Roy Banks always figured the ball could be coming his way when he heard the magic words.
“Blue 80!” Bluuuue 80!”
Sean Payton barked the words so frequently, Banks still sounds like he’s ready to rip off a big play as he recites the cadence 40 years later.
In the mid-1980s, Banks was a star receiver at Eastern Illinois. Payton, now the Broncos head coach, was his quarterback. Together, they put up prolific numbers at the Football Championship Subdivision (then Division I-AA) school.
Banks remains No. 2 all-time in school history in receiving yards (3,177) and third in catches (184). He’s got two of the school’s top nine single-game receiving totals and in 1984 racked up 1,269 yards and 17 receiving touchdowns.
Payton threw for 3,000-plus yards three straight years from 1984 to ’86, totals that check in Nos. 2, 4 and 6 in school history, sandwiched around prolific seasons from current Las Vegas quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and former Dallas quarterback Tony Romo.
Payton still holds the single-game record for passing yardage thanks to a 40-of-58 performance against Saginaw Valley State in 1985 in which he finished with 509 yards.
Under Payton, Banks and head coach Al Molde, EIU picked up the nickname “Eastern Airlines.”
A funny thing about all those points and all that production: Payton often had license to ignore the air traffic controller altogether and fly the plane himself.
Yes, Sean Payton’s been a play caller since his sophomore year of college.
“We always tried to have a game plan that would allow him to make changes,” Molde told The Post. “We had a check-with-me package that we ran where Sean would have some options. We could run a play left, to the right or he could choose. We always had it when we were throwing the ball, we could check back to a three-step pass where he could get rid of the ball quickly in case of a blitz or pressure.”
The way Banks remembers it, EIU’s best plan was often to just get to the line of scrimmage and let Payton figure out what the defense was doing.
“They gave him free rein to check with me at the line and it felt like that was all we ever ran was ‘check with me,’” he said. “‘Blue 80, Blue 80.’ That was the check right there. He’d look at me and I’d be like, ‘Yeah, I got you.’”
Payton had slot back Calvin Pierce to get the ball to, as well, and a potent running game as an upperclassman. But Banks was the No. 1 option.
“Roy Banks was an All-American receiver for us, and that was kind of Sean’s go-to if we encountered certain looks from the defense, we had an out to get the ball to Banks (quickly),” Molde said.
Added Banks, “It was basically whatever he saw on the defensive side of the ball and he knew what was going to benefit us as an offense. That’s what Sean would check to.”
Payton every now and then would take all that freedom and exercise it when he didn’t have the green light.
“Sometimes Molde would get kind of perturbed and he’d call a play and we’d never run that play,” Banks said with a laugh. “But we were successful doing it that way more times than not. This guy here, ‘SP,’ he was a sponge. He could soak everything up. That was our time at EIU.”
All of that probably prepared Payton for being on the other side of the play sheet. Banks said he recalled watching Payton and the Saints play Pittsburgh late in Drew Brees’ career and seeing a familiar scene play out.
Brees apparently didn’t like a play call and took a timeout. He trotted over toward Payton on the sideline and the two talked it through. Payton’s old college receiver couldn’t tell exactly what was said, but he knew the look.
“That’s something Sean would do a lot at Eastern,” he said. “He’s receptive. Some of these head coaches are stubborn. Especially with a guy he knows, Sean had all respect for Drew. If Drew said, ‘Hey coach, I don’t think that’s a good play to run,’ Sean probably said, ‘OK, pick what you want. What should we run?’
“That reminded me of EIU. … But nine times out of 10, Sean wouldn’t have taken a timeout. He’d just change the play and we’d score a touchdown and Coach Molde would say, ‘Hey great play but that wasn’t the play I called!’”
Of course, Molde didn’t give Payton that freedom just out of the kindness of his heart. Payton earned the trust by sneaking into the film room with Banks so often the coach eventually just gave them a key. He earned it by honing a sense of what defenses were trying to do that now translates into play design and sequencing and a reputation as one of the NFL’s best play-callers. Soon he’ll be working with Russell Wilson and the Broncos offense in regular-season games for the first time after 15 years in New Orleans.
Four decades ago, he set the stage for calling plays from the sideline by doing it from directly behind the center.
“He was excellent at just understanding and running our offense,” Molde said. “Oftentimes we used to kid him because his uniform never got dirty. He was able to stay on his feet and manage the offense and do very well with it. He was a very accurate passer. I’m sure he’d be the first to tell you he had great players with him. …
“We had some good people that he could depend on, but Sean was the guy that put it all together.”
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