Sean Payton's Defensive Coordinator In Denver Might Be Rex Ryan, Who Hasn't Coached Since 2016 And Works For ESPN

Sean Payton has been the head coach of the Denver Broncos for less than two weeks. Although he may not have been the organization's first choice, the 59-year-old brought a Super Bowl to New Orleans and can't be much worse than Vic Fangio or Nathaniel Hackett, right?!

Payton's first order of business with his new team is to assemble a staff. There is plenty of time to get the hires right, so there is not a huge rush to fill the coordinator vacancies, but the wheels are in motion.

Payton and the Broncos have requested an interview with New Orleans quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry for the offensive coordinator position and told reporters on Friday that he has been conducting "four or five" virtual interviews a day. One of them was with Seattle defensive assistant Sean Desai.

New Orleans co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Kris Richard is also in the mix. As is Denver defensive backs coach Christian Parker, who is considered one of the top, young defensive minds in the game.

Another interesting name has also come to the surface. NFL on Fox's Jay Glazer reported on Sunday morning that Payton conducted an interview with Rex Ryan.

Ryan, 60, has served in an analyst role with ESPN since 2016 after Buffalo replaced him as head coach with Sean McDermott. He recently said that upstate New York was his 'last stop in coaching.'

Before his time with the Bills, Ryan spent five years as the head coach of the New York Jets, four years as the defensive coordinator in Baltimore, one year as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma, and two years as the defensive coordinator in Cincinnati. He comes from a defensive background, clearly.

Payton's initial interview with Ryan doesn't really mean anything other than that he's kicking the tires.