Broncos Vets' Early Impressions of Sean Payton: What We've Learned

Analyzing what the veteran players have said about the Denver Broncos' new head coach could paint a picture of what's to come.

Sean Payton is nearly a half-year into his tenure as head coach of the Denver Broncos. After a very successful free-agent haul, the Broncos maneuvered in the NFL draft, and came away with a five-member class, including a second-round wideout Payton targeted in a trade-up — Marvin Mims, Jr. 

From there, Payton presided over rookie minicamp and the first two Phases of the offseason training program, much of which was dedicated to strength and conditioning. Fans didn't see hide nor hair of veteran players until late May, and since then, there have been only two additional days of media availability. 

Payton established a media moratorium of sorts, and fans have only heard from the players they have this summer because of NFL rules. The Broncos' new head coach seemingly wants to minimize his players' exposure to the media, which could generate headlines and unneeded distractions that might take away from his pursuit of refocusing this team coming off a five-win season and an unprecedented seven straight years of missing the playoffs. 

Still, we've heard from a few players since the offseason training program began. With the last OTA practice in the books last week, all that's left is a minicamp, and then the Broncos march into their six-week break leading up to training camp in late July. 

Naturally, of the handful of veterans Payton has allowed to take to the podium, each one was asked to share his impressions of the Broncos' new head coach. Let's review what's been said about Payton, by the players, and analyze the implications. 

Russell Wilson | QB

Gabriel Christus/DenverBroncos.com

The initial question Wilson fielded in his first presser since the Payton hire was about his new head coach, naturally. 

"First of all, I think Sean is one of the best coaches to ever coach this game," Wilson said on May 25. "He's intense, he's focused, [and] he's such a great teacher of the game. So all of us are learning every day more information. Just learning how to play the game the right way, how to practice at the highest level, and that's what we're focused on right now. And it’s an honor to, obviously, put on the pads, put on the jersey, and just get to do what I love to do.” 

On the specific subject of how Payton can help Wilson rediscover his former Pro Bowl self, the veteran QB also had a few things to say.

"I think the thing we focused on is just one day at a time," Wilson said. "And always believing, always focused on the details, always focused on what we can do together as a team, and just being the best version [of you] every day. Bringing that every day, bringing that level of intensity every day. I'm looking forward to that." 

Implications: Wilson wisely genuflected to the coach who represents his best shot at revitalizing his career. But the veteran signal-caller also touched on Payton's depth of knowledge, his attention to detail, and his talent for teaching the game of football. 

All of these factors add up and should have a marked effect on the Broncos' 2023 fortunes. Payton's heavy focus on situational football, and specific end-of-game sequences that previous iterations of the Broncos have been woefully unprepared for, is emblematic of the nuance of the game that the veteran head coach aims for his team to master. 

It should have a galvanizing effect on Wilson's flagging career. Payton knows how the sausage gets made in the NFL, and like Hall-of-Famer Dick Vermeil said of turning the Wilson ship around, "If [Payton] can't do it, it can't be done." 

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Zach Allen | DL

Ben Swanson/DenverBroncos.com

Allen was asked about Payton's emphasis on strength and conditioning, and how it consumed so much of the Broncos' offseason training program. 

“Yeah, I definitely think it’s great," Allen said on May 25. "I think a lot of people are already seeing the benefits of it. We still have a lot of football—with training camp and everything like that. So there’s enough time for that. He’s won a lot of football games and a Super Bowl, so I’m a believer in whatever he believes.” 

Implications: Payton suffered through watching Denver's 2022 film. As bad as it was, the coach understood that it was exacerbated by the epidemic of injuries the Broncos suffered.

In the preceding four seasons, the Broncos were one of the NFL's most snake-bitten teams. Denver could not extricate itself from the injury bug's grasp. 

Payton arrived and diagnosed a few things that had to change. 

1. A new strength and conditioning staff would need to be hired. Enter Dan Dalrymple and Beau Lowery.
2. Strength and conditioning would need to be prioritized more in the offseason.
3. The players needed to be exposed to the rigors of football early, and when the preseason arrives, the starters will participate. 

Mike McGlinchey | RT

Gabriel Christus/DenverBroncos.com

McGlinchey was one of Payton's big offseason acquisitions. The veteran right tackle started his career in San Francisco as a top-10 pick and has played in a lot of high-stakes games under Niners' head coach Kyle Shanahan. 

McGlinchey was asked to discuss the similarities between the Shanahan and Payton schemes. 

“Well, I think a lot of—it’s based in the old historic West Coast stuff and the outside zone and the stretch game. A lot of that is similar," McGlinchey said on May 25. "It’s kind of funny, it feels like I’m a little bit in the Rosetta Stone right now, just with the translations and different words and different calls. But there’s only so many things you can do when there’s 11 guys on the field... Football’s pretty much the same, regardless of how it’s called. There’s a lot of similarities. I’m not quite sure of how they called the route trees and all that kind of stuff, but certainly in the run game install, a lot of it’s pretty similar. It’s just about executing the techniques that are coached and using the little tweaks that different coaches have within their own scheme to make it work.” 

Implications: Shanahan and Payton are both West Coast Offense acolytes. Shanahan's version of the WCO is closer to the riff that his father, Mike, had on the vaunted system that was originally the brainchild of Bill Walsh. 

Payton's iteration shares many of the WCO's passing philosophies, but his run-game focus differs vastly from Shanahan's. Payton is more about the power/gap rushing attack, while the Shanahans are all about that zone blocking scheme. 

Either rushing approach can be implemented to devastating effect, so long as the right horses are there on the offensive line, and the quarterback is working in lockstep with the coach. Payton plans to bring a power running game to life in Denver to bolster Wilson, but like the West Coast Offense fans know, the play-action game will be critical in fully exploiting the potential that ground attack creates. 

Ben Powers | OG

Ben Swanson/DenverBroncos.com

Powers came in tandem with McGlinchey on the first day of free agency. The former fixture on Baltimore's O-line made it clear why he chose to follow Payton to Denver. 

“Going back to the previous question on why Denver was the right spot, and you saying ‘Sean Payton always valuing guards,’ that’s something I knew coming in here, so that obviously influenced my decision," Powers said on June 1. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the offensive coaching staff they put together.”

Implications: Payton is known to place a high value on the offensive line, and, as it happens, guards, too. Powers was drawn to Denver, in part, because he knew that Payton's O-line blueprint would be more nuanced and appreciative of the dancing bears who make it work. 

Like constructing a building, Payton knows that the finished product will only be as strong as its foundation. For the Broncos, that foundation is the offensive line, and Powers could be its cornerstone. 

Justin Simmons | S

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Simmons was asked to describe a Payton practice.

“I think if I had to sum it up in one word, I’d say ‘educational,'" Simmons said on June 1. "He’s really good at explaining how he wants things done and why it’s being done. I think it gives a great purpose to everyone before and after each set period of whatever it is.”

Implications: Once again, we hear about Payton's teaching prowess, which is no small thing. Simmons also emphasizes Payton's direct, and, at times, blunt approach. 

For a team trying to climb out of the NFL doldrums, Payton understands that there's no time to beat around the bush. 

Patrick Surtain II | CB

Gabriel Christus/DenverBroncos.com

Surtain was asked about the Payton hire early in the offseason. 

“Sean Payton, I believe, is a great hire, and I can’t wait to get to work with him,” Surtain said while launching his Pat Surtain II Foundation. “I think he’ll provide the team with what’s necessary, which is a winning culture in the organization. His resume speaks for itself. He’s a guy that can give you Super Bowls, can give you that winning attitude, the leadership qualities that you look for in a head coach. I’m really excited.”

Implications: 'Culture' is another key word relative to Payton. To be frank, the Broncos have cultivated a losing culture since Super Bowl 50, although it's been inadvertent. 

Another way of saying it is that the Broncos forgot how to win. And part of that football amnesia is losing sight of how instrumental a team's culture is to stacking wins in the standings. 

Payton's focus on rebuilding the culture within the walls of Centura Health Training Center will be just as critical to turning the ship around as the product on the field. A player like Surtain, young though he may be, knows what a winning culture looks like because he played at Alabama. 

Garett Bolles | LT

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Bolles was asked about Payton's maniacal attention to detail, as manifested by the number of contingencies the Broncos have practiced relative to situational football. 

“With Coach Payton, and his background with Coach Parcells, and everything he goes through—his success, where it comes from," Bolles said on June 8. "One of the godfathers of football. So I’m just very grateful that we have a coach that just wants to push us and make us better. And I’m just excited to see what happens.” 

Implications: Somewhere along the way, Payton's history as a Bill Parcells acolyte has been made manifest to the Broncos' players. Some guys are young enough that they may not know much about Parcells. 

Payton, no doubt, has made sure to educate any players heretofore ignorant of Parcells' coaching legacy. The number of ways that Parcells influenced Payton is countless, but one philosophy that stands out is Payton's use of Parcellian football psychology. 

I could write 10 articles about that subject, but suffice to say, Payton learned from his old mentor how to approach motivating players on a case-by-case basis. With some, it's tough love and unrelenting honesty. With others, it's about being complimentary and optimistic. 

Knowing what we do about Payton's style, though, the complimentary approach is likely the exception to tough love and competitive anxiety as the rule. 

Courtland Sutton | WR

Gabriel Christus/DenverBroncos.com

Sutton's impressions of Payton were unique, in that he used the term "transparent" to describe his coach. 

“Everything’s been good. Coach has been super transparent with us about his expectations for us, from the weight room to practice, the meetings, to even when we get ready to leave for this small break before training camp," Sutton said June 1. "He’s been super transparent, and I think everyone has been appreciative of that. Him letting us know what his expectations are of us. I think everyone has bought into it and looking forward to doing everything we have to do to get us to the next level.”

Sutton was later asked specifically about Payton's detail-oriented coaching style.

“It’s huge. I’ve had a lot of coaches here over the past few years and Coach Payton being a guy that’s been very firm on his emphasis on the attention to detail," Sutton said. "Whether it’s pre-snap penalties, whether it’s guys staying back when we’re running plays. Everything to him is very intricate. There’s a rhyme and a reason to everything that he’s doing. For us to be working on situational football as in depth as we are in OTAs is amazing. It shows us that he understands and knows what to expect when we get into these games. There’s going to be no waver. There’s going to be no question marks. Everyone understands that he knows what he’s doing. We’re all going to be on the same page and we’re going to go out there and execute.” 

Implications: Perhaps "transparent" is another way of describing Payton's frank, blunt approach. I'm sure it also speaks to Payton's approach as a teacher, always striving to ensure that his pupils understand the "reason and rhyme" for a given drill, technique, or play. 

Payton's almost scientific method of coaching football has to be a breath of fresh air to these players, many of whom have never seen a winning product since arriving in Denver. 

Josey Jewell | LB

Gabriel Christus/DenverBroncos.com

Josey Jewell's take on Payton thus far highlighted his early cultivation of culture and his overall organizational skills.

“The organization is awesome with the culture that he’s brought in. Another guy that’s going to tell you how he feels," Jewell said on June 8. "No bullcrap stuff. It’s direct, which is awesome. And like I said, the culture is great. The way he puts things, he puts them very blatant and straightforward, so you know what you’ve got to do. And that’s what we’re going to do every single day and that’s what we’ve been doing the last couple days.”

Implications: Jewell's remarks serve as fitting punctuation to all the themes his teammates said before him. As Hall-of-Famer Terrell Davis said, not long after the Payton hire, the Broncos needed to hire a coach who could, "come into this situation and not have to think about how to fix it but know how to fix it.”

Unlike the last three head-coaching hires, where the Broncos rolled the dice on first-timers, fans don't have to hope that Payton can stumble onto a winning formula through trial and error. He's been to the top of the NFL mountain and, like a football sherpa, is just the man to lead the Broncos back to the ultimate summit. 

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