Phase 1 of OTAs shows a clear difference between Sean Payton and Nathaniel Hackett

Last year at this time, the Broncos were already headlong into learning their schemes. Nathaniel Hackett arrived, and the Broncos sprinted head-long into work. They had position-group meetings, focused on verbiage and schematic concepts.

“We have a very, very large playbook,” Hackett said two weeks into offseason work.

And to try and get everything down pat, the Broncos had the voluntary veteran minicamp to which they were entitled after hiring a new coach. That on-field work came two weeks into OTAs.

Nothing like that is happening this year.

In Phase 1 of OTAs, Sean Payton is keeping it simple.

Three-and-a-half weeks ago, Payton announced there would be no voluntary veteran minicamp. Other teams with new head coaches will hold theirs during the early part of draft week. Payton passed.

And now that the Broncos are working, there’s something missing.

Meetings.

“There’s no meetings,” Payton said Thursday. “When I say that, honestly, there’s no football meetings right now.”

For those who chafe under the tedium of lengthy confabs, this notion is downright delightful.

Meetings will come — in Phase 2 of OTAs.

“Phase 2 begins in three more weeks. We’ll begin to introduce the offense, defense and the kicking game. And you know, we’ll do the Phase 2 activities that we can do.”

Where did Payton get these offseason notions? As with quite a few aspects of his philosophy, the genesis is in the mind of Hall-of-Fame coach Bill Parcells.

“I felt like I learned this from Bill: This month is lifting and running,” Payton explained.

“So, if there’s a question, it’s, ‘How’s the weights going?’ We see these guys running in the morning when we’re coming in here for draft meetings. We’re not in a meeting-room setting.

“I don’t want the players to feel like they’re pulling into the parking lot coming to football practice in April. It’s just not happening.

“So, it’s great to see these guys around.”

And after that, Payton offered one final note:

“Hopefully we can keep the golf carts upright, but yeah, no meetings, just weight room and running.”

The golf-cart mishap calls to mind a statement from another coaching co-hort of Payton’s, John Fox. Fox and Payton were coordinators together with the New York Giants during their 2000 run to Super Bowl XXXV. When players left for some time away, Fox would often say, “I don’t want to read about you in the paper unless you hit the lottery.”

Less is more for Payton — whether it’s early offseason meetings and offseason workouts being visible, even in social-media snippets. And that simpler approach is refreshing after a 2022 offseason in which too much was thrown at players too soon, leading to confusion that helped sink the Broncos to a 5-12 finish.

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