ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- With the knowledge that he has stepped into a job with enormous expectations and a boss who thinks the team is close to going back to the Super Bowl, Vance Joseph was formally introduced Thursday as the 16th head coach in Denver Broncos history.
"It's a great place, it's a great town to work in, it's a special place because it's about winning,'' Joseph said. "That's my goal here -- to win.''
Joseph, 44, spoke and answered questions for 17 minutes at the team's suburban Denver complex. He is a former University of Colorado player and assistant coach, so he has spent enough time in the Rocky Mountain region to know what he has signed on to do.
Broncos executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway and team president and CEO Joe Ellis interviewed three candidates to replace Gary Kubiak: Kansas City Chiefs special-teams coordinator Dave Toub, Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and Joseph. As Joseph's Tuesday interview turned into a Wednesday contract negotiation, it was clear the Broncos believed he was the right guy to lead their rebound.
"After the shock of Gary stepping down and looking forward at trying to replace Gary, I'm going to be dead honest with you -- I couldn't be happier with the ability to fill Gary's shoes with Vance Joseph,'' Elway said. " ... It was very important to find somebody to fit the culture that we have ... and that's why I believe he's the perfect fit for us.''
The Broncos' 9-7 finish this past season resulted in the team's first playoff miss since 2010. The Broncos were 7-3 at their bye week, then let an eight-point lead get away, with three minutes to play in an overtime loss to the Chiefs and stumbled the rest of the way down the stretch.
Elway has already said he believes the Broncos will make a quick return to the postseason and be in position to "compete for world championships.'' And Elway has said he was on the hunt for a bright, young coach who could find a way to motivate and relate to players as well as lead an organization.
Joseph is that pick almost exactly two years to the day from when he was almost the pick in 2015. Joseph interviewed for the Broncos job after John Fox's departure and just before Kubiak was hired.
Joseph and the Broncos both said Thursday that Joseph was close last time and the easy choice this time.
"I'm excited, I'm also proud and humbled to be the Broncos' next head coach,'' Joseph said. "... Obviously our standard is to win championships, but we can't skip the work ... this job won't be a rebuild -- it's a reboot."
Joseph tackled the two biggest questions Thursday: What he would do with the offense, and the future of Wade Phillips.
While Elway has said the team's "No. 1 priority'' this offseason was to "stay great'' on defense, it was the Broncos' offense -- the offensive line in particular -- that needs repair. The team finished 27th in rushing this season, surrendered 40 sacks and scored a touchdown on their opening possession of a game just three times.
Joseph confirmed that he intends to interview former Raiders offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and former Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy for the team's offensive coordinator job and promised a scheme that "attacks, one that has some swagger."
"You have score points to win, and it comes with confidence, comes with a swagger,'' Joseph said. "... Schematically I want a guy that fits the scheme to the players, who puts players first, schemes second.''
On the wildly popular Phillips -- a sort of cause celeb among the Broncos' faithful since Phillips' contract is up -- Joseph said Phillips is a "free agent." But he also called Phillips one of his "football dads,'' somebody Joseph would talk to multiple times a week.
Joseph and Phillips were on Kubiak's staff with the Houston Texans, so the two know each other well and have worked together on a defense that finished No. 2 and No. 7 in 2011 and 2012 respectively.
"That's a work in progress, obviously,'' Joseph said. "I prefer not to call plays, I want to be the head coach here -- if I have to I will ... but that's a work in progress moving forward.''
After the news conference, Joseph later said trying to bring Phillips back is under consideration, but that he hoped to work through all of the staffing issues within the next "week, week and a half.''
Broncos secondary coach Joe Woods is a candidate to be the Broncos' defensive coordinator if Phillips departs.
Joseph has been a defensive coach in the league long enough to know what he has inherited. Denver's defense, despite its struggles to defend the run, finished No. 4 overall, No. 4 in scoring defense, No. 1 against the pass, No. 3 in sacks and includes three first-team All Pro players in cornerbacks Chris Harris Jr. and Aqib Talib as well as linebacker Von Miller.
"It's a special secondary ... it's rare you have four guys of a Pro Bowl level in one secondary -- that's rare,'' Joseph said. " ... And Von is probably the best rusher in the entire league."
The Broncos are expected to be almost $40 million under the projected salary cap for the 2017 and could have as many as 10 draft picks after compensatory picks are handed out by the league in March. This season ended a streak of five consecutive division titles for the Broncos when the team won at least 12 games in four of those seasons, made two Super Bowl trips and won Super Bowl 50 last February.