Sean Payton has been coaching in the NFL since 1997 and he’s been a head coach in the league (with a pair of one-year breaks) since 2006. There isn’t much he hasn’t seen at the highest level of football.
Before joining the Denver Broncos, however, Payton spent his entire NFL career in the NFC, spending time with the New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.
The Broncos marked Payton’s first tenure in the AFC, and coaching in Denver marked his first NFL job outside an eastern or central time zone. So while there’s not much Payton hasn’t experienced in the NFL, coaching in a new conference with a different time zone was an adjustment.
“The time zone — when you’re playing the games — and [being in] the AFC [was different],” Payton said during his end-of-season press conference on Jan. 9. “For my whole career, it was really more of a coincidence. This is the first time being in the AFC and trying to figure out who you are rooting against more than anything else. Looking ahead to our schedule next year, our opponents are set. Our away opponents are set. We’re going to have four or five eastern time zone games. That’s something that’s different.
“How do we handle traveling east? We didn’t do well going to Miami, and obviously, didn’t play well going to Houston. How do we handle going that direction, especially when we’re going to be playing this many games and some pretty good teams in the AFC — the AFC North, for instance. Looking at that part of the schedule and preparing that way. That’s different than what I was used to.”
The Broncos traveled from the western time zone to the eastern time zone three times in 2023 and went 1-2 in those contests (their victory was a 24-22 thriller over the Buffalo Bills in Week 10). Denver will have four eastern games in 2024 against the Baltimore Ravens, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets. The Broncos will also travel to the central time zone for a showdown with the New Orleans Saints.
With a year of experience under his belt, Payton will aim for better results when traveling east next season.
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