By Josh Katzowitz

After losing Dennis Allen to the Raiders head coaching job, Broncos coach John Fox is bringing in Jack Del Rio to be the new Denver defensive coordinator, the team announced Friday night.

"We are thrilled to be able to add such a well-respected defensive coach to our staff," Fox said in a statement. "He was an integral part of our turnaround on defense during my first year with the Panthers in 2002. His defenses with the Jaguars have ranked among the NFL's best, and we are excited he's a Bronco."

The move is most certainly not a surprise, as a report emerged on Wednesday that the Broncos seriously were considering Del Rio.

Plus, Del Rio was Fox’s defensive coordinator in Carolina in 2002 when the team finished second in the league in yards allowed and fifth in points (despite a 7-9 finish) that directly led Del Rio to snatching the Jaguars job.

So, from pretty much all angles, the move makes sense for Fox, and assuming Del Rio -- fired before the end of the 2011 season -- wants to find work again, the move makes sense for him as well. Especially since he’ll take over a defense that improved greatly in the second half of last season.

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Almost everyone on Billick's sideline got a head-coaching job at one point. (Getty Images)

By Will Brinson

Have you always dreamed of becoming a head coach in the NFL? Well, then you should find work with the Ravens defense, because doing so will all but guarantee you land a head-coaching job in the NFL.

Alright, it's a bit more difficult than that, but on Wednesday, Chuck Pagano became just the latest in a long line of former Ravens assistants to land gigs running NFL teams elsewhere.

The very first year the Ravens existed, 1996, the defense featured Marvin Lewis as defensive coordinator. Lewis, of course, is on his way to becoming one of the longer-tenured head coaches in the NFL and just took the Bengals to the playoffs. Lewis would leave Baltimore in 2001, coach the Redskins defense for a year and then take over the Bengals.

Working under Lewis up until 2001? Defensive assistant Jim Schwartz, who left to take the same position with the Titans, before being promoted to defensive coordinator and then taking over as head coach of the Detroit Lions in 2009.

(Notably, Eric Mangini -- 1996 as an offensive assistant -- and Ken Whisenhunt -- 1997-98 as a tight ends coach -- went on to land coaching gigs after working with the Ravens.)

In 1999, Brian Billick took over as head coach, and things really took off. He retained Lewis as defensive coordinator, but the team also hired Jack Del Rio (linebackers), Mike Smith and Rex Ryan as defensive assistants.

The Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000. But it didn't pay off for the assistants until a year later, when Del Rio took the Jaguars job, where he stayed until being fired in 2011. Smith followed him there as defensive coordinator and would leave for the Falcons head coaching job in 2008, where he remains today.

In 2002, Mike Nolan, who'd been hired as the wide receivers coach previously, took over for the departed Lewis. Nolan, of course, went on to become the 49ers head coach in 2005. The man who replaced him? Mike Singletary, who took over as linebackers coach for the Ravens the same year Nolan became defensive coordinator.

Ryan replaced Nolan and eventually took the gig with the Jets. Greg Mattison took over for Ryan and after leaving for the University of Michigan (he took the same position under Brady Hoke), he was replaced by, you guessed it, Pagano.

Besides the Ravens, there's two other common threads with these guys: Ray Lewis, who's captained the defense since being drafted in the first round in 1996, and Ozzie Newsome, who took over as general manager that same year.

Read into it however you want; Newsome clearly has an eye for players and personnel, and Lewis clearly makes any defense better, regardless of how old he is.

But whoever takes over for the defense next should be thankful for the would-be springboard they're getting set up on.

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JDR could be the next Broncos defensive coordinator. (Getty Images)

By Will Brinson

With Dennis Allen now headed to Oakland as the next head coach of the Raiders, the Broncos now need to fill a big void at defensive coordinator. According to one report, Jack Del Rio could be the guy to take over for Allen in Denver.

Jason LaCanfora of the NFL Network cites sources on Wednesday who believe that Del Rio has "emerged as a possible replacement" for Allen after he departs for the Raiders.

Del Rio was axed from Jacksonville in late November and since then's been ripped by former players, been basically called "not as good as Tom Coughlin" by his former owner, and he was reportedly mentioned as a candidate for the Chiefs job.

Defense is JDR's calling card (along with lumberjacking and leather jackets) and the Broncos could particularly make sense given the success he had in 2002 as John Fox's defensive coordinator with the Panthers. That year the Panthers finished first in yards per rushing attempt allowed, second in total yards allowed, fifth in points allowed and seventh in takeaways in the NFL.

Del Rio parlayed that success, along with his work as the Ravens linebackers coach before that, into becoming the replacement for Coughlin in Jacksonville. He only compiled a 68-71 record over nine years, but his defenses were typically stout. 2010 and 2011 were the exception, not the rule.

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There are plenty of quarterback-needy teams in the NFL and Garrard could help one of them. (US PRESSWIRE)

By Ryan Wilson

Much has changed in Jacksonville since David Garrard was released days before the start of the 2011 regular season. First-round pick Blaine Gabbert eventually assumed the starting jobs (and struggled mightily in the process), head coach Jack Del Rio was fired midway through the season, owner Wayne Weaver sold the team to Shahid Khan, and Mike Mularkey was hired as in earlier this month to replace Del Rio.

But the Jaguars are no longer Garrard's problem. There was speculation that he might join the Dolphins after Chad Henne suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in October. It didn't happen, but not because Garrard "didn't feel like playing," but due to the fact that he needed surgery for a herniated disk in his back.

According to ESPNChicago's Michael Wright, Garrard should be healed up and ready to go in a few months.

mikecwright David Garrard will be 100 percent healthy by end of March I'm told. Could be pretty good backup somewhere. 1/23/12 9:04 PM

It appears we have one more name to add to the list of available free-agent quarterbacks. The front-runners (in random order): Matt Flynn, Alex Smith, Jason Campbell, Kyle Orton, Drew Brees, Vince Young, Chad Henne, Byron Leftwich and Garrard.

We first brought up these names shortly after the Broncos' season ended in New England. Given how inconsistent Tim Tebow had been in 2011, we wondered if John Elway and John Fox would honor their word on Tebow's prospects as Denver's starter in 2012 (Turns out, they will -- we're still skeptical).

So where might Garrard end up next season? This is a quarterback-driven league and because there's a shortage of really good ones, they come at a premium. Which means that Garrard probably won't have trouble finding work although it may have have to be as a backup.

The Dolphins, under new head coach Joe Philbin, might prefer Flynn (Philbin was previously the Packers' offensive coordinator). And presumably, the Redskins and the Browns want to get younger at the position. Same with the Cardinals (obvious exception). Which brings us back to our previous point: there may not be a starting job waiting for Garrard when he returns but as Caleb Hanie, Tyler Palko and T.J. Yates quickly discovered, you're never far from taking the field.

For now, though, Garrard has to get healthy. Best-case scenario: he'll work out for teams after the draft and help somebody fill out their roster heading into training camp. After that, it'll be up to him.

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Crennel will reportedly become the full-time coach in KC. (Getty Images)

By Will Brinson

Romeo Crennel did nice work as the interim coach for the Chiefs in 2011, going 2-1 over the three games he coached, including a shocking upset of the (at the time) undefeated Packers, a near win against the Raiders in overtime and a victory over the eventual division-champion Broncos in Week 17.

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And now he's reportedly been given the full-time nod as head coach of the Chiefs, as ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Saturday morning that the Chiefs are "planning to retain Romeo Crennel and remove interim tag from his title."

The Chiefs recently interviewed ex-Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, but it's not hard to see how they zeroed in on locking down Crennel. Jeff Fisher is going to either Miami or St. Louis (and has said as much), Josh McDaniels is already in New England, Kirk Ferentz is staying at Iowa and that leaves Crennel as an obvious choice to keep running the Chiefs.

Additionally, his defense over the final eight weeks of the season was incredibly impressive. The Chiefs allowed just two opponents -- the Patriots and then the Jets, the latter being the game that got Todd Haley fired -- to score more than 20 points in that stretch, and Crennel's gameplans against high-powered offenses, particularly while handicapped by the Tyler Palko era, was quite impressive.

He's a locker room favorite in Kansas City, and if he can bring in a capable offensive coordinator and avoid the injuries that plagued Kansas City in 2010, there's a reasonable chance that the Chiefs could return to the top of the AFC West next season.

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Could Jack Del Rio be the next Todd Haley? (US PRESSWIRE)

By Ryan Wilson

We didn't see this coming: Former Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio will interview for the Chiefs' head-coaching job Friday, according to Kansas City's KCTV5.

Jacksonville fired Del Rio in late November after a 3-8 start. It was his eighth season with the Jaguars and he left with a 68-71 record, including two playoff appearances. But the Jags under Del Rio hadn't finished above .500 since 2007, a four-year span that included two 5-11 finishes (including '11, when they went 2-3 with Mel Tucker as the interim head coach). And sources told CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco that Del Rio had lost his drive, showing up to work at 9 a.m., which is swell for your garden-variety sedentary pencil pusher but equivalent to banker's hours for an NFL head coach.

Former Jaguars running back Fred Taylor, who played for Tom Coughlin and Del Rio before ending his career with Bill Belichick and the Patriots, said that Del Rio played favorites and that contributed to his downfall.

"Why do you think I'm not there?" Taylor asked the ThePostGame.com's Eric Adelson shortly after Del Rio was canned. "… At the end of the day, [Del Rio]'s not a head coach. He's a great defensive coach. But he's not a head coach."

Also not helping Del Rio: the Jaguars' dreadful offense, exacerbated by a rookie quarterback and zero playmakers outside of Maurice Jones-Drew. But it's not like the Chiefs are an offensive juggernaut. They "featured" Matt Cassel, Tyler Palko and Kyle Orton under center at various points this season. Yes, Del Rio, a defensive coach, could higher a brilliant offensive mind to turn things around but if that's the thinking, why hire Del Rio at all? Just hire the brilliant offensive mind.

Or, if general manager Scott Pioli is interested in a defensive-minded head coach in the Belichick mold, here's a thought: give the job to Romeo Crennel, the Chiefs' defensive coordinator who took over after Todd Haley was fired late in the season. Crennel has the support of his players and he did something no other team had been able to do in 12 months: beat the Packers.

Kansas City has also interviewed Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin are are reportedly interested in speaking with Falcons' OC Mike Mularkey.

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By Josh Katzowitz

The Jaguars, officially looking for the successor to Jack Del Rio, have asked the Falcons for permission to interview Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, according to NFL.com’s Jason La Canfora.

This would be Mularkey’s second head coaching job. He coached the Bills from 2004-05, and after a debut of 9-7, Buffalo fell to 5-11 the next season. He’s been in charge of Atlanta’s offense the past four years, and in the past two seasons, the Falcons have been among the top-seven teams in points scored.

Mularkey has been a hot coaching candidate the past two years. He interviewed for the Titans job last year, and he talked to the Browns about the position that ultimately went to Pat Shurmur.

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By Josh Katzowitz

With his time as the Jaguars owner coming to an end (the team will be turned over to Shahid Khan next Wednesday), Wayne Weaver took a look back at the past 17 years he was in charge of the organization.

In this interview with the team’s official website, he was in a nostalgic mood and he shared perhaps his biggest regret as owner: firing original head coach Tom Coughlin in 2002.

At the time, Weaver said the franchise needed to go in a new direction -- Coughlin had been there eight years at that point -- and pointed out, “There's a point in this business where you have to say, 'We need innovative new ideas, new fresh approaches,' and you have to move in different directions and that's what this is really all about.”

A decade later, Weaver is remorseful about that stance (which, by the way, must make Jack Del Rio feel pretty special).

“If hindsight you could change, I’ll be honest with you: I probably would have never changed Coughlin,” Weaver said. “I would have tried to have Tom take a step back and just be the coach. I thought about it, but I didn’t think Tom would do it. I thought Tom’s pride would never allow him to take a step back and me take the general manager’s position and all power and say, ‘Go coach the football team.’ He did that in New York, but I thought it would hurt his pride too much.”

Weaver also blamed himself for not fully understanding the salary cap and all its implications when Jacksonville first entered the league. In retrospect, though, it’s easy to regret firing the coach who took your expansion team to the playoffs in four of its first eight seasons.

“If you remember, my three short list names I had narrowed it down to were (Mike) Shanahan, (Tony) Dungy and Tom,” Weaver said. “I hired Tom because I felt he was more autocratic and I felt that not knowing anything about this business I needed somebody where I could say, ‘You set the stage here. You build the platform we have to build this franchise around.’ I felt he would be the best guy to do it and as it turned out, he was the best guy to do it. We had tremendous success. Our draft choices were probably better than the average team at the time. That was Tom’s work ethic. He was very involved and he was a good evaluator. He held people accountable to develop those players.”

Alas, this seems to be Coughlin’s lot in life. He can take your expansion team and make it a winner almost immediately and he can win the Super Bowl for his second franchise, but for some reason, he always seems to be on the precipice of getting fired.

Jacksonville did it and now regrets the move. You wonder if the Giants will make the same mistake.

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