Getty Denver Broncos DC Ejiro Evero walking the Denver sidelines against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Atlanta Falcons requested permission on January 13 from the Denver Broncos to interview Denver’s defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero for their defensive coordinator position, according to Tom Pelissero.
Since Evero is still under contract with the Broncos and because it would be a lateral move, Denver is planning to block Evero from interviewing with Atlanta, Troy Renck of Denver 7 reported.
Even Parker Gabriel of The Denver Post reported, “Not a big surprise, but multiple sources say the Broncos aren’t going to let DC Ejiro Evero, who is under contract next year, interview for the Falcons DC job. They can block lateral moves and it’s still pretty early in their own HC search. Next weeks will be fascinating.”
Last season, Atlanta’s defense ranked 23rd in scoring, but struggled causing turnovers. The Falcons, in 18 games, forced just 17 turnovers and were -4 in turnover differential.
With the Broncos still searching for their next head coach, Evero could remain with the team for a second straight season depending on if the next head coach wants to retain Evero as the defensive coordinator.
Ejiro Evero Has Interviewed to Be a Head Coach
While Evero had success with the Broncos this season, he’s rising as one of the top head coaching candidates in the NFL.
Since Denver’s season ended, Evero has interviewed with three teams for a head coaching position: the Broncos, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans.
Evero was Denver’s first in-person interview after they virtually interviewed Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.
There’s also some rumors floating around that Evero “bombed” his interview with the Broncos on purpose, according to former Broncos defensive lineman and radio host Derek Wolfe.
“I heard that he bombed the interview on purpose. I heard he was sticking up for [Nathaniel] Hackett and blaming Russ [Wilson],” Wolfe said on his radio show in Denver.
Evero and Hackett have known each other and have been friends ever since they played football together at UC Davis.
Ejiro Evero Turned Down a Head Coaching Opportunity With the Broncos
After the Broncos fired Hackett after a 4-11 record, the first and most logical person that general manager George Paton offered the interim job to was Evero.
The first-time defensive coordinator explained why he turned down the job with just two weeks left in the season.
“At the end of the day, this is not a situation that any of us wanted to be in and we all just agreed that the best thing for this team moving forward was for me to continue working with this defense.” Evero continued, “I think that’s where I can have the best value for this team.”
Ejiro Evero on turning down interim job and whether he will accept chance to interview for Broncos HC job after season. #9sports
It’s possible that Evero decided that he didn’t want to take the interim job because he knows that he’ll be a popular candidate in the offseason. There’s also the possibility that if Evero is the leader for the final two games and Denver loses both, that could have hurt him when interviewing with other teams.
In his first season as a defensive coordinator, Evero’s defense finished 14th in the league in points allowed, but they were near the top for most of the season.
Through the first 12 games of the season, Denver’s defense only allowed more than 20 points in three games. In the final five games, Evero’s defense only held the opposing offense under 20 points just once.
In those five games that closed out the season, Denver’s defense gave up an average of 28.2 points per game.
It’s clear that Evero is very well respected around the NFL and he’ll likely become a head coach, but it’s just a matter of when.
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Broncos Expected to Block NFC Team From Interviewing Top Assistant: Report