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Current Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton has long respected former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. His respect for Shanahan goes all the way back to when Payton was the quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1997, the season Denver won the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
"My first year in the league in 1997 with Philadelphia, Jon Gruden had me, we had Beta then, had me cutting up four offensive teams, one being Denver," Payton said on Thursday after training camp practice. "There was a game, you guys were too young, but they played Dallas and Mike started getting into these, (sets where wide receivers lined) outside Rod Smith to get man-zone reads. It was an empty package. It was like Denver really had a good offensive game that day, but it was like must... That film wasn’t available on computer, it was must-watch."
Payton believes that Shanahan helped change the way football is played for the better. "There’s a chapter, a number of chapters, that are attributed to that timeframe," Payton said. "So I’m looking at (Shanahan's coaching career) really more in a microscope relative to what he was doing before anyone else was doing it. So there are elements to him being the head coach, but then him being a heck of an offensive play caller and a forward thinker relative to how he utilized his personnel, the success they had with the wide-zone scheme, all of the play-action mechanics with."
Payton and Shanahan were spotted chatting together at the Broncos' training camp practice on Thursday, a meeting of some of the best offensive minds in this generation of football who became good friends over the years. With the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony on Saturday, Payton said it's only a matter of time to see Shanahan receive a gold jacket.
"It's not if, it's just what year (he gets inducted)" Payton said after practice on Thursday.
Payton, like many Broncos fans, players and league analysts, is advocating for Shanahan and his place in the Hall of Fame. He'll get to Canton one day.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Sean Payton continues campaigning for Mike Shanahan to reach Hall of Fame
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"My first year in the league in 1997 with Philadelphia, Jon Gruden had me, we had Beta then, had me cutting up four offensive teams, one being Denver," Payton said on Thursday after training camp practice. "There was a game, you guys were too young, but they played Dallas and Mike started getting into these, (sets where wide receivers lined) outside Rod Smith to get man-zone reads. It was an empty package. It was like Denver really had a good offensive game that day, but it was like must... That film wasn’t available on computer, it was must-watch."
Payton believes that Shanahan helped change the way football is played for the better. "There’s a chapter, a number of chapters, that are attributed to that timeframe," Payton said. "So I’m looking at (Shanahan's coaching career) really more in a microscope relative to what he was doing before anyone else was doing it. So there are elements to him being the head coach, but then him being a heck of an offensive play caller and a forward thinker relative to how he utilized his personnel, the success they had with the wide-zone scheme, all of the play-action mechanics with."
Payton and Shanahan were spotted chatting together at the Broncos' training camp practice on Thursday, a meeting of some of the best offensive minds in this generation of football who became good friends over the years. With the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony on Saturday, Payton said it's only a matter of time to see Shanahan receive a gold jacket.
"It's not if, it's just what year (he gets inducted)" Payton said after practice on Thursday.
Payton, like many Broncos fans, players and league analysts, is advocating for Shanahan and his place in the Hall of Fame. He'll get to Canton one day.
Social: Follow Broncos Wire on Facebook and Twitter/X! Did you know: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Sean Payton continues campaigning for Mike Shanahan to reach Hall of Fame
Continue reading...
