain plays and how to approach the game. I think he’s very positive with these guys.” 

Payton retold a story about the hiring process that he shared last offseason. The Broncos had scheduled other interviews for after Webb’s appointment but Payton decided to cancel them.

“You’ve heard the story: when I interviewed him, you get kind of caught in a schedule,” Payton said. “Tomorrow we’re going to interview [somebody else], and then here he is driving to the airport, and I’m thinking, ‘What am I doing?’ We called the driver and brought him back and hired him.”

Webb is only two years older than Jarrett Stidham, but he’s been in the NFL longer than any of the team’s three QBs, and he connects with them well.

“Davis brings energy, experience and almost like that wily veteran quarterback that’s in the room, which I think is a plus,” Payton said. 

After coaching Russell Wilson last year, Davis will now work with Stidham, Zach Wilson and rookie Bo Nix in 2024. Just like Payton, Davis got his first job in the NFL as a QB coach. Now he’ll aim to replicate Payton’s success.

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Giants attempted to lure Davis Webb back after Daniel Jones injury

After Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending torn ACL, the New York Giants briefly tried to bring QB Davis Webb back into the fold.

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has reportedly begun running on an anti-gravity treadmill as part of the process of rehabbing his surgically repaired right knee.

Jones tore his ACL in Week 8 against the Las Vegas Raiders and was lost for the remainder of the 2023 season. It capped off a rough first season under his new four-year, $160 million contract.

“My rehab is going well,” the 26-year-old Jones told the New York Daily News on Super Bowl Radio row in Las Vegas this week.

“I’m making progress. I’m three months into it, and I’ve started running on the anti-gravity treadmill. It’s going well.”

Jones’ injury put the Giants in a bind at quarterback, especially after backup Tyrod Taylor was also injured, giving way to rookie Tommy DeVito.

Jones told the Daily News that the Giants contacted Davis Webb, a former backup who began his coaching career as an assistant with the Denver Broncos last year.

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton told Jones on Friday, though, that the Giants actually tried to recruit Broncos quarterback Davis Webb back to play for them when Jones got hurt.

“When you got hurt this year, Davis got a call about, ‘Can you come back to play?'” Payton told Jones and Eli Manning on the Up & Adams show. “And I’m like, ‘Davis, you took this job, you’re coaching.’ And then there’s some rule in our league that if you sign a coaching contract for that year, you cannot play. Anyway, I thought I was gonna lose our quarterback coach to the Giants.”

Just as well. Webb would not have moved the needle for this Giant team, which has been littered with injuries and dysfunction the past season and a half.

Jones should have a clear path as the Giants’ starter next season as the team is not likely to bring in much competition. But that confidence will not last past 2024 should Jones fail to live up to his contract again.

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Giants’ Angela Baker added to West Team’s staff for Shrine Bowl

New York Giants offensive assistant Angela Baker will join Mike Kafka on the West Team and coach tight ends during the Shrine Bowl.

Former New York Giants quarterback Davis Webb will serve as the West Team’s offensive coordinator in the upcoming East-West Shrine Bowl which will be played on Thursday, February 1 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Webb joins current Giants’ offensive coordinator Mike Kafka — who is the head coach — on the West Team staff and Giants offensive assistant Angela Baker, who will coach the tight ends.

Webb just finished his first season as the quarterbacks coach of the Denver Broncos after concluding a six-year NFL playing career. He was originally drafted by the Giants in the third round (87th overall) of the 2017 NFL draft and spent time with the Giants, New York Jets, and Buffalo Bills, mainly as a practice squadder and backup.

Baker, meanwhile, was hired as the Giants’ offensive quality control coach in 2022 before being promoted to offensive assistant in 2023.

Prior to her time in East Rutherford, Baker served as the kickers and punters/special teams/defensive quality control coach for the University of Redlands Bulldogs, a Division III school out of Southern California.

Baker also has on-field experience, having played for the Pittsburgh Passion in the Women’s Football Alliance (full-contact). During that time, she was named a seven-time All-American and the 2016 National Conference Offensive Player of the League.

While with the Cleveland Browns as part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coach Fellowship program, Baker worked with the team’s quarterbacks. She helped analyze film, study the playbooks, and identify quarterback weaknesses.

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Broncos QBs coach Davis Webb will lead West offense at East-West Shrine Bowl

Broncos QBs coach Davis Webb will serve as the West team’s offensive coordinator at the East-West Shrine Bowl next month.

Denver Broncos quarterbacks coach Davis Webb will get a close look at quarterbacks featured in this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl.

Webb has been named the offensive coordinator for the West team. Quarterbacks set to participate in the East-West Shrine Bowl include Devin Leary (Kentucky), John Rhys Plumlee (UCF), Jack Plummer (Louisville), Austin Reed (Western Kentucky), Kedon Slovis (BYU) and Jordan Travis (Florida State). Those QBs have not yet been assigned to specific teams.

Webb, 28, was a backup quarterback in the NFL from 2017-2022. He retired as a player last spring to become Denver’s QBs coach under new head coach Sean Payton.

Although he only has one year of experience under his belt, Webb has already been dubbed a coach to watch for promotion in the coming years. Webb impressed Payton in 2023 and he also drew praise from Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi.

Webb now gets another opportunity to gain valuable coaching experience while also scouting QBs for Denver ahead of April’s draft. The 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl will be played in Frisco, Texas on Thursday, Feb. 1.

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Broncos HC Sean Payton impressed with QBs coach Davis Webb

“I’m really impressed with his teaching ability and his style. He’s organized, and I think it’s invaluable for the quarterback.”

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton brought in two rookie coaches this offseason who both played in the NFL just last year.

After hanging up their cleats, Davis Webb joined as quarterbacks coach and Chris Banjo joined as an assistant special teams coach.

Payton was asked about Webb after a training camp practice earlier this month.

“He’s been a great asset,” Payton said on Aug. 17. “He’s smart and it’s unusual to get a player — we have two, he and Chris. [They] were literally playing a year ago and are now coaching. He’s prepared. I’m really impressed with his teaching ability and his style. He’s organized, and I think it’s invaluable for the quarterback. You have someone who actually understands it. We have a number of guys who are in the quarterback meetings, but on a daily basis, he’s been really good.

“I told this story after he finished his interview. You get into this routine after an interview. You go, ‘Alright, let’s get him to the airport and the next one.’ I’m sitting and talking to George [Paton] and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Why are we letting him leave? I know better.’ We called him up. I called the driver up and brought him back and hired him. I’m glad we did that.”

Webb, 28, was a backup with the New York Giants in 2017, then with the New York Jets in 2018 and with the Buffalo Bills from 2019-2021. Buffalo wanted Webb to retire and become their QBs coach after the 2021 season, but Webb decided to spend another season as a player.

After serving as a backup with the Giants again in 2022, Webb decided to retire and he interviewed for Denver’s QB coach opening. Payton let Webb leave the building but quickly brought him back to hire him. The former QB will make his coaching debut when the Broncos host the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1.

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Broncos OC Joe Lombardi sees a bright future for QBs coach Davis Webb

“I certainly see a bright future for him in the coaching profession,” Broncos OC Joe Lombardi said of rookie QBs coach Davis Webb.

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It seems that Davis Webb was born to coach football.

When he was still playing in the NFL as a backup with the Buffalo Bills, the Bills asked Webb to retire so he could become their quarterbacks coach last year.

Webb declined Buffalo’s offer because he wanted to continue playing for at least one more season. Webb ultimately decided to retire after the 2022 season and Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton quickly hired him as QBs coach.

Although he is the head coach, Payton will call offensive plays for the Broncos and offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, a former QBs coach, will work under Payton. Webb will work under Lombardi.

Lombardi has been coaching in the NFL since 2006 and he foresees a bright future for Webb.

“[He is a] really hard worker and he takes it seriously,” Lombardi said on June 14. “He’s young and he’s just starting out as a coach. With his background, the coaches he’s been with, and the experience of being a quarterback where you’re really responsible for knowing what everyone’s doing, I think he has a really good base.

“He’s good at building relationships with the guys that he coaches, so I certainly see a bright future for him in the coaching profession.”

Webb, 28, will be younger than Denver quarterback Russell Wilson, but that won’t be a strange concept to the 34-year-old veteran. Wilson’s personal QBs coach, Jake Heaps, is three years younger than him. It’s not very common in the NFL, but it has happened before to have a coach younger than players.

After serving as a backup quarterback in the NFL from 2017-2022, Webb will make his coaching debut with the Broncos this fall. He’ll hope to follow in the footsteps of Payton and Lombardi, who both coached quarterbacks in the NFL before moving up the coaching ranks.

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