Why Sean Payton’s changes made the Broncos the right team for Garett Bolles

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Garett Bolles and the Denver Broncos proved to be a perfect match.

But it wasn’t always that way. Not in those first rough years, when the words “Holding, offense, number 72” would pass from an official’s lips, sending the Mile High crowds into despairing boos. By the end of the 2019 season, a pattern was clear: Bolles had considerably fewer infractions on the road than at home — an average of 1.5 holding penalties per game over the previous eight home games, compared with just 3 holding penalties in the eight away encounters during that span.

Numbers like that are why then-general manager John Elway declined to pick up the fifth-year option the Broncos had on Bolles, since he was a first-round draft pick. Thus, he went into the 2020 campaign with a career that seemed to be on the ropes.

But 2020 brought two things: a second year with renowned offensive-line coach Mike Munchak and a chance to reset without fans in the stands as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. And with that, Bolles thrived to the point that he earned a 4-year contract extension.

Still, the environment wasn’t perfect.

“It was more clutter and different things we were going through and you know, all the distractions from ownership to different GMs, different players, different quarterbacks,” Bolles recalled Thursday when answering questions after signing a 4-year contract extension.

“Everyone was talking about us, that we need to do better and, you know, this whole city, you know, wanted us to thrive. And I think I just put a lot on my own shoulders because I needed to do better. And a lot of it, I was causing a lot of problems with just the way I was playing and I needed to fix it.”

Munchak’s presence helped, but after the 2021 season, new coach Nathaniel Hackett jettisoned him from the staff in favor of Butch Barry, a coach who attacked his job with more invective than Munchak. Firing Barry was one of the first orders of business for Jerry Rosburg after becoming interim head coach, which spoke volumes.

Indeed, everything about Hackett’s stewardship was a mess. But by then, the Broncos had stability at other spots. General manager and ownership, specifically. But not from the coach’s office.

Sean Payton changed that.

The “clutter” was gone. An offensive-line coach whose teaching style resembles that of Munchak — Zach Strief — was in place. And with Payton came order to cleanse the organization of its previous chaos.

As it turned out, this is exactly what Garett Bolles needed.

“That structure. I thrive off of structure. I really do,” Bolles said. “And I think Coach Payton does a phenomenal job here with the structured program. The way we run practice, the way our schedule is, the way we eat, the way we train, the way we travel, everything’s the same thing every single day. And you can get in a rhythm and you can get in, what your game plan is and what your day to day is, what you’re going to do from day to day. And I’m not saying that’s not how it was early on, but like, it was just different.”

In Payton, Bolles found an environment that allowed him to focus. In Strief — a former player for Payton who the coach coaxed from the comfort of the New Orleans Saints’ radio-broadcast booth — he found a coach who, like Munchak, he could completely trust.

“I’m so grateful for an O-line coach that just lets me be myself,” Bolles said.

But that didn’t come overnight.

“I knew I had to earn Coach Strief’s trust,” Bolles said.

And months ago, Strief noted that he had to earn Bolles’ trust, too. It didn’t take the two men long to find a harmonious vibe.

“First and foremost … I think it’s very important that you build a relationship with Garett where he trusts (you),” Strief said in June. “And for a player who’s had a lot of offensive-line coaches, he’s heard a lot of different ‘this-is-the-way-to-do-its.’ And so, you have a player with a lot of stuff in his head. He’s been told a lot of things are right a lot of things are wrong.

“I thought we built a good relationship last year. I think he trusts me, and I think he trusts what we’re trying to do.”

Trust, love, respect and structure. Bolles thrives with these things. And thanks to Payton and his staff choice, the Broncos provide them.

It’s a perfect football match.

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