Vance Joseph nominated for major award along with two other former Broncos coaches

The NFL announced its finalists for the top awards that will be handed out at this year's NFL Honors awards ceremony on Thursday. The Denver Broncos had one player and one coach named among the nominees. 

Vance Joseph was named a finalist for the AP Assistant Coach of the Year Award. After a strong year as defensive coordinator of the Broncos, Joseph is once again in line to become a head coach. 

Speaking of head coaches, in addition to Joseph, two of the other nominees this year were once Broncos head coaches. New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and Joseph are nominated. They are joined by Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak (son of former Broncos player and head coach Gary Kubiak) and Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores. 

Kubiak and Flores are being looked at as possible head coaches next season as well. 

Joseph has been a coach in the NFL since 2005. His lone stint as a head coach came in Denver in 2017-18 and it was a disastrous two seasons for the team. Joseph was considered to be one of the worst head coaches in team history up to that point, if not the worst. 

But he came back to the team in 2023 when Sean Payton was hired as the head coach. Broncos fans were in shock at first, but that quickly turned into a positive feeling as soon as Joseph formed one of the top defensive units in the NFL.

That has led to him having the chance to interview with these five teams regarding their head coaching vacancy this offseason:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Baltimore Ravens
• Las Vegas Raiders
• New York Giants
• Tennessee Titans

Three of those teams have already filled their spot, but the Cardinals and Raiders could still be interested in Joseph as their top guy and could just be waiting for the Broncos' season to come to an end to make things official. 

READ: Patriots wide receiver fires back at Sean Payton, bulletin board material is everywhere

Either way, Joseph has completely turned his career around and being nominated for this award is a clear sign of that. Winning the award will keep him on team's radars as a head coaching candidate if he is not hired by one of the teams still looking for one. 

More Broncos Content

Broncos have two key players aside from J.K. Dobbins trending towards playing vs. Patriots

Did Sean Payton just guarantee the Broncos get to the Super Bowl?

Broncos looking to keep Patriots from breaking a certain playoff curse in AFC Championship

Broncos could lose four coaches to high-profile jobs following the season

The Broncos are fine at quarterback despite the many options being suggested