Broncos fire Vance Joseph

The Denver Broncos fired head coach Vance Joseph on Monday after back-to-back losing seasons in his two years at the helm, the club announced.

"Vance made a lot of strides and deserves credit for how hard and competitively the team played this season," general manager John Elway said in a statement. "There's always going to be a high standard here - the bottom line is we need to win more football games. We're excited about the foundation that's being built and look forward to putting in the work to get the Broncos back on the winning track."

Joseph accumulated an 11-21 record with the Broncos. He was hired in January 2017 after Gary Kubiak abruptly stepped down as Denver's coach to address health concerns.

The Broncos already appear to be vetting candidates to replace Joseph, as the team requested permission to interview New England Patriots defensive coordinator Brian Flores for the job, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Despite Joseph being known as a defensive specialist, Denver's defense ranked 22nd in the NFL in 2018 and 30th in 2017.

The 46-year-old also struggled to find stability at quarterback, starting Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch, and Case Keenum over the last two seasons.

Joseph should land as a top defensive coordinator candidate this offseason, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

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