He meant what he said.

The Broncos moved quickly on New Year's Day, locking up interviews with three NFL assistants as well as making a preliminary move to contact University of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.

Bowlen could not be reached for comment on any of the day's events.

But the Broncos have finalized meetings with New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, newly named Tampa Bay defensive coordinator and former secondary coach Raheem Morris and New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Spagnuolo will be the first to interview for the Broncos job since Mike Shanahan was fired Tuesday, with a meeting set for Saturday with Broncos officials.

Morris, who Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden recently promoted to replace the departed Monte Kiffin to run Tampa Bay's defense, will meet with the Broncos on Monday.

Also Thursday, the Broncos made preliminary moves toward Stoops, whose team will play Thursday in the Bowl Championship Series title game in Miami.

Wednesday, in his lone public appearance since Shanahan's firing, Bowlen continued to express the Broncos' job would be attractive to prospective coaches because of the offensive performance this season and the youth of the roster.

"This job . . . this is a very highly thought-of job and I expect to get a very good head coach. . . . I want him to be a 10 in every area," he said.

That appears to be the case in securing an interview with Spagnuolo, who will be the first in line for the Broncos because of rules regarding assistant coaches with teams in the playoffs.

When interviewing a coach with a team that has a first-round bye, as the Giants do, the Broncos are facing a Sunday deadline.

After that, assistants with playoff teams can be interviewed only after their teams are knocked out of the playoffs or in the week immediately after the conference championship games if their teams advance to the Super Bowl.

Because of that Sunday deadline, the Broncos aren't expected to interview Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz - the Titans have a bye this weekend so he will not be in the first wave of their interviews.

But Spagnuolo is a popular target around the league.

He spoke with the Browns on Thursday, is scheduled to interview with the New York Jets on Saturday and the Detroit Lions also have asked for, and received, permission to interview Spagnuolo at some point.

He moved the Broncos interview to Saturday evening despite the team being the last one of the four to contact him.

Because of the interview with the Jets and the Giants' preparations for their playoff game in a little more than a week, the Broncos will interview Spagnuolo in the New York area.

The Broncos are expected to interview McDaniels on the same trip as their interview with Spagnuolo.

The Redskins made a significant push to get Spagnuolo after the Giants' Super Bowl win against the previously undefeated Patriots in February, with Redskins owner Daniel Snyder bringing Spagnuolo to his estate for two days.

But Spagnuolo elected to stay with the Giants.

Giants players routinely have lauded Spagnuolo's preparation and the Giants finished fifth in defense during the regular season despite defensive end Michael Strahan's retirement and the loss of defensive end Osi Umenyiora to a season-ending injury early in the year.

Morris just was promoted by the Buccaneers to replace Kiffin, the team's longtime defensive coordinator who left to coach with his son Lane at the University of Tennessee.

A personality many in the league say people just gravitate to, Morris will be a popular head coaching candidate, several general managers predict, in the coming years if he is not hired by the Broncos.

The Buccaneers were second in the NFC against the pass this season and fourth in the league.

For his part, Stoops, who visited Broncos training camp during the summer with his coaching staff, is a known quantity to Bowlen.

But his contract at the Football powerhouse averages about $3 million a year, and he will earn $6 million this year because of a $3 million bonus for staying at the school 10 seasons that kicked in on New Year's Day.

Bowlen is an Oklahoma graduate and he did spend some time with Stoops during the visit in August. The Broncos had not had any direct contact with Stoops as of Thursday, but they were making overtures to his representatives.

It is unlikely Stoops, who also was considered for the Redskins job last year, would consider an interview before his team faces Florida at Dolphin Stadium.

The Broncos also have discussed Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and could seek permission to speak with him once he is available to interview. The Vikings play host to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in an NFC wild- card game.

Because of the league's Rooney Rule, the Broncos have to interview at least one minority candidate for the job and the league would prefer more than one is considered.

INFOBOX 1

Rules are rules

The Broncos, like every team searching for a coach, face some deadlines for interviewing assistant coaches from playoff teams.

* For teams that have a playoff bye this week, assistant coaches can be interviewed by Sunday for coaching positions.

* The next window to interview assistants from teams that advance to the Super Bowl comes in the week immediately after the conference championships. Those assistants can be interviewed in their home cities.

* Coaches with teams that are knocked out of the playoffs can interview for new jobs once their team loses.

* Coaches with teams that didn't make the playoffs can interview at any time.

INFOBOX 2

The list

The Broncos have started to reach out to several candidates for their coaching job.

In play

* Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. Will interview Saturday in the New York area.

* Buccaneers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Will interview Monday.

* Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The Broncos will interview him this weekend after getting permission to speak with him from the Patriots on Thursday.

Under consideration

* Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops. The Broncos have reached out to his representatives.

* Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

On the radar

* Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. The team has the top AFC seed in playoffs.

* Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan. Team plays Sunday in Miami.