DENVER — Sean Payton had just settled into his under-construction New Orleans’ hotel room, getting ready to interview for the Saints’ head coaching job, hoping he would be rescued by a call from the Green Bay Packers.
It was 2006, and Payton had just come off three seasons as top offensive assistant for his mentor Bill Parcells with the Dallas Cowboys. Payton interviewed for the top job with the Packers, whose biggest problem was trying to gracefully transition between Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, and was about to do the same with the Saints, whose problems were many, not the least of which was helping to rebuild the city of New Orleans from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
According to his autobiography, Payton did get a call from the Packers as he settling into his New Orleans’ hotel room, but the message wasn’t what he was hoping to hear. Mike McCarthy got the Green Bay job.
Suffice to say it, worked out pretty well for Payton, anyhow. He became a 15-year head coach of the Saints, brought immediate success to a city starved for optimism, won a Super Bowl, had four 13-3 seasons and nine of at least 10 wins.
It worked out pretty well for the Packers, too, in a classic decision of win-win.
“That’s a long time ago,’’ Payton said of his flirtation with the Packers. “The tradition there, the history. Growing up in the Chicago (area) that was obviously an important game for the Bears. Over the years, Packers-Bears, they’re not too far apart between the cities. There’s a lot in common with those people.
“I think the run of success, when you go back to (former Packers general manager) Ron Wolfe, (head coach) Mike Holmgren, McCarthy, over the years, not just good teams but, man, really good quarterback play when you look at that stretch with Aaron and before that Brett.
“That winning tradition is pretty special. We have it here. We’re working to get that back here.
“Playing there is unique, too. It’s the one NFL city where when you’re driving to the game and you feel like you’re in the Big Ten. You’re in a town, and all the sudden you see the stadium, and you feel like you might be at any one of the Big Ten schools.
“But the focus back to this week is inward on us. Of course, we’re working on the opponent film. They’re hungry, like we are to win a game. We’ve got to be ready to play better, especially at home.”
Part of a football coach’s job description is to be a strong salesman. Especially when your team is 1-5. It’s easy getting people to believe in what you’re saying when things are going well. When you’re not, you have to sell hope. You have to sell the players you will win this next game if this is done this particular way.
“Oh, absolutely. The message and the consistency and the attention to details, there’s a fine line between a groove and a rut in our business,’’ Payton said. “I was pleased in some regards with our energy last week (a 19-8 loss at Kansas City, the defending Super Bowl champions). Defensively, I was pleased certainly when you play a good offense like that.
“But every year, you can point to examples, and I used the Detroit Lions as one, where they were 1-6 a year ago and kept battling, and so there’s a little bit of grit to this business that you have to have, and that’s mental toughness as well as being physically tough.’’
The Lions rebounded to finish 9-8 last season and are off to a 5-1 start in 2023. As Payton addressed his players in team meetings this week, could he look at the room and see the buy-in to what he was saying?
“Absolutely, 100%,’’ Payton said.
On the opening series against the Chiefs last week, the Broncos encouragingly drove from their own 25 to the Kansas City 38, but it was fourth and 3. Payton went for it, and off a three-receiver combination set Jerry Jeudy from the left slot ran 5-yard stop route that got him wide open for a second or so. Only quarterback Russell Wilson never looked to the left, much less spot Jeudy open. Instead Wilson, looking straight ahead, started veering to the right where no receivers were running, and he took a sack.
How to get Wilson going this week?
“I thought we ran the ball well last week, and I just finished saying finding ways, finding earlier completions within the framework of what we do,’’ Payton said. “We played a different type of defensive this week than we played a week ago. A much different front. That’s what we’re game planning and working on.”
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