Why You Care: A bizarre one.
A small wrinkle in Wickersham's story stands out β he reports that when Belichick and the New England Patriots went their separate ways, Payton considered floating an idea to Denver's owner Greg Penner. Why not hire Belichick to take over the title of head coach while Payton steps aside into an offensive assistant role so that Belichick could continue to chase the NFL's all-time coaching wins record?
Payton never did present this plan to Broncos ownership. Why would he have thought this was a good idea in the first place?
For starters, what if Belichick led the team to the Super Bowl? Willingly giving someone highly accomplished in your professional field a crack at taking your job seems like the definition of hustling backwards. And what if Belichick struggled to get over the line? The hooded curmudgeon is 15 wins away from breaking Don Shula's record. There have been just nine instances of a team winning 15 games in a single season. In other words, Payton should've been prepared to hand over his job for two, if not three seasons.
What if Belichick ruined the whole thing? His infamously hard-driving ways worked for some players, while others complained bitterly about their time in Foxborough. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more questions pop to mind that point to this being an insane notion.
Finally, how would you feel if you were someone close to Don Shula? Other NFL coaches conspiring to break his hard-earned record via collusion and shenanigans. On the one hand, itβs gotta be flattering that it takes a village to top what Shula did. On the other, go screw Sean Payton! Why heβd be interested in helping Belichick achieve this career goal makes zero sense. To say nothing of the fact that Payton is currently 13th on the all-time wins list, and would be giving up multiple seasonsβ worth of progress for himself.
Ultimately, the plan wasnβt discussed at a high level and obviously wasnβt put into place. I just canβt wrap my head around why Payton was even noodling with it. Just another data point that confirms NFL coaches are wired differently. |
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