Sean Payton made a name for himself in the coaching ranks as a quarterback guru, helping develop the likes of Tony Romo and Drew Brees into star signal-callers. 

The highly decorated coach might also come with difficulties, at least for some. In addition to developing quarterbacks and helping the New Orleans Saints win a Super Bowl, Payton has also become known as a coach who isn’t afraid to say whatever’s on his mind, much like his mentor, Bill Parcells. 

Payton’s latest task is to develop a young quarterback once again — this time, it’s 2024 first-round draft pick Bo Nix with the Denver Broncos. As Payton is now the only coach from Parcells’ coaching tree to hold a head coaching gig in the NFL this season amid a league-wide shift away from hard-nosed coaches (most notably Parcells’ most famous protégé, Bill Belichick, who failed to land a job after leaving the New England Patriots last offseason), it’s easy to wonder how Nix might be taking the coaching from Payton.

If Nix is unsure how to adapt to Payton’s coaching style, Brees — the quarterback who won a Super Bowl in New Orleans and blossomed into one of the best of his generation with Payton as his coach — shared some advice for the Broncos rookie on “The Herd.”

“Be just as demanding right back to him,” Brees said. “Sean likes that. Sean wants to see you confident and sure.”

Brees obviously knows how to work well with Payton. He and Payton quickly formed one of the best quarterback-head coach duos in the league when they joined forces in 2006, leading the Saints to an NFC Championship Game appearance in an emotional rise to prominence amid the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Three seasons later, Brees and Payton led the Saints to their first and still only Super Bowl win in franchise history.

Drew Brees shares one piece of advice he would give Bo Nix

While that was Brees and Payton’s only Super Bowl win, they still enjoyed plenty of success in their 15 seasons together. Brees won numerous accolades playing under Payton, including two Offensive Player of the Year Awards and five All-Pro nods, and finished his career statistically as one of the best passers of all time. New Orleans also made the postseason nine times during their partnership, including another NFC Championship Game appearance after the 2018 season.

Brees said that he and Payton “got to a place with our relationship where it was almost like we could finish each other’s sentences.” However, he noted that it took a lot of work to get there, and implored Nix to similarly challenge Payton. 

“We just rehearsed it so much, we talked about it so much throughout the course of the week that I knew the minute we crossed the 50-yard line, that this was the play call coming out of his mouth. The minute we’re inside the red zone, this is the play we’re running,” Brees said. “The minute they go to this defense or that pressure, he wants this. It’s stuff that we’ve talked about and rehearsed together. A night before a game, we’re dotting a call sheet, ‘Here’s my favorite play, Sean.’ He’s telling me his favorite plays. We’re rehearsing it over and over so we can be kind of one mind out there together. 

“Of course, there were moments where, ‘Man I’m going to make a mistake.’ But we got to the point where he knew that I knew I made a mistake, so he doesn’t need to be yelling and screaming at me. For a young quarterback he’s trying to teach, coach and kind of get on the same page with, there’s probably going to be a lot more of that and he’ll be pretty firm with you at times. “

Nix likely got some constructive criticism through the first few weeks of the season. The first-round rookie threw four interceptions in the first two games of his career, with Denver losing both contests. But Nix and the Broncos bounced back in Week 3. The former Oregon star threw for 216 yards, rushed for 47 more and had a rushing touchdown in a 26-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Regardless of the results, Brees expects Payton to continue to challenge Nix behind the scenes. If that is the case, Brees implored Nix to be just as challenging of Payton.

“What he loves to see – and I think a lot of this came from Parcells, Parcells would be very demanding of his assistant coaches – Parcells wanted those coaches to have that same type of intensity and confidence coming right back at him,” Brees said. “So, I think Sean loves that coming back from a quarterback.”

It seems like confidence isn’t an issue for the rookie, either. Following the Browns’ win over the Buccaneers, Payton insisted that Nix hasn’t had any confidence problems when asked if that was an issue for the rookie.

“No, no, no, no, no. No, stop, stop. It’s fitting your narrative,” Payton responded to reporters. “The kid’s been confident. This kid’s been through Auburn. He’s transferred. He’s won, and won, and won, and won. And honestly, I haven’t seen him flinch. We all get a little bit more confident with the win but I say that respectfully. He hasn’t flinched.”

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