Sean Payton made it clear Wednesday he likes the way his coaching staff is operating through the first three phases of the offseason and this week’s minicamp.
The first-year Broncos coach has a mix of veterans and young coaches among his group and two holdovers from 2022 — defensive backs coach Christian Parker and defensive line coach Marcus Dixon.
“There’s three or four coaches on this staff and maybe more that will end up being head coaches,” Payton said. “For me, as long as I’ve done this, you want to see those guys have success. I love seeing Dan Campbell and what he’s doing in Detroit, Doug Marrone, Dennis Allen, a number of coaches go on to positions and fulfill their goals.
“That’s what we’re trying to do. … I think we have a lot of talent on this staff and it takes that to be successful.”
Parker and assistant special teams coach Chris Banjo are among the up-and-comers Payton has already had high praise for — he called Banjo “extremely talented” on Wednesday — and in the past has made his confidence in offensive line coach Zach Strief clear, too.
It didn’t take defensive coordinator Vance Joseph long to see the potential in Parker, his 31-year-old defensive backs coach entering a third season with the Broncos, either.
“He’s sharp, man,” Joseph said. “He’s a star.”
Westhoff’s lofty expectations. On the opposite end of the experience spectrum is 75-year-old assistant head coach Mike Westhoff.
He’s working with Banjo and special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica and made the third unit’s expectations clear in plain terms.
“I’m used to being with a good football team,” he said. “And trust me, Sean Payton knows how to build one. He knows how to build it, so I’m here to help.”
Payton has said multiple times that if there were a Mt. Rushmore for special teams coaches, Westhoff would be on it. He retired in 2012 from the Jets, where he had worked extensively with now-Broncos Kotwica. That retirement lasted until Payton persuaded him to join the Saints staff in 2017. He retired again in 2019 before reuniting once again with Payton this offseason.
“I have a very high bar,” said Westhoff, who told reporters he committed to one year in Denver and joked, “After a year they’d probably be happy to get me the hell out.”
“I don’t want to spend the rest of my retirement years ranked frickin’ 23rd or something,” he added. “So I’m going to work my tail off to see if we can’t get up there, and the guys have responded. They’ve worked hard.”
Perine OK after injury. Running back Samaje Perine dropped out of Wednesday’s session and went back to the locker room with a thumb injury.
Payton said the training staff didn’t think it was a serious issue.
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” the coach said.
Chippy day. Wednesday’s practice also featured the first real altercation reporters have seen this offseason. It bubbled for a while before finally turning into a shoving match. Payton called the team around once it was broken up and spoke to the group before returning to work.
“The message is we have to understand what we’re trying to accomplish as a team,” Payton said. “It’s always the challenge for the o- and d-linemen. We also have to be able to understand discipline-wise how to get to the edge but not cross the line. Games come up. We saw it last year — playoff run, I referenced the Cincinnati Bengals penalty late.
“You’ve got to train yourself mentally to get onto the next play.”
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