A visor resting above his brow, Sean Payton was back on the sidelines at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Upon this evening, though, the visor was orange and the man responsible for the most victories in New Orleans Saints head coaching history was handing the home team a defeat -- and a lopsided one at that.
Payton's happy homecoming saw his Denver Broncos deliver a savage 33-10 bludgeoning to the Saints, as the author of so much New Orleans success handed his former squad its fifth straight defeat.
"It meant a lot," Payton said of getting the game ball after the victory. "Fortunately, and I say this respectfully, it was just two days of prep and we're here. So, not a lot of sleep. It kind of keeps your mind off of it because there are so many things that you have to get done. My big concern was just not having enough rest and so I slept today for a while and then came over here early just to get started going through the game plan again.
"But it meant a lot, because there were a lot of moments here and you get a chance to see old players that are here."
It was a short week ahead of the game in which myriad fond memories and talks about the old times were packed in. Coming just shy of three years since he stepped down from his Saints post, Payton left New Orleans on Thursday worse off than when he departed, and he clearly has the Broncos in better form than when he arrived in Denver ahead of the 2023 campaign.
"We're building," Payton said. "We're figuring it out."
Predictably, Payton aimed his focus on results rather than the ballyhoo of his return in the days before the game. However, he admitted the obvious emotion of the night after it was all said and done, with the current rendition of his former team a casualty of the celebration of yesteryear.
The Saints lost just two home games by 20-plus points in the Payton era. On Thursday, Dennis Allen's team lost its second home game in a row by 20-plus points, the first time that's happened to New Orleans since Weeks 16-17 in the 2001 season, according to NFL Research.
Payton is inarguably the greatest head coach in Saints history.
During his 15-season tenure (excluding the 2012 season he was suspended for), Payton compiled a 152-89 record to claim hold to the most games coached, highest winning percentage (63%) and wins in franchise chronicle. He oversaw nine playoff wins, including a Super Bowl XLIV triumph. It stands as the only Super Bowl title or appearance in the club's history and the Saints have won just one postseason game in their history without him on the sidelines.
This was an evening that shined a light on what was, with Drew Brees being inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame at halftime. It was in 2006 that Brees signed with the Saints. It was also Payton's first season with the club, beginning a marriage that led to New Orleans bliss.
"It's always good to see him," said Payton, who noted that Brees chose the date for his ceremony after the schedule was released and he knew he would see his old coach. "I feel like we have seen each other quite a bit. He's been to our practices and so anytime you see that whole group even pregame yapping a little bit at us. That was fun."
Times have certainly changed since Brees' retirement in 2020 and Payton's exit just a year later. In two-plus years under Allen, the team hasn't returned to the postseason and is 18-23 after Thursday.
Of course, Payton didn't stay retired; thus, when he joined Denver, he had to be traded from the Saints to the Broncos as he was still under contract with New Orleans.
He was back there on Thursday, authoring just the second instance in NFL history in which a head coach who won 150-plus games with a franchise later faced the team as an opposing head coach, per NFL Research. The first was the legendary Curly Lambeau, who after winning 209 games with the Green Bay Packers, returned to Green Bay as Washington's head coach and lost, all the way back in 1952.
In 2024, Payton pulled off the win, earning a smile that rarely left after the victory.
"Then, to be with this team and this ownership group, it's the reason you miss it," Payton said. "The one year out and you miss the relationships. You miss making memories. It's like I told them a couple weeks ago, (Patrick) Surtain's interception [for a 100-yard touchdown] right in front of our bench. There will be a day when I won't remember his name and I'm having apple sauce out of a straw, but I'll remember that play. So, that part of it, being around young people and having a chance to be part of their journey and coach them is a pretty good job. I'm thankful for it. Yeah, it was kind of emotional."
Payton basked in taking a trip down memory lane, speaking on the Prime Video postgame show, then to NFL Network’s Jane Slater and finally with the media, emotions clearly at a high. Of course, it was only made possible after his new squad took his old one down beatdown boulevard.
Though the glory days of the Saints saw Payton and Brees in lockstep to produce one of the most productive passing offenses of all time, it was the Broncos' ground game that won this night. Denver, led by Javonte Williams and first-round rookie QB Bo Nix, rushed for 225 yards, a season high.
"We ran the ball well, of course. Defensively, we had pressure," Payton said. "They're nicked up and I told DA get healthy, 'cause they have a good football team. A lot of their players right now weren't able to play. But, overall pleased with how we played."
Nearly two decades ago, Payton took on the role of Saints head coach, taking the reins of a franchise that had won just a single playoff game since its 1967 inception.
He's now taken on the task of turning around a Broncos club that hasn't been to the postseason since it won Super Bowl 50 in 2015.
Payton's moving the franchise forward, and the Broncos rolled over his former squad in the process on Thursday, bestowing upon him the historical note of having defeated all 32 NFL teams in his career.
For one more night, the Superdome was Payton's place.
