MOBILE, ALA. - John Fox brought his entire coaching staff to the Senior Bowl this week, but he will return to Denver with one fewer staff member. That's because Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen on Tuesday accepted the job as Oakland Raiders' head coach, according to multiple league sources.
Raiders hire Broncos defensive coordinator Allen to be head coach
By JEFF LEGWOLD, Denver Post

Allen went from a dark-horse candidate to Oakland's "it" guy in the span of two interviews with Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie over the past week. The second of those interviews took place here Tuesday.
No contract had been signed as of late Tuesday, but the two sides had agreed to the basic terms of a deal, the sources said. Allen couldn't be reached for comment.
Allen had impressed McKenzie enough in his first interview last week that the Raiders canceled an interview with Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice and informed Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg he no longer was a candidate before McKenzie met Tuesday with Allen. The 39-year-old Allen, who was with the Broncos only one season, joins Mike Shanahan as a Broncos coordinator hired to be the Raiders head coach. Shanahan, the Broncos' offensive coordinator at the time, was hired as the Raiders' head coach in 1988.
The loss of Allen means that the Broncos are again on the hunt for a defensive coordinator. That's been the case repeatedly since they fired Larry Coyer after the 2006 season. The Broncos will be hiring their seventh defensive coordinator in a seven-season span.
Linebackers coach Richard Smith, a former defensive coordinator with the Houston Texans and the Miami Dolphins who also was on Fox's defensive staff in Carolina, would be the team's primary in-house candidate to replace Allen. Fox also is likely to give a long look at one of his former defensive coordinators in Carolina, former Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio.
Del Rio was fired in November and interviewed to be the Kansas City Chiefs' head coach before the team retained interim head coach Romeo Crennel.
Allen improved the Broncos' defense from a dismal 2010 that saw the team finish at, or near, the bottom of the league's rankings in every major defensive category, including points, yards allowed per game and sacks. The Broncos finished 20th in yards allowed per game this past season (357.8), 24th in points allowed per game (24.4) and tied for 10th in sacks (41), and won their first playoff game in six years.
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JEFF LEGWOLD, Denver Post
Mike Conley was in Minneapolis, where he sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Vikings game, on Sunday during the robbery.