49ers have last remaining coaching vacancy

So much for offensive coaches landing all of the NFL’s head coaching jobs.

The league-wide trend toward hiring offensive coordinators as head coaches was interrupted Wednesday when two defensive coordinators landed jobs. The Denver Broncos hired Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph as their coach. The Buffalo Bills struck a deal with Carolina Panthers defensive boss Sean McDermott as their successor to Rex Ryan.

The NFL’s sudden fixation with defensive coaches didn’t last long. Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay was hired by the Los Angeles Rams for their head coaching vacancy Thursday and the San Diego Union-Tribune reported late that day that the soon-to-be Los Angeles Chargers were close to a deal with Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn.

But with four head coaching jobs now officially filled and only the San Francisco 49ers vacancy wide open, it suddenly appears possible that at least one of the offensive coordinators once thought to be at the head of this class - the New England Patriots’ Josh McDaniels and the Atlanta Falcons’ Kyle Shanahan - could be passed over.

A year ago, there were seven new head coaches hired league-wide, and all seven were offensive coaches.

Two teams promoted their own offensive coordinators: the New York Giants with Ben McAdoo and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Dirk Koetter. Three hired someone else’s offensive coordinator: the Cleveland Browns with Cincinnati’s Hue Jackson, the Dolphins with Chicago’s Adam Gase and the Philadelphia Eagles with Kansas City’s Doug Pederson. The 49ers hired Chip Kelly, the offensive-minded head coach fired by the Eagles. The Tennessee Titans made their former offensive assistant turned interim coach, Mike Mularkey, their full-time coach.

That trend continued with this year’s first hire, as the Jacksonville Jaguars promoted interim coach and former offensive assistant Doug Marrone.

But the Broncos and Bills went in another direction Wednesday.

Joseph spent this season as Gase’s defensive coordinator in Miami. The Dolphins ranked only 29th in the NFL in total defense. And Joseph’s defense did not fare particularly well in Sunday’s 30-12 defeat at Pittsburgh in the opening round of the AFC playoffs.

But Joseph’s reputation as a rising star in the coaching ranks went mostly unaffected.

Broncos front office chief John Elway seemed to zero in on Joseph and Shanahan after also interviewing Kansas City’s special teams coordinator, Dave Toub. When Joseph did not leave for a planned interview with the Chargers, it was clear that Elway had settled on his man.

Joseph succeeds Gary Kubiak, who stepped away after suffering a series of health issues during his head coaching tenures in Houston and Denver, and inherits a Super Bowl-ready team.

The Broncos missed the playoffs this season on the heels of their Super Bowl title, and Elway must decide if the team’s quarterback is already on a roster that includes Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch.

Joseph and Elway must try to convince defensive coordinator Wade Phillips to stay (although ESPN reported Thursday that Phillips may join McVay with the Rams).

But this is not a rebuilding project. Far from it.

McDermott lands in a far different situation in Buffalo. The Bills have not made a playoff appearance since the 1999 season. Ryan spent two seasons there attempting to get the team back to the postseason and couldn’t, failing to deliver on his pledge to make the Bills an on-field bully. Things looked particularly scattered at the end of the season when the team opted to sit down quarterback Tyrod Taylor for contractual reasons but then sent interim coach Lynn out to explain a decision in which he had not participated.

Lynn was the favorite for the job heading in. McDermott was coming off a season in Carolina in which the Panthers’ defense, minus inexplicably jettisoned cornerback Josh Norman, ranked 21st in the league. Carolina, coming off its Super Bowl appearance, failed to make the playoffs.

But McDermott’s good work in previous seasons was not forgotten. He, like Joseph, had the advantage of being available right now. Teams with coaching vacancies like that, especially given the intense competition to fill out coaching staffs with top assistants.

That formula works against Shanahan and McDaniels. The Falcons and Patriots remain in the playoffs and they cannot be hired while their teams continue to play. Will someone be willing to wait?

Both have interviewed with the 49ers and McDaniels also interviewed with the Rams. Shanahan was scheduled to do so but had the interview canceled because of weather-related travel issues for the Rams’ contingent. Neither were linked to the Chargers’ job.

It still seems likely that one of the two will end up in San Francisco as Kelly’s replacement. But if even one of them ends up without a head coaching job, that would be a fairly major upset based on what was expected when this hiring cycle began.