Payton proves Broncos search reached new levels of unnecessary anxiety
Jan 31, 2023, 8:41 PM
It was difficult to tell everybody in a crowded theater to “calm down,” especially since there was a fire in the cinema. But, it was another issue since the fire was on the movie screen. The Denver Broncos coaching search was The Towering Inferno of the movies, not happening in reality.
Incredibly, after all, that has been said and done, it looks like the Broncos lost their first choice DeMeco Ryans. However, the loss of Ryans looked to be a family matter and he’s happy in Houston.
The search was the romantic comedy version of Draft Day. It was filled with ups and downs, but no need for tissues to dab the tears of Ryans turning down Denver, to the disappointment of his greedy agents (I’m thinking a reprisal for Jay Mohr from Jerry McGuire.) Even love trumps Walmart, unless of course, you really, really love Walmart and in this case Ryans really loved his Texans.
Then there was Jim Harbaugh. He remains—well—just kind of weird. If the Broncos wanted Harbaugh, I have no doubts they could’ve gotten him. Don’t believe the spin that he was the one turning them down.
Harbaugh is a kooky dude. He’s always been a kooky dude. He’s was never out of the mix because maybe a kooky dude is what they needed. But it’s way worse if the kooky Harbaugh turned the Broncos down. Michigan thinks so little of Harbaugh, they haven’t ponied up the dough to cement him. They needed to get through signing day and now they will have.
The Saints had a lot of power in their position. But, they had to answer some serious questions. Broncos general manager George Paton drew a line in the sand when it came to Russell Wilson and that was Pat Surtain. Had the Seahawks had insisted in obtaining Surtain, it would’ve been a deal breaker.
There is always a line. The Broncos had set one with the Saints. The Saints had to consider exactly what they wanted for Sean Payton as trade compensation.
That line was brought down by the Saints and very quickly the Broncos had their 20th head coach. Ironically, the New Orleans Pelicans were in town on Thursday to face the Nuggets. Mickey Loomis is the general manager of the Saints and he was the head of basketball for the Pelicans for many years. Could there have been a tete a tete between the Broncos braintrust and Loomis before the basketball game? Put on your tin foil hat for that concept.
Meanwhile, Dan Quinn and Jim Caldwell were looming in the break glass in case of emergency background. Not a focus, but a part of the picture. If things dripped on past this week, then it wasn’t crazy to consider a second round of interviews. But we never needed to holler in the wind.
At the end of the day what is remarkable is that Paton is in excellent standing and Wilson was in no way a detriment for any of the candidates. How about them apples?
It may have felt like things were wildly out of control but I bring news from the Western Front that while things may not have looked to be going according to plan, neither were they off the rails. The Broncos got one of their top choices and a top candidate that emerged went in another direction. That has nothing negative to do with the Broncos.
I’m not sure how you will view this news, but like Bruce Lee said, “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water in a bottle it becomes the bottle. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friends.”
The Broncos were water and like water, it could’ve gone either way. On Wednesday they were fluid, on Thursday they became whole.
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