Broncos all but concede DeMeco Ryans defeat with latest coaching rumor

The Denver Broncos are in search of a new head coach and they reportedly tried to return to a candidate who removed themselves from the sweepstakes.

The Denver Broncos are in desperate need of a head coach after firing Nathaniel Hackett 15 games into the season. The team drastically fell short of expectations of making the playoffs, finishing the year with a 5-12 record.

They have interviewed countless candidates, but have yet to come up with a hire. Recently, they had a top candidate in mind in San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, but are in danger of losing him to the Houston Texans.

As it turns out, the Broncos tried again to convince a candidate who bowed out of the running to be their head coach.

According to ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter, Broncos owner George Penner met with Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh in Ann Arbor last week about their coaching vacancy, but no deal ever materialized. This comes weeks after Harbaugh announced he was returning to lead the Wolverines football program.

Broncos owner met with Jim Harbaugh even after returning to Michigan

Schefter notes that Penner met with Harbaugh to do his due diligence like he did with other candidates. That, and it was part of the process for both the Broncos and Harbaugh.

Denver and Harbaugh held their first meeting virtually earlier this month. However, on Jan. 16, University of Michigan president Santa Ono announced that Harbaugh would return to lead the Wolverines football program. Harbaugh confirmed the news in a subsequent statement.

The Broncos haven’t had much luck in terms of candidates recently. Not only did Harbaugh step aside, but so did Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who was a candidate for the job last year before they hired Hackett. Quinn informed all teams that he interviewed with that he was staying in Dallas.

As mentioned earlier, while Ryans was Denver’s reported top candidate, he wants to meet with  the Texans next week after the NFC Championship Game. NFL Network national NFL insider Ian Rapoport said that the Broncos have set their focus on other candidates, since the timeline given by Ryans didn’t work for them.

It will be interesting to see who the Broncos will hire as their head coach, considering how many twists and turns they have experienced in their coaching search.