Sean Payton's Win Over Saints Puts Him in Rare NFL Coaching Fraternity

Sean Payton made some history on Thursday night and received a game ball for his efforts.

Oct 17, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton walks out the tunnel before the game against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

On Thursday night, Sean Payton became one of eight NFL head coaches to have beaten all 32 teams. As the former long-time coach of the New Orleans Saints, that was one team that he would never get the chance to beat so long as he was there.

Three years or so after stepping away from the Saints, Payton is now head coach of a Denver Broncos squad that moved to 4-3 on the season after a dominant 33-10 win in New Orleans. The Broncos did Payton proud in his homecoming to Caesars Superdome.

With a win over all 32 teams now under his belt, Payton joins an elite fraternity of NFL coaches to have achieved the feat, including Mike Shanahan, Bill Belichick, Tony Dungy, John Fox, Mike Holmgren, Bill Parcells, and Andy Reid. Three of those coaches, including Payton, coached the Broncos.

After the game, Payton was presented with the game ball. Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix shared what that moment was like.

“It was awesome. The Saints mean a lot to him," Nix said post-game. "He was there for a while (and) had amazing success. It’s tough to go back to a place where you called home for that long and you fought for, and now you are playing against. It was special. It was a great moment. I’m happy for him.”

It's tough to call Broncos-Saints a revenge game because it doesn't feel like there's any real antipithy between Payton and his former team. Now, perhaps Saints fans would disagree, but it seemed like his reception at the Superdome went about as well as one could hope considering the circumstances.

“I thought it was great," Payton said of his welcome at the Superdome. "You don’t forget the faces, the smiles or the dialect. They were great.”

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One day, Payton will retire from coaching. Depending on what he achieves in Denver, there's a chance he'll have a shot at the Pro Football Hall of Fame because of the sustained success he had in New Orleans, winning a Super Bowl, and the offensive ingenuity he brought to the NFL. Maybe he'll end up in Canton.

Payton will definitely one day find himself in the Saints Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor. He's family to that organization, and vice versa.

Still, it's the demands of the NFL. A game was on the line. Pride was on the line, and Payton came out on top against a severely depleted Saints squad.

But Payton got it done, and the Broncos are 4-3 with a 10-day break between games. Call it a mini-bye. As cool as it was too see so many familiar faces in his old stomping ground, Payton is likely relieved to have that Saints matchup off his docket.

"It was kind of emotional," Payton said.

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