Sean Payton’s first big hire might already have one foot in the door
By John Buhler
Sean Payton may hire a former NFL head coach to be the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator.
Look for Sean Payton put one foot in front of the other to help rebuild the Denver Broncos.
While he was doing work on the FOX studio set, his starting quarterback was doing high-knees for four hours in the middle of an airplane aisle on a transatlantic flight. Although the Denver defense has not been the issue, Payton does have to replace Ejiro Evero, who joined Frank Reich’s staff with the Carolina Panthers. One candidate he is looking at is former NFL head coach Rex Ryan.
You could say the former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach has one foot in the door.
Rex Ryan could fill Ejiro Evero’s big shoes on Denver Broncos coaching staff
Although Payton could be straight tripping with us by hiring Ryan off the ESPN studio set, he does have some connection to the former NFL head coach. While Ryan never worked for Payton, his twin brother Rob Ryan was on the New Orleans Saints coaching staff before going to Buffalo. Of course, Payton fired Ryan’s twin brother, so that might make things a little awkward. Whatever…
In truth, this potential hire could go one of two ways. It could be a home run, as Ryan is an adept defensive mind and is the son of one of the best defensive coordinators football has ever seen in Buddy Ryan. It could also be a total disaster. Ryan has been in the studio since 2017. He has not coached since 2016. He may have kept close tabs on the NFL, but that was over six seasons ago.
Overall, the Broncos need to take big swings if they want to stay relevant in the deep AFC West division. The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t going away and the Los Angeles Chargers are one good head coach away from being something special. The Las Vegas Raiders are still the Raiders, but Denver is too proud of a franchise to be down for long. They are not Ryan’s former team the Jets.
The last head coach to lead the Jets to the playoffs was none other than Ryan way back in 2011.
Related Story. Sean Payton has hilarious recruiting pitch to get former coworker to Broncos. light