Strike 3: When training camp starts at Dove Valley, Sean Payton will begin his second season as the head coach of the Denver Broncos, trying to (someday) become the first NFL coach to win the Super Bowl with two different teams.
History says it’s not going to happen that way.
Back at the end of January 2023, Payton was the exact right coach for the new Broncos ownership to bring in after the fiasco that was Nathaniel Hackett. Denver needed an adult, an experienced hand who could correct the rudderless course the franchise had been on for several years. With his Super Bowl XLIV win, Payton’s resume was more than worthy of another NFL head coaching gig.
The upcoming season will be another test of his patience and ability to move the franchise in the right direction. Even if the Broncos fail to win as many games (8) as they did a season ago, that doesn’t mean the rebuilding process isn’t on the right track. Using Payton’s track record as a guideline, there’s no reason to believe that the Broncos won’t continue to get better and better in the coming seasons, returning to contending status sooner rather than later.
But the way things work out long term, it’s probably going to take someone else to actually take the progress Denver makes under Payton’s guidance and push the team across the Super Bowl finish line.
Consider the Broncos coaching history: Dan Reeves was a builder, but not a finisher. His name is on the Ring of Fame for a reason, but it wasn’t until the keys ended up in the hands of the younger Mike Shanahan (via Wade Phillips) that the Broncos engine was strong enough to win the biggest game. Twice.
After Shanahan was ousted, one of those unproven “bright young minds” in the form of Josh McDaniel was given those same keys by Joe Ellis and he proceeded to drive the whole thing right off the road.
At the behest of new Broncos exec John Elway, who had played under both Reeves and Shanahan, in came veteran hand John Fox and the experienced NFL coach restored the order and the rebuild was underway again.
After things had maxed out with Fox (just like they did with Reeves) Elway brought in Shanahan disciple Gary Kubiak and Denver won the biggest game once again.
Sense a pattern here?
After the struggles of Vance Joseph and Vic Fangio, Hackett was brought in as yet another “bright young mind.” Problem was, Fangio hadn’t set the right course, and Hackett clearly wasn’t ready.
So in comes Payton to put things back on track at Dove Valley. How long he stays is up in the air of course, but we can count on two things. First, he’s going to eventually leave the Broncos in a far far better place than the franchise was in when he got here, and second, it’s going to take someone else to finish the job.
Who might that be? Certainly no way to project that, but perhaps when the time arrives, Payton will have helped develop his own young Mike Shanahan-type. We can certainly dream, can’t we?
