Jonathan Gannon was a hot name when the Eagles hired him to be their defensive coordinator last offseason.
And he might be a hot name again as teams look for head coaches this January.
The Broncos on Monday requested to interview Gannon for their head coaching vacancy, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.
The Broncos fired Vic Fangio on Sunday after three seasons at the helm. Fangio had a 19-30 record in those three seasons.
That opening in Denver is one of several that have popped up in recent days. In all, there are six coaching vacancies in the NFL as of Monday evening: Broncos, Dolphins, Bears, Vikings, Jaguars and Raiders. While the Raiders are in the playoffs, they’re there with an interim coach.
Gannon is the sixth known candidate for the Broncos job, following Patriots LBs coach Jerod Mayo, Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, Cowboys OC Kellen Moore, Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, and Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett.
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Broncos GM George Paton was the assistant GM in Minnesota, so he has already worked with Gannon before. Gannon was the assistant DBs coach in Minnesota for four years before becoming the DBs coach in Indy the previous three.
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Gannon, 39, is considered by many to be an up-and-coming young coach. While his defense got off to a rough start earlier this season, his unit has really turned it around in the second half of the season. Some will say that’s because the level of competition dropped off and some will say it’s because Gannon figured it out. The answer is likely somewhere in the middle.
In any case, Gannon was expected to garner some head coach consideration and that’s coming to fruition.
Back in late December, Gannon was asked about the possible scenario of a team wanting to interview him.
“I appreciate the question, but guys, like come on now,” Gannon said on Dec. 28 before the Eagles’ Week 17 game. “We're fighting to get into the dance. I always talk to our players about be where your feet are. What that means is I'm not thinking about the future. I'm not thinking about the past. I'm thinking about beating Washington. So that's my sole focus with that.”
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Overall this season, the Eagles’ are 18th in points allowed but are a top-10 defense when it comes to yards allowed. They have given up just 328.8 per game.
From Weeks 8-17 (before the Eagles rested starters against the Cowboys), they were tremendous in a nine-game span. The Eagles gave up just 287.8 yards per game over nine games, good for third in the NFL during that stretch.
When Gannon’s name began to get floated late last month, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked what kind of head coach he thought Gannon would make.
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“I think Jonathan would be an awesome head coach,” Sirianni said. “I really wouldn't want to make a joke right there and be like, ‘He'd be terrible,’ because I really want to keep him here because I think so highly of him.
“But I think he would be awesome, again, for the same reasons that I hired him to be the defensive coordinator would be the same reasons I think he would be a really good head coach.”