Sean Payton Dishes on Mike Shanahan's 'Hold Up' For the Hall of Fame
One of the hottest topics of contention in Broncos Country over the past couple of decades is the lack of proper representation of the franchise in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Despite getting a pair of Denver Broncos — cornerback Champ Bailey and late owner Pat Bowlen — enshrined a few years ago, fans have been clamoring for even more as several players and coaches have been passed over for way too long.
A storied franchise with eight total Super Bowl appearances and three World Championships, the Broncos only have 11 players enshrined in Canton, OH, with several of them spending most of their time with other teams. In fact, only seven players and Bowlen had spent more than five seasons with the club throughout their illustrious careers.
One of the Hall of Fame's more egregious snubs over the past couple of seasons regarding the coaching ranks is former head coach Mike Shanahan, who won back-to-back Super Bowls with the club in the late 1990s. An offensive mastermind and one of the architects of offensive football as we see it today, Shanahan's legacy spreads far and wide across football as we know it.
On Monday, Broncos head coach Sean Payton was asked about Shanahan and his impact on the game we all know and love, and he offered up one of the most memorable moments in Broncos franchise history in his response.
"There are just so many things that he has done from an innovative standpoint," Payton said. "The Super Bowl where [Hall of Famer John] Elway runs the deep boot and [Broncos Ring of Famer Rod] Smith runs the comeback post. We had never seen that route before, and it was like, ‘Ah!’ We were all putting that in. Tupelo—we gave it a name. Mike invented that and he was a part of that."
Shanahan's impact on the game today is quite extensive. His coaching tree features not only his son Kyle in San Francisco, but also guys like Sean McVay in Los Angeles with the Rams, Matt and Mike LaFleur with the Packers and Jets, respectively, as well as several other different coaches through the past 15 to 20 years.
Several teams in the NFL are currently running some sort of the Shanahan system, featuring a lot of stretch and split-flow zone running concepts, play-action passing, and misdirection plays that are designed to open up space for playmakers in the passing game.
Payton elaborated on how those principles from the Shanahan offense related to his designs and whether the Broncos are implementing that style this season.
"Absolutely, we do. We stole a number of things that we pretend we invented," Payton said. "He just did so many different things that helped the quarterback play better. John [Elway] would know certainly with his relationship. Mike always valued the running game.
"Years later, the [offensive] line coach who is no longer with us—Alex Gibbs—we brought him to New Orleans. He was a guy we brought in for the season, and he’d come in every month and then in the postseason. For two years, he was with us, working on the wide zone, the running game, protections, and boots."
Knowing what his legacy has been and what he brought to the game, there is little question as to why Shanahan is one of the 12 finalists for the Hall of Fame this cycle as a coach and contributor.
And according to Payton, Shanahan could have been enshrined a few years ago.
"The body of work for Mike is super impressive," Payton said when asked about Shanahan and his chances this year. "I thought he wasn’t eligible because he was still helping his son (laughs). I thought his five-year clock didn’t start. That’s what I thought the holdup was.”
Payton is referring to how Mike has helped his son in an unofficial capacity in San Francisco. Hopefully, this is the last year Shanahan has to wait to hear his name called to Canton.
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