Josh McDaniels tried to avoid segmenting the job he inherits in Denver and, instead, to espouse a big-picture view.

But, time after time, those nasty little words - the Broncos defense - kept coming up.

And his nascent views about how to fix the 29th-ranked unit seemed to be two-pronged - stability and malleability.

The aspect of permanence relates to philosophy, as in finding one and sticking to it.

The flexibility is knowing what the capabilities are now and working toward that long-range vision.

"There's going to have to be decisions made on what we can do in the near future and where we want to go in the long term. But we want to have a consistent scheme," the new Broncos coach said at his introductory news conference Monday.

"As somebody who's played against this team for quite a few years - five or six times in New England - the scheme and the system have changed quite a bit. I want to bring some consistency to that and make sure that we improve whatever that scheme and system is from Day 1 throughout."

There's a strong chance the new Broncos philosophy will include a 3-4 alignment with elements of a 4-3 mixed in, akin to what the Patriots have done in recent years.

"I think it's a good possibility," said Jim Goodman, the Broncos' vice president football operations/personnel.

McDaniels has spoken with Mike Nolan about the possibility of coordinating the defense, and the latter's background fits that mold. Denver previously has made only slight use of 3-4 looks and would have to adjust its personnel significantly, particularly up front, to play that style.

McDaniels said he and Nolan have had "some preliminary conversations." But Nolan has not been offered the job, said McDaniels, who admitted Nolan is "someone I'm very high on and we'll see where it goes. He's a great coach. I know that."

More talks are planned, McDaniels added.

Dom Capers, a 37-year coaching veteran who currently is a Patriots special assistant/secondary coach, also might be a possibility for the staff, but he hasn't yet been contacted.

For his part, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said he'd "be excited" about working again with Nolan, who started his NFL coaching career in Denver (1987 to 1992) as Dan Reeves' linebackers coach before spending 11 years as coordinator and 31/2 more as San Francisco's coach.

"Mike Nolan is somebody that's had an opportunity to work both in a 3-4, 4-3 system and his flexibility, I think, is very desirable," McDaniels said. "He's versatile as a coach. I've coached against him a number of times, and it's something that he can do.

"I don't know where we'll start (schematically). I'm not exactly sure where we're going to end because we're going to have a discussion about that once this thing gets going and we get a defensive coordinator in place. But it certainly is something where we may be able to do some of both, if that's what's most successful for him."

McDaniels is best known for his work with quarterbacks Tom Brady and Matt Cassel as coordinator of a Patriots offense that has scored 999 points during the past two seasons.

But he stressed defense is at his core - "That's where I learned my foundation," he said, and it was honed by working with Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini and under Patriots personnel guru Scott Pioli.

He'll need that expertise while inheriting a Broncos defense that ranked 24th or worse in 16 major categories.

"It's not just one side of the ball here," McDaniels said. "This is a team that won eight games, and any time you win eight games and fall short of your expectations, a lot of things have to be improved."