When the Denver Broncos and former head coach John Fox decided to mutually part ways on Monday rumors began to swirl regarding his potential replacement. Fox led the Broncos to the playoffs all four years he was at the helm, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2014 that resulted in a 43-8 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
His Denver teams also lost in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs three times, a major disappointment in two of the years considering future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning decided to sign there in hopes of winning another Super Bowl while Tim Tebow was the team’s starting QB in Fox’s first season.
Former Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan and offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak are surprisingly the top two names being mentioned to take over next year from a betting perspective. Sportsbook opened Kubiak as the 5/2 favorite to become the next Denver head coach despite the fact that he just turned down interviews with other teams because he wanted to stay with the Baltimore Ravens as their offensive coordinator.
Kubiak was previously head coach of the Houston Texans, who underachieved for the most part in eight seasons, winning two AFC South titles but losing in the Divisional Playoffs twice and finishing .500 or worse in five other years.
Shanahan, the 7/2 second choice at Sportsbook, led the Broncos to their only two Super Bowl titles in 1998 and 1999 with John Elway as his QB and Kubiak as his offensive coordinator, and he was out of football this past year following a disastrous tenure as head coach of the Washington Redskins. During his four seasons in Washington, Shanahan also held the position of Vice President of Football Operations and is often blamed for the poor handling of QB Robert Griffin III, whose injuries and slow development have set the franchise back after he was drafted second overall in 2012.
Most of the other top candidates for the Denver head coaching job are known for their work on the other side of the ball outside of current Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, who is 4/1 at Sportsbook. Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is also 4/1 while Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio (6/1) and Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles (7/1) round out the current betting options.
