Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton handed over offensive play-calling duties to Davis Webb ahead of his fourth season with the franchise, shifting control after an eighteen-year career calling every play himself. The decision follows a season in which the Broncos finished one game short of the Super Bowl, prompting Payton to state that he did not want to be the one to slow down progress within the organization.
Handing Over the Playbook in Denver
Entering the fourth year of his tenure in Colorado, Payton restructured his coaching staff responsibilities by giving the play-calling sheet to Webb, a former reserve NFL quarterback who had never called plays in a regular-season game. The shift marked a departure for a coach who famously drew up the surprise onside kick opening the second half of Super Bowl XLIV and maintained absolute control over his offenses across sixteen seasons in New Orleans and three years in Dallas. Broncos executives demonstrated confidence in the new structure by signing Payton to a five-year contract extension months after the transition.
Payton Played Quarterback Before Transitioning to Coaching
Born in San Mateo, California, on December 29, 1963, and raised largely in Naperville, Illinois, Payton developed his football foundation as a quarterback under coach Al Molde at Eastern Illinois University. Guiding the Panthers to an 11-2 record in 1986, he went undrafted by NFL franchises before brief stints in the Arena Football League, the Leicester Panthers in England, and a three-game run with the Chicago Bears as a replacement player during the 1987 player strike. Transitioning to the coaching ranks, Payton climbed through the collegiate and professional ladders, serving as quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and offensive coordinator for the New York Giants under head coach Jim Fassel—who eventually stripped him of play-calling duties during their run to Super Bowl XXXV.
Building a Championship Resume in New Orleans
After three seasons as assistant head coach under Bill Parcells in Dallas, where records credit him with persuading the Cowboys to sign undrafted free-agent quarterback Tony Romo, Payton accepted the head coaching job with the New Orleans Saints in 2006. Arriving one year after Hurricane Katrina forced the franchise away from its home stadium following a 3–13 campaign, Payton paired with free-agent quarterback Drew Brees to reach the NFC Championship game in their first year together, earning Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year honors. Three seasons later, the Saints defeated Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts 31–17 in Super Bowl XLIV, secured by Payton’s surprise opening-half onside kick and Tracy Porter’s game-clinching interception return.
NFL Suspended Payton for the 2012 Season
Records show the NFL suspended Payton for the entire 2012 season in connection with the Saints’ bounty program that financially rewarded players for injuring opponents, making him the first modern head coach suspended by the league. Commissioner Roger Goodell’s ruling centered on Payton’s failure to supervise his coaching staff and an email exchange regarding a bounty targeting quarterback Aaron Rodgers—an email Payton initially claimed he did not read before acknowledging he had. During his suspension, Payton served as offensive coordinator for his son Connor’s sixth-grade football team in Texas, an episode later adapted into the Netflix family comedy film Home Team starring Kevin James.
Payton Leaves Saints Record to Lead Broncos
Payton concluded his sixteen-year tenure in New Orleans with 161 victories—the most of any coach in Saints franchise history—resigning one year after Drew Brees retired. Now directing the Broncos through a multi-year project anchored by his restructured coaching staff, Payton prepares for the upcoming schedule under the revised operational model that places game-day play-calling outside his direct control.
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