American Football

Landing Sean Payton was the Broncos best kept secret

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NFL: New Orleans Saints-Press Conference
Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY Sports

Most of us thought Greg Penner was lost. Turns out he was just methodical in finding his head coach.

It looks like there is going to be a new normal for the Denver Broncos.

If the search for a new head coach was any indication, Broncos Country will be in the dark about a lot of things. That’s not a bad thing, just a new thing.

We have grown accustomed to the leaky ship over the last decade or so, with draft picks and free agent signings, and coaching moves being telegraphed by people in the organization. It’s no slight to people like Woody Paige, who created relationships with high ranking individuals over the course of many years in Denver media, but the Walton-Penner group won’t be so easy when it comes to trying to understand their methods.

With Sean Payton coming to Denver, the excitement many of us are feeling is warranted. He is a great head coach with an incredible resume. His reputation as a winner is well earned, and the pieces are seemingly in place for him to continue to win in the NFL.

Don’t expect to get much more than that from the front office moving forward. Things were so secretive that talking heads, bloggers, podcasters, and almost everyone who was once a reliable source of information became critics of a process we never even understood (myself included).

As Ian and I discussed on Broncos Odds and Endzones, the three ring circus turned out to be a targeted and precise mission to find the best candidates, and bring in a head coach that would change the culture of what has become a perennial loser in the NFL.

Seriously, all the names tied to the Broncos during the search created an atmosphere of frustration as we all tried to pin down what was going to happen. Add to that the news that Penner met with Jim Harbaugh after he had made the decision to back to Michigan, and it seemed like the process was failing and that ownership was now on their knees begging for anyone to come take the job.

To the contrary, it was Penner doing his due diligence, making sure all avenues were covered, and moving forward at just the right time. Looking back now at Sean Payton’s tweet responding to misinformation about the process was the closet thing we had to a leak throughout the search. The reporting on the process to find a new head coach in Denver was dead wrong.

But if that is what being wrong is, then I don’t want to be right. Another offseason win for the Broncos. I’ll be sure to get excited when it becomes regular season wins.

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