Nolan’s jump from Denver to Miami clarified
January 19th, 2010
Steve Wyche

With speculation surrounding why Mike Nolan decided to leave the Broncos for a lateral move to become the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator, here’s some clarity from what I’ve learned after speaking to sources close to the situation:

There is no acrimony between Nolan and Broncos coach Josh McDaniels. The Dolphins sent the Broncos a written request to interview Nolan. McDaniels approached Nolan with the request and, in a nutshell, asked him if he’d rather be in Miami or Denver. Nolan said he would like to interview with the Dolphins. McDaniels then granted Nolan permission and wished him well.

The Broncos have allowed their assistants to interview for jobs with other teams this offseason, taking the position that if a coach has an opportunity for a promotion, it wouldn’t stand in the way. That it did the same for Nolan to make a lateral move was somewhat interesting.

Possibly factoring into Nolan’s decision, his contract with the Broncos supposedly was set to expire after next season, as will a lot of the team’s assistant coaches’ deals. With the possibility of a work stoppage, Nolan foresaw being able to negotiate a contract that would pay him through a lockout with the Dolphins, should the NFL and the NFL Players Association not be able to finalize a labor deal before the 2011 season.

With a deal coming together so quickly with the Dolphins –- one day after Nolan split from Denver –- parameters of a deal had to have been in place before or shortly after he left the Broncos.

Miama:


Seems to be an easy choice for me....

Report: McDaniels told Nolan there would be less blitzing

Posted by Mike Florio on January 20, 2010 11:42 AM ET

As folks in Denver try to figure out why Mike Nolan is no longer the team's defensive coordinator, Ron Borges of the Boston Herald reports that the divorce was caused not by Bill Parcells sniffing around for someone to run Miami's defense, but by Broncos coach Josh McDaniels trying to tell Nolan how to do his job.

Per Borges, McDaniels told Nolan "in no uncertain terms" that the Broncos would be blitzing less frequently in 2010 than they did in 2009.

And so the two men decided to part ways.

A cynic might think that McDaniels simply wanted to hire former Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees, and that Pees possibly was motivated to add to the coaching staff a guy with NFL head-coaching experience, who could be a viable candidate to take over the Broncos on an interim basis if the 2-8 momentum to end McDaniels' first season continues into his second.

Fat Bastard: "I'd like to have a go at that philly"