The Denver Broncos have attempted to distance themselves from the short-lived Nathaniel Hackett era, but can they run far enough away from the dumpster fire they’ve created?
DENVER, Colo.– Perhaps the biggest question going into this offseason was the Denver Broncos. Only weeks removed from the complex enigma that entailed a disappointing season, a first-year head coach firing, and a cleaned house, the Denver Broncos can’t simply reload. They must rebuild.
Nathaniel Hackett left a maelstrom when he outstayed his welcome in Mile High. He was fired after not even coming close to meeting expectations in his first year with the Broncos. He was met with longtime Seahawk Russell Wilson, who came over from Seattle in a blockbuster trade, a move that was meant to set Denver over the top. After years of subpar quarterback play from the likes of Paxton Lynch, Drew Lock, and Trevor Siemian, Denver’s brass had enough.
7 years after the city’s Super Bowl 50 victory, the team had not been back to the playoffs. Too long of a drought for a roster that has seen some sublime players. Wilson and Hackett were supposed to change that, bring new life to a mediocre team that has stayed out of the playoff limelight. Except the former All-Pro quarterback failed to make much of an impact, instead regressing to what seemed like the quarterback performance that the Broncos had been used to over the past couple of years.
Nathaniel Hackett was supposed to be the prodigal coming of Matt LaFleur himself, coming from the offensive coordinator role in Green Bay where he was pampered with an arsenal of weaponry in the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams. Hackett played a major role in Rodgers’ accomplishments of back-to-back MVPs.
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Yet even Hackett couldn’t figure out the answer to Denver’s woes, posting only 5 wins to 12 losses. He drew plenty of scrutiny from fans and analysts alike, driving him out of the state by the end of the season, eventually landing him a job in New York as the offensive coordinator for the Jets.
It seems as though the Denver Broncos have been eternally cursed. A parable resembling the Super Bowl hangover except with 50 shots of vodka.
However, when a regime falls, no matter how long or short– a new king must reign.
Enter Sean Payton. A fresh face with years of professional head coaching under his belt. The Broncos hired Payton on January 31st, sending a bundle of picks to New Orleans in order to acquire the rights to the coach. It represents a dedication to turning the program around in a way that the team has yet to see in recent memory.
Denver’s past three head coaches have all been freshmen to the gig, a risk that has yet to pay off. The Broncos have run through their lifespans, all of which haven’t gotten another head coach role since leaving the team. A literal head coach graveyard.
Now, the Broncos are getting a new type of coach, one that isn’t a rookie in the game. One that has won a Super Bowl. One that has experience working directly with a future hall-of-fame quarterback in Drew Brees. It’s hard to muster up possible excuses for Payton’s era in Denver, but the question must be asked.
Is he the right fit?
One thing is clear. Payton brings culture, he doesn’t conform to it. Change is inevitable for Wilson and the lowly offense that failed to produce much of anything in 2022. Wilson worked well under Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, making two Super Bowl appearances in 2013 and 2014 and winning one. Carroll possesses a unique coaching style, one that former Seattle defensive tackle Brandon Membane says draws parallels to Sean Payton’s MO.
“Pete [Carroll] knows how to communicate,” Mebane said. “He knows how to make you run through a wall, and you didn’t even know you ran through that wall.
“I feel like the closest coach that can run a system and adjust to Russ is Sean Payton. I think he would be the best fit for Russ. Russ and Drew Brees are the same height. Russ might have a better arm.”
Payton’s longevity in New Orleans is a testament to his way of doing things, one that has allowed him to sift through the biggest coaching scandal in recent memory and get back to being a championship team. Sean Payton’s implication in the Bountygate fiasco in 2012 shocked the entire league, and cast a shadow of infamy on Payton’s reputation.
After just a year of suspension, Payton had paid his dues and returned to being an A-list head coach. Since then, the scandal has been all but forgotten, allowing the coach to lead the Saints to 4 straight NFC South Championships from 2017 to 2020.
Despite Payton’s track record it’s easy to prove that one’s credentials and tangibles may not mean success. Kenny Golladay, Nnamdi Asomugha, and even Denver’s own Nathaniel Hackett serve as pillars of that very thought. Big signings who seemed poised for greatness, yet nothing ever came to fruition. If anyone has seen that phenomenon in first person– it’s the Denver Broncos.
Everyone from Drew Lock to Vance Joseph came to the footsteps of the Rockies claiming to be the city’s next savior, yet no one ever panned out. Big signing or not, it’s hard to dismiss the elephant in the room, could Payton be deja vu?
Foreboding? Maybe. But the bright side is, this is Sean Payton. The bad news is we said the same thing about Russell Wilson.
The offense is set to change. To one that takes a more holistic approach and utilizes results as the foundation for the next play. The playbook is up for a rehaul, practice habits and game study will need to be looked at, strength and conditioning are due for a revamp, even the roster will need a deep analysis. This is not your run-of-the-mill rebuild, this is General Motors in 2008 and building back Rome work.
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What better coach than Payton? Inheriting a stout defense and one of the best pass rushes in the NFL, the Broncos have plenty to build off of. Sure they lost a big chunk of draft capital, but that only shows the team’s commitment to Payton and how deeply they trust him in the restructuring of the organization. Even without young leverage in 2023, the Broncos are set to be $9,500,000 over the cap, allowing for some feeble forms of additions to be made to an offense in mayday mode.
Payton’s repertoire gives Denver Broncos fans hope that this signing isn’t just a repeat of 2022. His results-driven philosophy has netted him a top-5 offense four times throughout his stay in New Orleans, especially with turbulence at quarterback. After Drew Brees’ departure into retirement land, Payton was tasked with yanking production out of an offense that featured quarterbacks like Andy Dalton, Teddy Bridgewater, and de facto gadget player Taysom Hill. Not exactly the hall-of-fame play the coach had grew accustomed to.
Staring into the face of obsolescence, the coach dug his heels into the ground, trusted in his culture and reputation and kept the Saints afloat.
Now, the pressure gets put on Russell Wilson. After an abysmal 2022, the quarterback’s play and intangibles have been thrown into question and relegated to Twitter memes and jokes. Wilson struggled with a first-time head coach and a new system and eyed Payton as one who he’d like to work with in the future.
“He’s one of the world’s best, obviously, a guy who has coached a Hall of Fame quarterback in Drew Brees,” Wilson said regarding Sean Payton. “He’s competitive as can be, he’s a winner and obviously won a Super Bowl, at the highest level. I was able to be around him at the Pro Bowl and just the wizardry that you would have on the field was just magnificent. It was just spectacular just being around him and just Alvin Kamara, myself, Michael Thomas. These guys, we were just talking about ball and just how he saw the game.”
The end all be all is simple, can Wilson benefit from a coach like Payton enough to erase doubts about him being the issue? Wilson, a quarterback who has seen the Pro Bowl nine times throughout his decorated career, has fallen hard from the NFL supreme to the cold hard floor, posting stats along the lines of the NFL’s worst. Through 15 games, Wilson threw 16 touchdowns to a near identical 11 interceptions, failing to eclipse the 4,000 yard mark on a Broncos offense that seemed anemic at the very least.
Broncos’ CEO Greg Penner talked about meshing a CEO-style head coach with Russell Wilson’s brand of offense. Penner wanted someone who could shift cultures and create synergy with the team’s no-doubt signal caller.
“I’ve worked with a lot of great CEOs, and it starts with really strong leadership. That’s going to be the most critical factor here in a head coach,” Penner says. “Obviously, the X’s and O’s are important, but we need a strong leader for this organization that’s focused on winning. That starts with culture. It’s instilling a sense of accountability and discipline. We need an identity on offense. At the starting point, it has to be about culture and leadership. Those characteristics are what we’ll be focused on the most.”
“An identity on offense.” Seems simple enough, yet the statement has eluded the Denver Broncos throughout the 2022 season and even dating back to the second Peyton Manning retired. The team has never been able to settle down and build a strong offensive scheme before the next coach came in or even the next quarterback got under center. The Broncos have had over a dozen starting quarterbacks since that time. Everyone from Drew Lock to Kendall Hinton got a go at passing the rock a mile above sea level, yet nothing ever panned out.
Two seasoned veterans– Wilson and Payton will seek to change that. They’ll attempt to bring maturity to the team, something which Wilson excelled with under Carroll in Seattle.
Payton seems like more and more like the guy in Denver. Yet, it still falls on Wilson to prove himself with his back against the wall. He got what he wished for, now can he stop all the rah rah and get down to the former quarterback he was?
A lack of stability also plays a major role, mainly because the Broncos have hired freshly minted head coaches. They don’t know their own philosophy yet to expand it to a whole team. Heading the offense is one thing, translating your same mantra to the defense, the practice squad players, the trainers, and even the social media team is a whole different battle. To get a city behind you is a process that takes years, not one that can be fixed by constant turnover looking for the next best thing.
The adage is to swing for the fences. One that Denver took a crack at in 2022, nearly selling their soul in the process. A slew of draft picks, a tight end, and the dignity loss of watching the Seahawks make the playoffs were enveloped in the deal. Yet, they tried again in 2023 by investing all of their capital in Payton. Swinging for the fences seems to be a fitting metaphor for the team, but still– in baseball all it takes is one hit.
Swinging for the fences might sound ambitious given Denver current situation. But who knows, maybe a single is all it takes.
