ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sean Payton may be deliberating to pick his new defensive coordinator, but where he has become convinced is he wants plenty of NFL experience to come with his pick.
Matt Patricia, who was New England's defensive coordinator under head coach Bill Belichick from 2012-17 -- a period when the Patriots went to the AFC Championship Game all six times, and won two of three Super Bowls -- flew in to Denver on Tuesday night and interviewed with the Broncos for their defensive coordinator position Wednesday at UCHealth Training Center, a source confirmed to 9NEWS,
Patricia followed Vance Joseph (Friday) and Rex Ryan (Saturday) with in-house interviews for the Broncos' defensive coordinator position in recent days.
Joseph, 50, was the Broncos' head coach from 2017-18 who spent the past four seasons as the Arizona Cardinals' defensive coordinator. Ryan, 60, has been out of coaching the previous six seasons but was Baltimore's defensive coordinator for four seasons (2005-08) before becoming head coach of the New York Jets (2009-14) and Buffalo Bills (2015-16).
Patricia, 48, followed his defensive coordinator stint with the Patriots with three seasons as head coach of the Detroit Lions from 2018-2020. He went 6-10 and 3-12-1 in his first two years, then was fired after a 4-7 start in 2020.
He returned to New England where he worked the past two seasons as a senior advisor. He spend most of his time last season coaching on the offensive side of the ball, and he appears to be in limbo on Belichick's coaching staff last year.
With Payton and general manager George Paton and a large Broncos contingent flying out Monday to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, a decision on the Broncos' next defensive coordinator is expected soon.
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