Locked On Broncos - Daily Podcast On The Denver Broncos - BRONCOS SQUAD SHOW: How will Denver Revamp Coaching Staff for Next Season?

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

The Denver Broncos currently have 5 coaching vacancies they need to fill as the offseason commences. Joe Lombardi, Addison Lynch and Keary Colbert were all fired while Jim Leonhard and Pete Carmichael both departed for the Buffalo Bills. Sean Payton and the front office have plenty of work to do on the coaching front. The good news is Denver promoted Davis Webb to offensive coordinator, and Vance Joseph did not land a head coaching job, meaning he will be back as the Broncos defensive coordinator for the 2026-2027 season. Join Aniello Piro, Cory Roark, Sayre Bedinger and Nick Ferguson as the break down the Broncos coaching situation and look ahead towards NFL Free Agency. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! TurboTax For a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. FanDuel If you’re a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in Bonus Bets if you win. Make it count — because after the Super Bowl, the season is over. Last call for football on FanDuel, an Official Sportsbook Partner of Super Bowl Sixty. PrizePicks Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFL Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. Robinhood Trade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/lockedonnfl. Gusto Try Gusto today at http://gusto.com/lockedonNFL and get three months free when you run your first payroll. Quo Make this the year where no opportunity — and no customer — slips away. Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to http://Quo.com/lockedonnfl. Betterhelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON. DripDrop Right now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to http://dripdrop.com and use promo code lockedonnfl. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Anilo Piro and the Denver Broncos have some work to do with their coaching staff as the offseason begins. I'm Cody Roark. Did Sean Payton pay the web tax? I'm Sarah Beninger. There's never an offseason Broncos country, never. And I'm Nick Ferguson. Who the hell is calling plays? That was very clever from you, Cody. I like that. I like that. Let's get into it on today with Locked on Broncos Squad show. From the South stands, it's the Broncos squad. Everything Denver Broncos every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Mile High City,

the way only the Lockdown Podcast Network can. Gear up and squad up. The Broncos Squad Show starts now. What is up, Broncos Country? Welcome on into your Lockdown Broncos squad show right here on your Lockdown Broncos YouTube channel, as well as the audio feed, as Sayre said. there's never an off season for Broncos football conversation. So we'll be having those conversations throughout the course of the off season

as we lead up to the NFL draft, OTAs, mini camp, training camp, all that good stuff. We are not going anywhere for you folks out there. So I appreciate each and every one of you that rocked with us during the season and we'll continue to rock with us during the off season. I think Nick went dark there for a second. Camera off. Batman.

We got Batman in the house. Now we have the full squad here. here today, AP Cody Roarick, Sarah Beninger, and Nick Ferguson. A lot to talk about today. We'll talk about Davis Webb, of course, and just the overall coaching carousel that is kind of going on right now with the Denver Broncos. But first and foremost, fellas, I mean, how are we feeling, right? About a week and a half removed now from the end of the season, Super Bowl coming up this

weekend. I believe our guy, Nick Ferguson, will be out there on Media Row later this week. So what's how we live it? We get back to our lives a little bit or what? What life? You're telling me, bro. You know, there's never an off season for the true fan. I mean, surely the Broncos are in the off season.

But for us, is there an off season? No, there's always something to talk about, something to write about, something to pot about. We've had news going on with coaching changes, just the whole galore. It's been crazy, but it's been good, man. You know, I was talking to Sarah about this. I don't know how Broncos country feels, but like when you're in season, it's just, it's a grind on the day to day. Whereas now it's like, hey, we can actually breathe just a little bit. We're still doing shows, but we're not as like,

pressed for like we're getting slammed, uppercutted left and right by this news, that news, what this guy said, what that guy said, it's just, it's nice to just kind of have some relaxation here going into Super Bowl week, though I think we would all trade all that away if Denver was playing in the Super Bowl.

That would be much more preferred. Yeah, I agree with you. I dove head first into the nuggets, now that the Broncos are over, so we'll have some fun with that, the Avalanche as well, but, like, I would have loved for Denver to have dawn to the Super Bowl, obviously, but it would have kind of felt like in my opinion,

and correct me if you guys feel differently, like lambs to a slaughter to a certain extent, if it was Jared Stid and his quarterback. Like, I don't know, man. I just, not that I'm obviously not happy if they're not in the Super Bowl, but like I just think Seattle's a much better team and I just hope they beat up on the Patriots

and they get a slice of humble pie. So I guess I see it both ways. Like obviously I want the Broncos to be in the Super Bowl, but I think if Jared Stidt was the quarterback, I just don't know if the Broncos would have won the game if that makes sense. Maybe. I mean, Sarah, how do you feel? because I feel like it's very similar to the Patriots game.

I feel like Denver's defense would have matched up well with Seattle if it had been. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, obviously in the land of hypotheticals, you know, with the way things went in that Patriots game, kind of seeing the wheels fall off a little bit for Jared Stidham. I think that the natural inclination is to say, hey, they would have got killed by Seattle. However, I do think that, you know, on a neutral site field, good weather, you know, the ability to run the offense, giving your defense another shot. I mean, they should have beat the Patriots even with Jared Stidham.

So I'd been interested to see how it would have gone with another two weeks of preparation, you know, that defense of Denver going up against an offense in Seattle that has turned the ball over more than most teams this season and is susceptible. So, I mean, yeah, I wouldn't, you know how I am, guys. I mean, when it comes to the Broncos, it's 20 and O until we ain't. So I'll come up. I'll be the defense attorney and come up with any reasons that I possibly can. I'll dig up dirt from, you know, somebody's past and be like, yeah, this is a reason why the Broncos are winning that game.

So, you know, I think, yeah, realistically, I think they would have been probably, what, seven and a half point underdogs at best, no doubt. But that plays into their favor a little bit, too. So in the land of hypothetical, I would have loved to have seen what would have happened. Not 43 to 8 type stuff. I don't want to be doing that type of stuff again. But, you know, I'd rather not be playing than see that. But at the same time, you know, I don't know. I've always wanted the Broncos in the Super Bowl.

Yeah, that's a good point. That's a good point with like the rematch against Seattle. Like that would have been like if it went sideways and they got blown out in the game. Like that would have been terrible. But Cody's about to call me a degenerate. I would have taken the seven and a half points. Okay. Mr. Benning man here.

I would say this like let's talk about like if Bo Nix was there like, you know, and healthy. And if it was Denver versus Seattle, I would have loved to see that because I would have loved to see Denver beat Seattle. So we could shut that Evan Hill dweeb up on Twitter. That's the one thing. I like Sarah knows who I'll talk about. Anilo, you probably don't know ball on that one.

No, I don't. Evan Hill is an enemy. Bow, Nick's hater from day one. Literally, he's been talking to Broncos fans since that Seattle game. Like a social media guy? Oh, yeah, he's all over. He's all the paper under my shoe. This is why I call BS on the idea.

I know I'm not taking a shot at you, Cody, but this is why I call BS on the idea that, you know, people in the media can't be fans of the, team because that guy Seattle media and it's like dude is literally talking smack to other Broncos fans about imagine Mike Cliss would do that

to somebody you know, go getting I wish Mike would. I wish he would too. I need Mike to set the record straight for some of these fools. Social media is an interesting place. It's not reality I've learned. Yeah.

Well, at least I guess a silver lining is if you're a Bronco fan and you wanted to buy a jersey with the Super Bowl patch on it, there's a lot of flat going around of the quality of the jerseys that are being sold. I don't know if you guys have seen that on social media. So it is what it is. I agree. I think we all wish the Broncos were in the Super Bowl.

It's unfortunate that they're not. But we do got to get to take a step back here and reevaluate some stuff with this team. Moving on over into the off season. I see we got Nick back here on the show. Just give me a temperature of the room, Nick, now that we've had a little time to digest this Broncos season. Well, I think the temperature has turned up to 98 degrees. And the reason why the temperatures turned up to that volume,

you know, is because everyone realized what the Broncos could have achieved with a couple of maybe coaching moves and decisions in the game against the Patriots and it's going to suck because most Broncos fans I've spoken to say they're not going to watch the Super Bowl. And I told them, you know what, let's be totally honest between you and me. I know you're upset, but that's a lie. You're going to watch anyway because you want to see the catastrophe that could take place between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. And you want to root for the Seattle Seahawks to destroy the Patriots

because for some reason, that's going to make some fans feel better about the outcome that we watched a week ago when the Broncos lost. And I'm telling you, that's not therapy. It's not going to help. It's not going to change anything. But the idea is still, the temperature is still at 98 degrees because of what this team can possibly achieve. Knowing as though all that money that the Broncos were paying Russell Wilson,

it's no longer on the books. You have an opportunity to go out and spend money and make this team better. So, I mean, we can cook from 98 degrees to 230, wherever you guys want to go. Well, real quick, if you are going to watch the Super Bowl and you're interested in betting on the Super Bowl, let me tell you about our friends who are at FanDuel.

If you're a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in bonus bets. If you win, make it count because after the Super Bowl, the season is over. Last call for football on FanDuel, an official sports book partner of Super Bowl 60. So unanimously, you talked about it, Nick. I'm rooting for Seattle in this game.

and Cody and Sarah, are we both pulling for Seattle here, or is Evan Hill going to play some mind games with you? I'm not rooting for anybody. I don't really care. Like, I'm just, I want a good football game, plain and simple, you know, since there's not a coverage interest on my behalf this year. We're going to have wings. I'm going to enjoy food.

I'm going to, you know what? I'm going to enjoy the commercials. That's what I'm doing. The commercials haven't been good for like a decade, though. There's always hope that this. Like, T-Moo. Like, you know, like these random ads. I'll get amped up for the commercials, I guess, but then I'll probably be let down after.

It's not what it used to be. I got to say, too. I mean, this is the least I've cared about a Super Bowl in a really long time, right? I mean, when you think about the fact that the chiefs aren't in it to hate watch or there's no Joe Burrow to root for or Matthew Stafford to root for like those guys maybe getting their first Super Bowl ever or a team winning it for the very first time, like, man, shoot, Nick's got me. me, Nick's got my brain all on something else right now. He said 98 degrees. So I'm like, it's the hardest thing. I've grouped for the Seahawks.

You know what I'm saying? I have to. I have to do it. I don't want to see the Patriots win another Super Bowl. Get out of here with that. They've been there 12 times. They've won it six times. Yeah, I mean, it might be the hardest thing to do.

But look, like, you've got to be rooting for the Seahawks. If you're a Broncos fan, there's no, like, allegiance to the AFC. There's no, like, how could you possibly be feeling bad? for the Patriots. I mean, unless you're like a North Carolina Tar Heels fan and you're like, Drake May is my guy. You know what I'm saying? I don't see any reason that you could possibly root for the Patriots in this game. Really quickly. So with that being said, Broncos fans, here's another tie hand, right? I mean, you don't want the Patriots to win, so you're definitely rooting against them. But, I mean, if you are rooting for Seattle, you're also rooting for former Broncos quarterback.

and Drew Lott to win as a football as well. So there's another reason for the Broncos to root for the Seattle Seahawks. I saw a clip yesterday that, you know, he still has relative fond memories of his time in Denver when he was speaking at Media Row last night. So there's a little rooting interest. And I also think like Broncos' interest aside, I think it would be pretty cool to see Sam Darnel get a championship, just considering like the ups and downs that he's had to go through throughout the course of his career. So, yeah, I mean, I'm not a Seattle Seahawks fan necessarily. I don't really like the Patriots either.

But I'm kind of with Cody. I'm just hoping it's a good game. Like I just want like a close, you know, back and forth type game. Like let's not have a blow and have this thing be over by, you know, 10 minutes in the second quarter. So we can enjoy our food and enjoy our commercials. That's kind of where I'm at on that front.

So let us know on the comment section. If you're rooting for this one side or the other, where you're going to watch the game, what you're going to do for the game, Super Bowl Sunday. It's always like a national holiday here in America. So should be fun. Okay.

I want to talk about the, the coaching situation for the Denver Broncos because there's a number. I don't want to say a mass exodus, but it's been an exodus to a certain extent, you know, five different coaching vacancies that Denver's going to have to fill here. And we'll dive into Davis Webb and kind of the offensive situation after the break. But Cody, just your initial thoughts on the sheer amount of coaches that Denver is going to have to replace. Well, I mean, I don't think it's anything crazy. I mean, three of them are firings by Sean Payton, right?

So naturally, those are going to be replaced relatively quickly. Now you have two departures. One of those departures, in my opinion, not really a key departure. The other one, Jim Leonard, which will obviously get into, I think, is a key one. And you never know. There could be even positions created. We've seen that happen before for maybe certain coaches. So I think there's a lot to talk about when it comes to this coaching staff,

the positions that are vacant right now. And I have some ideal names as to maybe who could fill Jim Leonard's role as well. So I'm excited for us to get deep into that. as well. Yeah, and Leonard, I know is a guy that Broncos country was hoping to retain and protect. I think Leonard and Davis Webb were the two guys that Broncos country wanted to keep around the most. My bit surprised

Vance didn't get a head coaching job, which might speak to, he might be with the Broncos for the foreseeable future, just given the sheer amount of opportunities that were out there this season. But with Webb and Leonard in particular, they split. So they keep one, they lose the other. And obviously, the handful of other position groups that they're going to have to replace.

There's plenty of work for Sean Payton and George Peyton to do. Most definitely, but I think if you would have told Broncos country going into the offseason, hey, you're going to get Vince Joseph back, you're going to get Davis Webb back. I think those two right there are the ones that you're saying like, all right, cool, like we can we can keep moving because what is the team really losing with Joe Lombardi? And again, I say that with I have no disrespect to Joe whatsoever. I don't know him personally, obviously, but I would say that now there's an actual chance with Davis Webb coming on.

I know you said, you know, we're going to talk about that in the upcoming segment, but I think just to kind of tease that a little bit too, I think that's a chance for this offense to actually evolve a little bit. And maybe even for Sean Payton to evolve into a place that we've never seen. But I think the continuity of the staff is pretty much there. And those two, those two hirings that are yet to be made, I'm fascinated by because is there going to be a Davis Webb influence at the wide receiver coach job? And if there is, what does that mean as far as, you know, we're keeping the tinfoil

hats on from last week's squad show. But that receiver position and then the cornerbacks position, it's interesting. Those are the two positions that struggled the most technique-wise last year, aren't they? The wide receivers, Sean Payton called it out with the drops. The cornerbacks, Riley Moss is practicing with boxing gloves, you know, late in the season. So I think that those are the two position groups that you could say, okay, they needed maybe a change or a shock to the system, if nothing else. You said last season.

It's like one of the few times and it's like, dang, dude. Like it is last season now, right? Like we don't have like a ton of meat on the bone with respect to like training camp to kind of get hyped up for next season. Like obviously we'll internally be that way. But like we're kind of in this weird stage of like grief where it's like it's over, but we got to move on and, you know,

where we go with all that. So why don't we hit a break? We'll continue along with the conversation. Let's dive into the offensive coaching situation. Some good news for the Denver Broncos in their fans with Davis Webby. being promoted to offensive coordinator. We'll talk about his impact and what we might expect from his role moving forward when we come back right here on your lockdown Bronco squad show.

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started. All right, welcome on back into your lockdown of Broncos squad show. We got the whole crew here today. AP, Cody, work, Sarah Beninger, Nick Ferguson. Off the heels of that, fan do we'll read real quick, Nick.

You said you're heading down there tomorrow for media row. Yes, I am. I will be there in the building. Talk to me about what you're going to be doing. I've been to the last three. I'm not going this year, but what are you looking to accomplish down there? Well, I mean,

the great thing about the Super Bowl and Radio Row, it's an opportunity for a lot of people to go down there and make connections. And if you have some kind of charity or product that you're selling, which someone is always selling something, it's an opportunity to kind of jump over different stations. And then actually push it for me. I've been a part of this company called Drug Free World where we go out and we talk to schools and kids and administrators about, you know,

the importance of being knowledgeable about drugs. Phentanol is a big issue. So being able to go out there and talk about that. And this year I would not be alone. My dude, Marshall Folk, would be out there with me as well. You've kind of brought him into the fault. So it's going to be kind of a one-two tandem between he and myself down there on Radio Row. Former CU running back coach, Marshall Folk.

Let me know if you get any information on the Colorado Buffalo down there. What a season that was for that. Okay. Back to business, though, with the Denver Broncos here. Radio Row is really cool. That's why I want to let you say your thing. It's always a cool experience. We'll bummed out. I'm not going to be there this year, but, you know, it is what it is.

Davis Webb, officially yesterday, it was announced that he has been promoted to offensive coordinator. I believe he was the assistant head coach, along with quarterback's coach, was his official titles going back to last season. So I think, you know, Jim Leonard, as we mentioned, like him and Davis Webb were kind of the one, two guys that you wanted Broncos country to, or that you wanted the Broncos rather to retain. I would actually say I think Davis Webb is more important just because of the relationship that he has with Bo Nixon and the questions that maybe a lot of people have surrounding this Broncos offense. So I think promoting Davis Webb, Cody, was not only the logical choice, but it seemed like a foregone conclusion to a certain extent,

assuming he wanted that job, which indeed he did. Yeah, and look, I would argue this too. I would say Jim Leonard out of, I'd say he was the third guy you wanted to retain, right? Because really the retention aspect of Jim Leonard was, hey, well, Vance Joseph goes for a head coaching job. You want to retain Jim Leonard so he could be the D.C. And so obviously, like with Vance staying, I think that maybe the writing was kind of on the wall there.

Like Leonard wanted to get those D.C. opportunities. And he interviewed at a handful of different places. So obviously, happy for him. I think he's going to be a great young coach. I think he's going to be great for the Bills organization. The way he coaches, he does things the right way. He's not all about, like, you know, he's a big believer of not trying to go out there and intentionally trying to make things uncomfortable for his association.

assistant coaches, just saying, hey, like, coach do things the right way, be a good coach, be a good leader. Like, that's the thing he wants to emphasize as a coach. But for Davis, well, here's the thing that's interesting. You know, this was a couple months ago, I talked to someone close to Davis. And now that obviously Davis has his promotion, I can kind of talk about this a little bit. But he had told me basically that the thing, in Davis's initial contract, he signed in 23, it was already in his contract, essentially that offensive coordinator was going to be

on the table for him at some point. It was either that, you know, so now that's kind of come to fruition. But here's the thing. I think everyone wants to know what, like, is Davis going to be calling plays or not? I think that's really where the hang up is. And here's the, here's the thing. He had serious, legitimate head coaching interest from other teams and coordinator interest.

There were four other teams where they wanted him. He was their top target for an offensive coordinator job, Giants being one of them, Ravens being another one of those teams. And he would have had full play calling authority. And he would have been working with, you know, in Baltimore, he would have been working with Lamar Jackson. He turned that down to stay in Denver. Would he stay in Denver if he's not calling plays?

To me, I just, I don't know. We're going to find out from Sean Payton probably in the NFL scouted combine when he meets. But the fact he stays is so big, so big for the Broncos. Well, I think it was Chris Thomason of the Denver Gazette that put it out yesterday. I don't think there's been any connection necessarily, one way or the other to Davis Webb calling plays. But to your point, we'll find out sooner around. rather than later. And let's just, let's assume that he's not calling plays, just for the sake of

conversation right now. I think promoting him, because Joe Lombardi was essentially just, you know, fill in a role, no pun, you know, no disrespect intended to Mr. Lombardi when I say that, but like he was kind of just there for Sean, right? They had a relationship, all that kind of stuff. If Davis is not calling the plays, I still think it's a great promotion just because of the relationship that he has with Bo Nix and has a relationship with the rest of this offense. So from that perspective alone, Sayer, I think it's a big plus for Denver to keep him in the room and elevate him to a different role. Yeah, I think keeping him at all is a massive W.

However, I would say if he's not going to be the quarterbacks coach and you're promoting him to offensive coordinator and not letting him call plays, I have two problems with that. Number one, you promoted him and he's not getting any additional responsibilities necessarily that we, I mean, he was the past game coordinator last year, right? So we already know he has involvement in the game plan and, you know, all the plays that are being installed and whatnot. So if you're pulling him away from being the guy who's in the room with Bo Nix every single day, and I don't know necessarily logistically that that will be the case. But if you're pulling him away from that particular situation and putting Logan Kilgore now in that spot,

I think to me he better be getting some sort of responsibilities in terms of having authority over the offense. And you guys know I'm a big Star Wars fan if you didn't know that. I'll tell you right now, Star Wars is my thing. So I think of it in terms of like George Lucas, right? He created Star Wars. He has, he's everything that he put out there about Star Wars is Star Wars canon. And he has this guy and has had this guy for, you know, 20 plus years named Dave Faloni, who's now taking over Star Wars.

But back when George was still involved, Dave was writing stories. Dave was calling shots on shows. Dave was calling shots on new characters. Dave was creating threads and story arcs and all these sorts of things. I think the Broncos need something very similar where, okay, Sean, this is your story, man. This is your playbook. This is your offense, right? But Davis Webb is the Dave Faloni.

He's going to start creating the story arcs. He's going to start saying, hey, this is how I think should be used. This is how I think we need to get Evan Ingram involved. This is how we can really maximize a run-pass balance. This is a, and calling those plays because ultimately, if you're removing him from the quarterback room, you better be giving him some sort of autonomy over what the offense is going to be doing, at least in my opinion. Yeah, I think that makes sense. I think another thing, something that I've kind of picked up on from the breadcrumbs of the season,

that I think Davis Webb plays a massive role in with this Broncos offense, is translating the overly complex play calls of Sean Payton and for lack of better phrase, dumbing them down and making them easier to process. for the quarterbacks and the rest of the position players as well, which would come with the territory of, of course, being the offensive coordinator now. So it's interesting. We'll have to see how it plays out, Nick,

but I think this is a situation where I don't think you can really complain about where the offensive coordinator situation ended up. No, I don't think you can complain about it, but there's some things that we need to definitely keep a watchful eye on because the one guy who, and I said this last time, who was kind of the buffer between Sean Payton and the quarterback himself was Davis. Webb and we go back to Russell Wilson and what that and how trivial and chaotic that

situation was. But just think about, you know, Bo Nix and his growth. I mean, I mean, Say or said, Logan Kilgore is now going to be in the quarterback room. That is probably the most important position because you're dealing with the quarterback on the day-to-day basis. And I don't think, you know, with this promotion by Davis Webb, he's willing to relinquish those responsibilities.

As we talk about Sean Payton, not willing to relinquish responsibilities to play call it because to me, Davis Webb has built a tremendous relationship with Boe Nix over this time. And what we're seeing that Bo is now going until his junior year as a quarterback of the Denver Broncos as we move into 2026. And he's going to need to lean on someone he is quite fond with. Like Logan Kilgoal was working with the tight ends. And I'm not trying to discredit him at all, but there is already a relationship built in with Davis Webb that you don't want to destroy. And I want to go back to Sarah's comment of mentioning Star Wars.

When you think about this situation, yeah, George Lucas created Star Wars, but I guess the fan favorite of all Star Wars movies was The Empire Strikes Back. And that was a movie that wasn't even directed by George Lucas. So could this be the Empire Strikes Back for the Denver Broncos

allowing Davis Webb to now call the plays for the Denver Broncos, right? Now we're talking. Could we see this, right? Could we see maybe Sean and Davis Webb saying, you know, like, I am your father. Having that moment and having bone nicks to a whole different level, sign me up for it. The question is, will Darth Vader in this situation, aka Sean Payton for comparison's sake, will he allow that to happen?

Right. Like will Sean put his pride to the side and relinquish play calling? Something that I don't think he's ever done since he obtained play calling control. role, you know, going back to his career way back when. And so I think that's the big question. But I would feel a lot better. I still feel really good about the Broncos next year. I'm not trying to say this is the difference between, you know,

repeating the success they had this year or not. But I would feel a lot better about Denver's chances just in these games, in these situations next year, if Davis Webb were calling the plays, Cody. Yeah, I mean, here's the thing too, Sean. I think Sean is a great play caller in a sense, right? Has he been as effective as of late? I don't know. I would say that's kind of arguable.

And there is a reason, right? You don't like failed screen passes and work in the middle of the field every single play? Well, so here's the thing. I think so many people have to also understand. I don't think a lot of folks know how to differentiate what a screenplay is and what an RPO is, so to speak, right? Because the screenplay means that you're letting defensive linemen come up field and you're trying to get it out. An RPO, I mean, it's involved in them reading somebody. Yes, you're, you know, you're determining whether you're going to hand it off or throw it.

But you're throwing it behind the line of scrimmage. because it's a bubble, right? And you're working on trying to get your blocker. So it's not always a screenplay. That's one thing I always wanted to say. I see people say that all the time. For me, it was like Collinsworth. It's like all these national guys said, oh, look at the RPO when it's not really an RPO, like, so to speak.

So it's just one of those things I wanted to clear up. But here's the thing. Sean, what prompted Sean to be so reflective as of late, right? Just about three and a half, four weeks ago where he was asked about, you know, play calling, something like that. And it wasn't any question about changes or anything like that. he said, you know, eight years ago, I'd run a reverse on the eight-yard line and not think anything of it. Now it's like he's more cognizant of what he's calling in a sense and thinking about what are the repercussions. When you think like that, well, now I think that slows down your ability to get the play in effectively.

And we've seen not only with Bo Nix, we sought with Jared Stedham in the AFC championship game. I was paying attention to it where they're trying to get the play in from Sean quicker because they're running up against the clock. This is where Davis Webb can help, right? Here's my pitch. Sean Payton and Davis Webb collaborated on the game plan, right? Sean has primary control of the game plan, but let Davis call the plays, right? One thing that I don't think many people noticed, and they don't show this on the broadcast cameras, but Parker Gabriel myself, we paid attention to this throughout the season.

Davis Webb was shadowing Sean this year, right? He's shadowing him quite a bit. When Boe comes off, it is Davis going to the bench with the iPad with Boe. I do think that there is, there is a strong chance that Sean could relinquish the play, the play calling. Now is Sean going to come out outright and say it? I don't think that he will. I think, I think Davis will call plays, but also think you'll have Sean on the headset as well. And it may look like he's calling the plays. They may not want to give this up. But then again, if it was just reported that he was considering giving it to Joe Brady,

why not Davis Webb at this point? Why? Why not? I was going to say read between the T leaves with that. I mean, if you're willing to potentially give it up for Joe Brady, why would you not give it up for Davis Webb? Exactly. It just seems logical. And I agree. I think they'll try to be pretty coy about it. I don't know if Sean will like definitively come out and say, yeah,

I'm past the baton to Davis, right? I think it'll be more so subtle and just maybe things that we pick up on with body language and, you know, communication throughout the course of training camp and into the preseason and, of course, the regular season. So we shall see.

But at the end of the day, man, I think this is a great decision for the Denver Broncos to promote Davis Webb to offensive coordinator. We've heard Jared Sidham talk about how much he loves him. Bo Nix has a high affinity for him. well. It seems like everybody has good things to say about Davis Webb. So it's a good thing the Broncos were able to keep in the organization, 100%.

And could be potentially. I mean, we don't know how the next few years are going to shake out. He could be the next head coach of the Broncos. Just, you know, maybe how things shake out with Sean. I don't know. Like the guy was interviewing for head coaching jobs and we know how impactful this Broncos ownership group is, right? Like, this is where you want to be from everybody you talk to that has coached or played in this building under the Walton Penner ownership group. So I don't know. We'll see what happens with Davis Webb. but the good news is he's sticking around with the Broncos. All right, let's hit a quick break. We'll come back.

Let's shift on over to the other side of the football. The defensive side, Vance Joseph is staying put. Jim Leonard is out the door. We'll talk about that decision and what comes with it as well. Next, right here on your lockdown Broncos squad show. All right, you guys, let me tell you, there it is, about our friends over at TurboTax,

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Back to your life, visit turbotax.com slash local to book your appointment today. Cody and I were talking about it before the show. I actually think I'm going to use TurboTax this year because I hate doing the taxes to pain in the rear end if you know what I'm saying. So be sure to check out our friends that we're at TurboTax and let them know. Lockdown Broncos sent you. Okay, welcome on back into the program, Locked on Broncos Squad Show, Nilo Piro, Cody Worc, Sarah Bedenger, and Nick Ferguson. If you're watching on YouTube, we appreciate each and every one of you.

hit that like button, smash that subscribe button. Really helps us out on the channel. And shout out as well to all of our audio listeners. I like to listen to a podcast when I'm driving or at the gym. So I know there's probably a lot of you that do that as well. So we appreciate each and every one of you that helped make this show. What do you smile on about, Cody? You finally get back to the gym or what?

Oh, brother, I did. But, you know, I was just prompted to think in my head. You're like, I listen to podcasts at the gym. Okay, that's awesome. How do you do that? I need to listen to music. I need to listen to something that makes me just want to destroy things, right? So real quick, I know it's off top

Here are the options. All right. AP, you start. Then we'll go Sarah and Nick real quick. What is your gym song? Your absolute, I must play this song every time I go to the gym. What is your one go-to gym song? I'm ADHD, bro, so it kind of varies.

Like, sometimes I'll be, I mean, sometimes I'll be, like, mainly it's like heavy metal. So I'll listen like Slipknot. You know, I'll throw in some depth. I can lie. I might even get lied, dude. Sometimes I'll be listening to. which I know is probably going to take you guys for a bit of a surprise, dude, that stuff gets me pumped up, bro.

I can listen to country music. Here's the thing. Sometimes I get mad at myself enough that I don't need music so I can just kind of raw dog it. But it kind of depends on the mood, you know, sometimes I'm like, oh, you know, I got to just get it down. What's wrong with you? It just depends on my mood, dude, you know. But probably Slipknot. Slipknot is probably heaviest in the rotation.

What song, though? Not artist. Wait and bleed. Psychosocial. Psychosocial is a good one, too. And duality. Yeah, bangers. This Brock goes off season makes me want to push my fingers into my eyes.

Anyways, terror. What do you got? Yeah, I'm, I guess the psycho of the group. I do not listen to music whatsoever when I work out. However, I will say, no, yeah, I don't know. I can do it. I turn it on, like, YouTube stuff. But I will say the science of music is this, guys.

The BPM of every song that you listen to correlates directly to your heart rate. So if you're talking about heavy metal during workout, you're going to probably get up into zone two a little bit quicker, which that is understandable. And I will say back in high school days, when I'm working out in that musty old high school gym, there was nothing that hit quite like trapped or, you know, nine inch nails and things like that. You know what I love that. I love that. I listen to the new Don Tolliver album yesterday at the gym is pretty good. You just don't like anything I have to say, Cody. No, just, you know, once again. Music people can't understand.

It's just, you know, it's like... Music is subjective. Yeah. Okay. It's not like sports, it's black and white. Oh my gosh, Cody. All right. What about you, Nick?

Well, if it's, if it's me, I'm listening to maybe some little baby, emotions, part, or maybe it's wicked from future. Mm. Or the go-to, if I really need that late push and I'm tired. Rick Ross, for Lauren, and Mick Mills, ambition.

All excellent choices. All popped up in my rotation at some point of the other. Just, you know, sometimes like when you get a good shuffle going too, like I just like,

sometimes I zone out and I don't even like remember the music. It's just kind of like background filler for me. I still don't know how you got the K-pop. I have no idea. Bro. K-pop.

Let's talk about it. You know, we can do a show on it. What are we talking about? We're talking about BTS. Are we talking Black Pink? Are we talking demon hunters? What are we talking?

You know, I usually find a playlist on Spotify. And I kind of honestly, I like K-pop and I'm not like an EDM guy necessarily either, but when I do cardio, I like that music. There we go. Because it's more so like upbeat, you know, like, you know,

that heart rate up. Right. Yeah. So that kind of depends. Wait, if you want to get your heart rate up, now you're talking about Metallica into the sandman. Amen. As in the rotation. Sometimes I listen to the Rocky Four soundtrack. Like, you know, it just, it kind of depends on the flavor of the day.

Okay. Or it's sports talk podcast. I don't know. ADHD mind at work. Whatever feels good that day, you know? Crazy. You have any more workout thoughts, Cody? I see you on your mega fit grind.

Yes, sir. No, I would say this. You know, for me, I listen to, I know, fans are like, what are you? You know, we're more than just football talk show people, too. So it's nice to change things up every once in a while. I, Rob Zombie, Super Beast, anything J. Cole related, Metallica, Slipknot, you name it, anything that's hard upbeat. That's my go-to for sure.

I love it. Yeah, now that it's the off-season, we can kind of kick back and, you know, have a little more fun with the shows. It's not as like human beings a little bit more. Yeah, and not as like regimented. Like, win or loss, winner, pass, blitz or, you know, whatever it might be. So we'll have some fun with it. Engage eight, that's my thing. Blitz all the time, baby.

Oh, my God, dude. I tried to play Madden the other day with a buddy. What the heck has happened to that? It's garbage. Garbage. It used to be so fun. I know. Open football QB, bro.

Check it out in the app store. You know, I've never played that game. You never played bad at it, not even as yourself, like when you were in the games back in the day? How narcissistic would that be for me to play? Oh, I'd have to do it. It's the other one here who had the chance to do it, Nick. Come on. Like, what the heck?

I created myself a million times in the game. I put myself in the game every year I had it. So we're narcissistic for that. Like, I put myself as a corner, returner, you know, and I set records, man. So, I mean, you know, it's a fun little narcissism that we have. But Nick, Madden, 2008. my man, that's a good one. That's like when that was the first ever Xbox 360 version of Madden,

some sort of next gen. And I just remember, you know, you had Jay Cutler, Rocket Arm in that game. But Nick Ferguson, he was his safety. So, yeah, not only was Nick in Madden, but Nick was in Madden like during the best years of Madden. Like we're talking about Madden 04, Madden 05, Madden 2006. Come on, man. Those are the games, like the ultimate version of the game. So if you get a chance.

Nick. I mean, treat yourself, my man. Like, that is some good stuff. Go get yourself on Xbox. No, I can't, I can't do it. It's just, I don't know, just something about the game and whatever. Now, I will tell you this, I did have a buddy of mine when I was playing in that time period that you guys were talking about. He just called me one day screaming and yelling at me saying that I cost him a game. And I was like, what the hell are you talking about? User error. Yeah, he said he was playing against someone online. I guess he was playing for money or something. And he said that somehow I missed a tackle

and cost him a game. And I'm like, that's a video game, dog. That's not me. But, yes. That is, man. Brad, he had a young on the cover. Yes. Honestly,

go buy an Xbox 360. You could probably get one for 100 bucks. Get Mad No, no, 8. Load that bad boy up. Have fun, bro. That was one of my favorite games ever. Mad No 8, 360. man. I do miss the old PlayStation tour, like the regular Xbox ones, like Madden as Sarah

say Madden 04. I'd say Madden up to Madden 07, you know, where you could actually remember the cards that you could activate like fumbleitis or something like that. Like yeah, Nick, did you, okay, if you're not going to play Madden, did Madden ever pay you though for using your name, image and likeness? No, that all came back. They didn't pay me personally, but it all came back through NFL licensing. Yeah. Where everyone kind of got, you know, a check through the union or whatever. But yeah, that's about it.

Interesting. I can't really, I can't do that, man. It just sounds weird for me. No, I'll do it for you. That's my boy. Maddnoway, Xbox 360, Champ Bailey is a freaking weapon. Unbelievable.

You know, my buddies and I do for fun, like randomly, like, we'll be like, you know, I'll be like, you know, I'll just play an Xbox these days. is my buddy will just pull up like madden 11 there's 299s 598's you know 697s like name them and we'll just go back in the memory bank of just like who was good in that time it used to be so much more fun but it is what it is if you play mad and still more power to you it's just it's not it's not for me anymore same with 2k i used to play time yeah it just ain't the same but okay uh broncos football real quick let's just talk about the defense here or you know what Let's save the defense for the final segment.

If we're kind of in a goofy mood this segment, have you guys seen that ridiculous? I don't want to call it ridiculous because maybe there is some validity to it. But the Vikings fired their GM and now people are like trying to connect George Payton to the Vikings. Obviously spent a lot of time there. I believe he's the assistant GM before he was hired as the official GM here for the Denver Broncos. Like I believe Peyton is going into the last year of his contract. Yeah.

I mean, like what are we making in this situation? Like Minnesota's, you know, kind of in an interesting. interesting spot here now. It appears that ownership is very fond of George Payton. I mean, are we connecting any dots here, Cody, or is this just social media spewing stuff? I mean, social media spewing stuff. But I mean, it's also the ties that bind, right? It's like, oh, George left Minnesota to go be a GM in Denver. I'm sorry, what's more appealing right now, Denver or Minnesota, you know, with the ownership group in then. Yeah, 100%. And look, I understand that, you know, you know, George knows Minnesota's ownership group. You know,

they know him well, but why leave a great situation to go to a place is probably going to require more, like especially with all the stuff that's come out about like the quarterback pick and J.J. McCarthy, he obviously doesn't seem like he's going to be their long-term guy. I know they fumbled that and that was a big reason why Questie got fired. But I also felt like it was really poor taste by the Vikings to fire him and a big reason, you know, also like the other stuff getting out that, well, he took two weeks of paternity leave. That's ridiculous, man. Like he could take that.

You know, at the end of the day, the NFL preaches so much about, hey, we want to make sure we, you know, our coaches are great fathers and great husbands and this and that. But people to kind of like bag on Questi for that. He still worked remotely. I understand this during training camp, all right? To me, it's just if that's a stuff that's getting out as to like, hey, this is a reason that, you know, they looked at firing him. Stupid. Just stupid, in my opinion. Yeah, I mean, like, we're humans.

Like, it's the birth of a child, dude. Like, I mean, if you want to make the argument. Brady. Yeah, exactly. Like, you know, the guys that want to do that stuff, like more power to them. Like, you know, Nick, I know you've been a coach as well. I'm sure there's been a lot of long nights, a lot of times where you're away from your family, but it's also like we're human at the end of the day.

So, you know, we'll see what happens. We'll see your child once. Yeah. For the most of like, unless you have another baby. Right. I'll tell you this. I work with Quasi in San Francisco before you became the GM. Very hardworking guys.

Unfortunately, the situation is what it is. But usually around this time when someone is either fired or the way they say, we mutually decided to part ways. No one mutually decides to part ways in anything. But when something like that happens or where Quazy finds himself, all these other things that took place that no one had an issue with now come up as far as, okay, well, he was relieved of his duties because of this, that, and the other thing. It's always a tough situation. I don't think we will ever get the truth to it, but I think it goes back to watching Sam Darno. I think it goes back to that.

And the idea that, okay, I don't know if it was this crazy or just Kevin O'Connell in the building say, hey, we're sold on our quarterback and not retaining the skills and the services of Sam Darno and you see what he's been able to do thus far. And I'm thinking if you're going to do that, then you need to go back in history and every team that Sam Darno played for

and fire all those people. right because all those individuals overlooked and look at look going from the jets organization say Minnesota and then think about what happened in Carolina right and then you go to he goes to San Francisco he links up with Kyle Shanahan and Clint Kubiak and he goes to Minnesota and then he is this great sensation he went 14 and three with the Minnesota Vikings the same record with the Seattle Seahawks but once again man that that's a story that once again we'll never get the end to figure out exactly what it is. It's unfortunate that Quazy was fired,

but now it brings us full circle to Sam Donnell and look at how he's changed, how we look at quarterbacks, and in my opinion, how we evaluate quarterbacks moving forward. Yeah, I completely agree with you. And to bring it back to just like the George Payton situation, like I understand the AFC West is not exactly the easiest division

to be a part of right now. But the NFC North, you know, you got Chicago, you've got Green Bay, you've got Detroit. And I think the one thing outside of just the Broncos ownership group is like you've got a quarterback. Like do you want to go walk back into a situation in Minnesota? I'll be it. You're familiar with how they operate over there. But like dealing with J.J. McCarthy, I get you've got a great head coach in Kevin O'Connell.

But like knowing that you've got three teams that are going to be playoff contenders every single year. And you're the one team that doesn't appear to have a quarterback right now. Like who wants to? I'd rather live in Denver than Minnesota as well. Like, like just throw all that in here too. Convincing them to trade up, man, is always. You know, it's so great at this point. Someone check on Thor.

I'm sure he's in his feelings. Thor. Yeah, man. I enjoy it. I don't think anything's going to come with this. I mean, we'll see. Maybe he really is just that in the fond of Minnesota, but how would you not be fond of Denver of what you built here?

I mean, and look, he also had a harsh reality check when he first got to Denver before Sean Peyton arrived of like the Hackett Russell Wilson dynamic. Like that didn't. No ownership in place. Right.

And so you're finally in a comfortable spot here. and you've got a team that's going to be, you know, a Super Bowl contender next year. Like, why would you want to leave that? Like I can understand if they've won one, right? And he's like, okay, look, I checked my box here. I got myself a ring. I want to go back home to Minnesota. But, you know, just obviously some natural connections there, but I don't think.

Let me throw something in here really quickly. Something that we've never seen before. We've seen it in baseball, but we've never seen it in the NFL. And as we talk about Minnesota and, you know, George Payton's connections to the Vikings, don't forget the person that came along with him was Kelly Klein, right? Kelly Klein has been through a lot of these league type of rebuilding or trying to build up GMs. I mean, I know it's a far fetch and say that I'm wearing my 10-4 hat here, but the NFL and the Minnesota Vikings could be the first to do it in the NFL by bringing a female GM

because, once again, she's been close to George Payton this entire time. She's very good at her job, too. Kelly is a very, very brilliant football mind. Yeah, no, that's a good point. So we'll keep tabs on what happens with George P. And I hopefully just smoke and no fire. But we'll see what happens on that front. But okay, let's hit our final break.

When we come back, we'll wrap up the show with some thoughts on the Broncos defense. Vance Joseph is here to stay. Jim Leonard is heading to Buffalo. What does that mean for the Broncos? We'll break that down next right here on your lockdown Broncos squad show. All right, you guys. real quick. Let me tell you about our friends over at Better Help

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and let them know that Locked on Broncos sent you. What's that smirk? The meme god, you know. I just said, our group text, I just said over a funny meme, man. We're having fun on today. I like this, man. I stopped being so buttoned up all the dang time. Yeah, no, I'm with you, dude.

Like, it was, like, obviously, I love what I do for a job. Like, I love going to the games. I love going to practice. Like, I love talking about this stuff. But, like, December to, like, last week, dude, I was like, Like, I'm not even a lot of you. Like after like Broncos media last week, I gave myself like two days I worked from home and I was just like,

I'm just going to like rot on the couch. I was so stressed I got COVID. That's exactly what happened. Really? Bro, I got, I never get sick. I got sick on Christmas. I got sick last week, tested positive. And now I feel better. Like, I just feel good.

What you get sick for? Bro, I never get sick. It's so weird. I think my, I think I've been so stressed this season. This was been like as fun as it's been. This has been the most stressful like, work-related stress of my life just because I'm got so many irons in the fire. I'm juggling so many different roles.

So it's nice to have some breathing room. And I'm sure for Broncos country, it's nice to have Vance Joseph back as well. Yeah, 100%. And I think it was either you or Sarah that brought it up earlier, right? Like with respect to like most important coaches to try to retain. Like one of you brought up a good point that like losing Jim Letter doesn't feel as bad because you retain Vance Joseph. I don't think that's necessarily the same with the offensive situation

just because there was room to improve on offense. And look, there's always room to improve on defense as well, but you feel really good about where this defense is at under the command of Vance Joseph. And so the fact that they were able to keep him, you lose Jim Leonard in the process, which is unfortunate. But, Sarah, I think this defense is going to be just fine. And I think Nick Benito had a quote,

I think I saw come out yesterday at the Pro Bowl, whatever they're doing. I don't even know with the Pro Bowl. Isn't that tonight, by the way? Yeah, I don't care about it. But yeah, I don't care about it either. But clearly the players are fired up. I believe Zach Allen's only only ever played for Vance Joseph in his NFL career as well. So getting Vance back, obviously we hope for Vance the man, he gets a head coaching job at some point.

But for Vance in the Broncos fan perspective, happy to have him back for sure. Oh, 100% right. I mean, you want those players to be excited about who they work for, you know, be excited about the scheme that they're playing. And to know that the coach who's in charge of their financial, future is going to put them in the right positions to be able to make a lot of money. And Vance Joseph, back to back years, guys, if any other, I don't know, I don't know what way to put this. Vance, his defense has set a franchise record in Denver of all places where they had the best pass rush, you know, in the 70s, they had Vaughn Miller, they've had so many of these

other guys. Franchise records in back to back years for sacks. And to not get a head coaching gig. I said before the cycle even started, I'd be shocked if Vance didn't get a job. So I'm shocked. Honestly, I don't understand it. I don't get why you wouldn't want him. I mean, especially if you're the Arizona Cardinals and, you know, you know the guy and he's been in your building before. So I can only assume that Vance didn't want that job. And maybe took some of Sean Payton's words to heart and saying, hey, a lot of these jobs have openings every couple of years. So like, you know, be selective about what ones you're taking. I don't know if Vance. was holding out maybe for like Baltimore or Pittsburgh or something like that.

But I think he deserves that. I don't think necessarily he should just jump at the chance to coach the Cardinals at the first opportunity that comes up or, you know, certainly not the Cleveland Browns or, but there's, there was a lot of jobs out there, really good jobs in the NFL that I don't even know if the dolphins interviewed him. Like I don't think the Steelers interviewed him. And I know that there is the offensive coordinator trend. Like you want these guys to work with quarterback.

but at the same time, it's not like it hasn't worked out for other teams. You know, Mike McDonald is a prime example of being a great head coach and a defensive-minded coach who's got his team. Mike Rable is another one. So, yeah, there's the balance between the trend of like offensive coaches, you know, picking off the Sean McVeigh tree, Kyle Shanahan tree. We want all these guys, the quarterback collective. But like, Vance is just a really great coach who's great at what he does.

And I was surprised that he didn't get more interview opportunities. It was weird because it kind of seemed like a foregone conclusion to us. Like that was the expectation. I feel like a lot throughout the course of the year is like Vance is going to be, you know, out after this season because he's going to get a head coaching job. So I think the fact that you retain him and you have two guys, right, like just look at it this way from like the triangle. Like you've got Sean Payton who's been a head coach for a minute.

You've got Vance Joseph who has head coaching experience. And you've got Davis Webb who at some point will become a head coach in this league. So you have a lot of experience in a lot of different mixes, right? You've got the veteran guy and Sean Payton. You've got the defensive leader and Vance Joseph. You've got the young and up and coming mind in Davis Webb. From a kind of a three-point stance with the head coaching and the assistant coaching department, the Broncos have a really strong coaching staff in particular now that advances back, Nick.

Yeah, that's the one thing that you definitely want to have in the building on either side of the ball, you know, strong structure and culture. But more importantly, you want familiarity with your coaches. And that's how you move things along. Just think about it this way. Remember when Peyton was just kind of dominating when he was with the Colts? Tom Moore was his OC. And knowing as though you have that relationship with that offensive coordinator, and it helps with the terminology.

And you can go out there and you can kind of go out there and execute. When Payton joined the Denver Broncos under Gary Kubiak, I mean, there was a learning curve. There was a lot of things that were different for him. And then they realized, hey, listen, instead of Kube trying to force his system on Peyton, he had to kind of go back to some of the fundamentals and the terminology. that Peyton was familiar with the Colts in order to make that work. And having Davis Webb in the building, once again, man, it is so huge, so big, because the biggest thing that we're talking about is the development and maturity process of Bo Nix.

And you want to make sure that it's a continued process. You don't lose that. And remember, I think it was about a week and a half ago when John Nick Cooper was asked questions about Vance Joseph, and he just kind of smiled and he said something, then he realized what he said, and you try to reverse it. But, I mean, that's what I knew. Vance was coming back. And you're right, guys.

When you look at all the other teams that were out there and say, well, how many of those teams are constantly in this position where they are hiring coaches every three to four years? And if Vance, you don't want to be in that situation because Vance was in that situation once before when he came to the Broncos after leaving Cincinnati after being there for a while because he took that job here knowing as though he wasn't really going to have as much power because minority coaches, they don't receive a lot of those opportunities.

Just look at, you know, this last hiring cycle. There were 10 jobs. Only one minority coach, and that was Rob Salah. So we're still trying to figure out how to work this Rooney Rule. And for Vance, it was like, well, I don't want to take a job that I know I'm going to be out the door in two to three years. I'd rather stay with the team. I'm building the defense.

He loves Boonex, everything he brings to the party. He said, well, I'm going to stay here. Here's what we know every single year. Five jobs always open. This year having to be 10, which is crazy. But he knows that there's going to be another opportunity. So there's going to be another opportunity, 2027, for both him and Davis Webb. Because if the season goes well as I guess we all anticipate that Bronco season is going to go,

then that's when you're talking about losing a Van Joseph. That's when you're talking about losing a Davis Webb. and that is what Sean Payton should be preparing for. But you want to have that luxury as a head coach to know that your coaches, you would develop those guys just like players in-house, and they have the ability to move on because your trees, your branches, now like Mike Shanahan, now they're out there throughout the league. So this is the problem where or the situation I think is really important

as to why Lance Joseph decided to stay. Yeah. I would say this too. Like for Vance and to what Sarah was talking about earlier, here's what I understand of this based on someone I talked to. There's just one person I spoke to. But there was strong interest from Arizona with Vance. And I think over time, as time kind of went on,

Vance took his time with this process. But ultimately, I think it was Vance's decision to not move forward with Arizona. To what I understand, I'd be wrong on that. But it wouldn't also shock me. That doesn't shock me at all. for all the points that you guys just mentioned, like Arizona is not a stable place right now. A lot of these teams aren't stable, and it's because guess what? Ownership is one of the biggest things right now in the NFL.

Arizona's ownership, not necessarily great with bid well over there. So that's also a factor into it. Real quick, I want to throw something out there, a name to keep an eye on for the Broncos' defensive passing game coordinator job. Keep an eye on Greg Williams. Not the Greg with two Gs, folks. I know there are a lot of people said, Greg Williams, no, not that Greg Williams. Greg Williams was actually a cornerbacks coach here in Denver, 2018, 2019. And then on top of that,

ended up being a passing game coordinator with the Green Bay Packers. He worked under Chuck Pagano back in Indianapolis, also coached with Vance Joseph in Arizona for a handful of years. Keep an eye on that as a potential name here. But I couldn't help but think when you were talking about coaching trees, Nick, you brought up Mike Shanahan, the coaching tree. And the one thing we see in today's game, people are like oh it's the Kyle Shanahan Sean McVey coaching tree no it's the Mike Shanahan coaching tree folks it all starts and ends with Mike

and the biggest topic and where I'm leading on that is Bill Belichick not making in the Hall of Fame first ballot everyone's up in arms about that which I look Bill Belichick I thought was always going to be a first ballot Hall of Famer but how come no one's talking about Mike not being in the Hall of Fame how come it's oh Bill Belichick look at what

Mike Shanahan has done how come Mike hasn't been in yet people like well the voting process for the pro football Hall of Fame is flawed because of Bill. Okay, it's been flawed because Mike hasn't been in. Sorry, my dog was whining at the door. He's taking it. The voters stuck.

The voters don't know what they're, they don't know ball, you know what I'm saying? How many years did we complain about the Broncos not having great representation in the Hall of Fame until finally some guys started getting respect? You know, I think it started with Terrell Davis,

if memory serves me right. And then you had a couple years in a row where guys are getting voted in. And it was just like, man, the Broncos get screwed every single year in the Hall of Fame. and yeah, Mike Shanahan is another one of those guys. It's like, who are these voters and what is their problem?

Like what I'd be interested to know like what's their beef? Like what's their process? Because the Hall of Fame voting process every year there's discrepancies. There's disagreements. There's very rarely is everybody like, oh, yeah, that was a good call. Or yeah, that guy should definitely be in or, oh, wow, they made the right choice here. Like it's all, I know there's always going to be disagreement. But man, it feels like they'd never get it right.

We could do a whole show on that. honestly we'll probably we could do a lot on that just because we're going to have some time throughout the course of this off season where different topics come up i mean i'm not a patriots fan but the fact that bill bellichick is not a first ballot hall of favor is a disgrace it's a disgrace and robert craft did it get in today either and so i i don't understand it it's strange times you know let these guys vote how they want this is what you get i guess at the end of the day but it is what it is my shenhan needs to be in the hall of fame and he will be at some point but it's just ridiculous that he's had to uh wait this long and Anyone got any closing thoughts? Well, I'll say this because I know Mike and I play for him. It is disgusting that he's not in. And the fact that Bill Belichick isn't in, that's the problem, Robert Kraft. But there are certain powers that be within that group that there is some bias because there are some guys like Henry Ellert who played years ago when I was a kid.

And when he retired, his stats were up there with some of the best of them. And now since the league has become somewhat of a passing game, he has now started to move back. And that's one of the things that's being held against him. And you need someone who's a sound voice in that room advocating for you. It's no different than the Heisman Trophy. It has to be somewhat of a campaign where your organization is now pushing you and having you out there out front.

And we haven't really seen it. So it is a disgrace that Mike Shanahan isn't based on the number of coaches in the league. But I would expect for Bill Belichick to get in before. Mike and with Bill not getting in this year, it only pushed Mike back maybe another year in 2028 because of what, you know, some people say, well, Bill Polion was behind this and polling and said, well, he doesn't know who he voted for. If you don't know who you voted for, then that means you need to stop voting. Get off the committee. Yeah. If they made the votes public, I think that would change a lot of them. That's what they should do. Hold these people accountable.

You know what I like? Troy Rank. Troy Rank is a pro baseball hall of fame voter. You know what Troy does every year? He posts a picture of his ballot, shows it. I love that. We need more of that. We need that accountability. Yeah, no, I'm with you 100%. Well, we shall see what the future holds for Mike Shamahan as well as the Denver Broncos as they worked through some head of coaching hires they have to make. But all right, that is going to do it for us on today's lockdown Broncos squad show.

It was a fun one. Appreciate each and every one of you that have tuned in throughout the course of the season. And now into the off season on your way out the door, hit that like button, smash that subscribe button for us. Really helps us out. We'll be back again at some point later. this week. I'll sure we'll discuss it after this show. But until then, I guess enjoy the Super Bowl. Get your Valentine's Day reservations if you haven't already because I'm telling you

that has a headache right now. Oh my gosh. You can't. There's nothing. I already booked. When did you book it? Last week. Well, you're lucky.

I'm fighting. I got something though. I'm good. But all right, Broncos country. We appreciate you guys. We'll talk to you guys later this week. My man's got to book his Valentine's Day dinner.