Could there be ulterior motive to Sean Payton’s comments blasting Denver’s previous coaching staff? | Locked on Sports Today

Payton blasted former coach Nathaniel Hackett, describing his performance as one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.

DENVER — Longtime New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is taking over as head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2023, and just a few days into training camp he already made headlines for comments made about the previous coaching staff.

Payton spoke with USA TODAY and blasted former Denver head coach Nathaniel Hackett, describing his performance in 2022 as “one of the wort coaching jobs in the history of the NFL” and implying many of the struggles this team faced last year were not the fault of veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, but those around him.

“That wasn’t his fault,” Payton said. “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. Now, a quarterback having an office and a place to watch film is normal. But all those things get magnified when you’re losing. And that other stuff, I’ve never heard of it. We’re not doing that.”

Locked on Sports Today host Peter Bukowski spoke with Locked on Broncos host Cody Roark about this blow up from Payton, and whether it’s possible the coach has ulterior motives for laying the blame for last year squarely on the previous regime.

“He essentially threw new ownership, the coaching staff from last year, even the PR department under the bus with his comments,” Roark said.

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Payton did walk some of his comments back, admitting he needed a little bit more restraint and saying he still had his FOX hat on while speaking to the media, and not his coaching hat.

Whether Payton was attempting to preemptively push the blame of this struggling franchise off his shoulders, just a few days into camp, remains to be seen – but it’s telling a coach who encourages an approach about looking toward the future has a lot of thoughts about what happened last year still on his mind.

The Broncos will host the Jets, where Hackett and many other former Denver staffers are now employed, in Week 5 at Mile High Stadium.

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