ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There are still some old-school coaching matchups in the NFL, just not as many.
The exits of Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll after last season have trimmed the Old School Head Coach Group to four: Kansas City’s Andy Reid, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, the Broncos' Sean Payton and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh.
Payton started in New Orleans in 2006, a year ahead of Tomlin and two years ahead of Harbaugh. But Payton also took a year away from coaching and was suspended from another season.
After the top four, the head coaching seniority falls ways off to the likes of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. Wasn’t it just yesterday that McVay was the league’s puppy coach?
NFL head coach seniority leaders:
Andy Reid, Eagles/Chiefs, 26 years, 259-144-1 (3-2 in Super Bowls)
Mike Tomlin, Steelers, 18 years, 174-100-2 (1-1 in Super Bowls)
John Harbaugh, Ravens, 17 years, 160-100 (1-0 in Super Bowl)
Sean Payton, (Saints/Broncos), 17 years, 160-99 (1-0 in Super Bowl)
Sean McVay, Rams, 8 years, 70-46 (1-1 in Super Bowls)
Kyle Shanahan, 49ers, 8 years, 65-51 (0-2 in Super Bowls)
Sean McDermott, Bills, 8 years, 75-41 (No Super Bowl record)
This Sunday, it will Payton against Tomlin. It began the subject of our exclusive interview with Payton this week.
Do you get together with Mike Tomlin during the NFL Combine and owners meetings and talk about adjusting to the new era player, who comes in a little older because of COVID eligibility, maybe a little more spoiled from the NIL payouts?
Payton: “I considered him one of my close peers in this league. A good friend. Certainly we see each other at the league meetings, Combine. His body of work has been outstanding, speaks for itself. You always know you’re going to get a physical team. Well-coached team. As you do this longer, you find yourself not knowing as many of the younger coaches getting hired, but he’s someone I would consider a good friend.”
Broncos Country wanted to see Russell Wilson play for the Steelers this week. Some guys in your locker room wanted to see Russ. But Justin Fields, for three quarters of that game last year at Soldier Field, he was the best quarterback I’d seen all last season.
Payton: “There’s so many elements as you prepare to play a team like the Steelers. They’re coming off a win last week on the road (against Atlanta). Justin is someone that, shoot, he played exceptionally well against us. He’s got fantastic arm talent, he can beat you with his legs, as well, and that becomes a problem.
“And then Arthur (Smith), they’re offensive coordinator is going to do a great job with his scheme, running the football and then setting up the play-action, the boots and even the quarterback design run. So we’ve got to be ready for all that.”
Experienced as you are, you are fairly calling playing for a rookie quarterback as you did last week for Bo Nix at Seattle. It seemed like you wanted to emphasize the running game but had to go to plan B when it wasn’t working.
Payton: “We say it all the time, the first ally for any quarterback, not just a rookie, is a balanced running game. It becomes a lot more difficult if you’re one dimensional. Man, he’s doing well. Obviously, we had to throw it more than we ever would have liked to. Having that balance is important, and then on the other side of the ball, being able to stop the run. So those will be two important things in this game.”
