Sean Payton rips Nathaniel Hackett for job with Broncos
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[July 28, 2023]
Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton took aim at the team's
embarrassing performance last season, most notably the coaching it
received under Nathaniel Hackett and his staff.
Payton went so far as to tell USA Today that the 2022 Broncos
received "one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL."
He also defended Russell Wilson after the veteran quarterback
endured his worst season of his career and added that "everything I
heard about last season, we're doing the opposite."
Wilson, 34, threw for 3,524 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11
interceptions while taking a league-high 55 sacks in 15 games last
season. The disappointing year led to the firing of Hackett after 15
games, with Payton being hired out of a brief retirement to take
over the job.
"That wasn't his fault," Payton said of Wilson, a Super Bowl
champion and nine-time Pro Bowl selection. "That was the parents who
allowed it. That's not an incrimination on him, but an incrimination
on the head coach, the GM, the president and everybody else who
watched it all happen."
Added Payton: "But everybody's got a little stink on their hands.
It's not just Russell. It was a (poor) offensive line. It might have
been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.
That's how bad it was."
Payton didn't stop there, noting that the New York Jets -- Hackett's
new employer -- acquired a decorated quarterback in the offseason
(Aaron Rodgers) just like the Broncos did in the previous year.
"It doesn't happen often where an NFL team or organization gets
embarrassed," Payton said. "And that happened here. Part of it was
their own fault, relative to spending so much (expletive) time
trying to win the offseason -- the PR, the pomp and circumstance,
marching people around and all this stuff.
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"We're not doing any of that. The Jets did that
this year. You watch. 'Hard Knocks,' all of it. I can see it coming.
Remember when (former Washington Commanders owner) Dan Snyder put
that Dream Team together? I was at the Giants (in 2000). I was a
young coach. I thought, 'How are we going to compete with them?
Deion's (Sanders) there now.' That team won eight games or whatever.
So, listen ... just put the work in."
Jets coach Robert Saleh was asked about Payton's comments during his
Thursday press conference.
"I kind of live by a saying, 'If you ain't got no haters, you ain't
popping.' So hate away," Saleh said. "Obviously we're doing
something right if you've gotta talk about us when we don't play you
until Week 4."
Actually, the teams play in Week 5 on Oct. 8 when the Broncos host
the Jets.
Payton, 59, coached the New Orleans Saints to one Super Bowl victory
and will try to work similar magic in Denver.
--Field Level Media
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