The coaching staff for the Denver Broncos features many former New Orleans Saints coaches, but what does it hurt to add one more to the mix? All jokes aside, Payton is looking to rebuild his offense in 2024 with people he is familiar with, and it could work.
Sean Payton expected to add Pete Carmichael to staff for 2024
The Denver Broncos offense wasn’t good enough in 2024 in Sean Payton’s first season as the head coach. Even though Payton brought along Joe Lombardi to be his offensive coordinator, Denver’s offense went through a roller coaster of highs and lows in 2023 as players learned the new system.
Payton called the offense average to below average last season and desperately wants to improve it. For Payton, bringing in more familiar faces could help with the transition as Denver looks to have a different quarterback under center.
As first reported on Tuesday morning by Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan, Payton is expected to add former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael to his staff here soon. Carmichael has spent the past 15 seasons with the Saints and was their offensive coordinator in 2023.
The obvious history here between Payton and Carmichael is evident. The pair began working together when Payton took over as the head coach in New Orleans in 2006. It’s unclear what title Carmichael will have on Payton’s staff, but he is expected to be a senior offensive assistant.
This move will likely be finalized by the time Payton and the team head to the NFL Scouting Combine in March.
This season, Denver’s offense finished middle of the pack in a lot of key metrics, but 26th in yards per game (298.4), 25th in yards per play (5.0), and 24th in passing yards per game (191.9). As Payton said, the offense was average in a lot of areas, but they have plenty to build off of as they progress into year two of his system.
“I don’t know if you’d say, ‘Laid the foundation,’ Payton said. “Our installations are relative to how we call things. The offense is ever changing, relative to who is playing in it. Were we as good as we expected or wanted to be offensively this year? Absolutely not. Just looking at the numbers, we’ll go through red zone, we’ll go through third down, and we’ll scheme review—all that. I would say clearly [it’s a] heavy-duty work in progress. I would say we’re not building on that foundation yet; we’re still putting the pilings in based on what I saw.”
They’ll return at least four pieces of their offensive line that features Garett Bolles, Ben Powers, Quinn Meinerz, and Mike McGlinchey. Lloyd Cushenberry will be a free agent, and Broncos GM George Paton has indicated that the team believes 2023 seventh-round center Alex Forsyth is a starter in the NFL.
Continuity is key to building sustainable success, and keeping the nucleus of the offensive line together is important if the Broncos offense hopes to improve going forward.