Now that the Denver Broncos have officially hired Vance Joseph as their next head coach, many people are wondering just what kind of coach the team is getting. To answer that question, we turned to his former boss: Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Paul Guenther, under whom Joseph served as a defensive backs coach for two seasons.
“When I brought him in, I knew him just a little bit here and there, just in the coaching circles,” Guenther told Goodman and Shapiro during The Afternoon Drive on Mile High Sports Radio, “but the minute I started working with him and understanding the kind of guy, the person he is, the kind of coach he is. He’s very detailed. He’s very good with the players. He’s a very organized guy.”
Obviously, Joseph’s coaching expertise is on the defensive side of the ball, which begs the question about the future of Wade Phillips. Even if last season’s defensive coordinator is not retained however, Guenther still expects the unit to be elite.
“The one thing that everybody has got to realize is that in the NFL, it’s about the players,” he said. “He’s going to put those guys in the best positions. At least on the defensive side, I know that he’s going to utilize the talents of the guys that they have there in Denver, which they have a lot of talented guys, so I wouldn’t expect a drop off at all.”
Joseph first interviewed for the Broncos head coaching position prior to the 2015 season. When the team selected Gary Kubiak instead, it was actually Joseph that was their first choice to be defensive coordinator. The Bengals would not let him out of his contact, which led to the Broncos hiring Phillips instead. Though Joseph was not happy with this, he didn’t let the disappointment impact his dedication on the field.
“That was a frustrating time for him, a very frustrating time,” explained Guenther. “Being offered a coordinators job and having to stay as a DBs coach. We had many conversations, many private conversations, and what he did was he came to work every day. He was my right-hand man and he coached his tail off and never complained one bit. So that in itself will tell you all you need to know about Vance.”
Listen to the full interview with Paul Guenther, including his thoughts on how much it matters if a team uses 3-4 or 4-3 defensive alignment for their base defense, in the podcast below.
https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/1-11-17-bengals-dc-paul-guenther-joins-eric-les-to-chat-about-the-broncos-new-hc-vance-joseph
Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro every weekday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.
