There were no Tears for a Clown when Broncos owner Greg Penner fired Nathaniel Hackett in 2022. After an odious 15-game performance, stained by players lacking discipline and fighting on the sideline, Penner identified the qualities most important for removing the floppy shoes and red nose from the organization’s coaching office.
“We need a strong leader that’s focused on winning. That starts with culture,” he said. “It’s about instilling a sense of accountability, discipline, and we need an identity on offense. But at the starting point, it’s got to be about culture and leadership.”
Penner might as well have been reading Jim Harbaugh’s qualifications on Indeed.
As Sean Payton’s Broncos get ready to host Harbaugh’s Chargers on Sunday, it’s a debate worth revisiting.
Who’s got it better than them? Nobody! But are the Broncos better off? Did the winding path from Hackett’s Sesame Street to Payton’s Compete Street work out for the best, putting the Broncos on the road to redemption?
In a word, yes. But this conclusion requires hypothetical conjecture and belief that Harbaugh, while successful, would have remained too loyal to Russell Wilson.
Both Payton and Harbaugh were strong candidates for the Broncos vacancy back in 2023. Harbaugh had the inside track. He was the first outside coaching candidate Penner and the search committee interviewed. For a reeling franchise, Harbaugh checked every box, having won at San Diego, Stanford (where Penner and Carrie Walton Penner have strong ties), San Francisco and Michigan. “Tough” and “smart” define every Harbaugh team, making him the Broncos’ top target.
The first discussion came virtually. The next seven candidates met in person. Then things got weird. A week after his Zoom, Harbaugh was thought to be out of the mix after Michigan president Santa Ono revealed on Twitter that the coach told him he was “going to remain” in Ann Arbor.
Yet, roughly a week later, Penner circled back to meet with Harbaugh in person. Sources told The Post that there was no offer, but the feeling was it was his job if he wanted it. In the end, Harbaugh chose to stay in Michigan, a wise decision as he went 15-0 the following season and won a national championship.
The Broncos moved strongly in DeMeco Ryans’ direction but, recognizing he was likely headed to Houston, shifted their attention to Payton.
The former Saints boss boasted many of Harbaugh’s traits, delivering nine playoff berths in 15 seasons in New Orleans, including a Super Bowl title in 2009.
With a win Sunday, Payton would improve to 12-11 as Denver’s head coach. He impressed Penner in his first season with his willingness to work players hard in practice while moving on from unhappy and underachieving veterans like Randy Gregory and Frank Clark. It created a standard that appears to be taking even stronger root this season.
And did I mention Payton benched and eventually cut Wilson? Penner signed off on eating $85 million in dead money for the Broncos to move forward with Payton’s hand-picked Bo Nix in the draft.
Nix will define Payton’s legacy in Denver. And with the quarterback improving while protecting the football and avoiding sacks, it drives home the point that the Broncos remain in a better position with Payton.
Simply put, if Nix hits, the Broncos are set.
Outside of his Michigan tenure, Harbaugh doesn’t do long-term, his style rankling management. Would he have worked in Denver? Sure. But not in the way this franchise needed.
Harbaugh would have focused on fixing Wilson way more than Payton did. Remember how he revived Alex Smith in San Francisco? Harbaugh connects with his quarterbacks on a visceral level.
So, let’s say Wilson puts up similar statistics as he did with Payton, but those are viewed as progress by Harbaugh because he appreciates coloring outside the lines in offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s scheme. Naturally, he would have stuck with Wilson in 2024 — and the Broncos would not have drafted fellow Michigan man J.J. McCarthy because of the prohibitive price to move up. In this scenario, the Broncos end their seven-year playoff drought and exit in the first round.
It is an admirable achievement but inspires an unnecessary commitment. Connecting the dots, Wilson stays put in 2025, and the Broncos miss the postseason with a quarterback aging in dog years. Not unlike with the Aaron Rodgers-Nathaniel Hackett potential pairing in Denver, Harbaugh-Wilson would have delayed the inevitable. This franchise has needed a hard reset with a first-round quarterback since 2017. (Yes, that should have been Paxton Lynch. Alas, it wasn’t.)
Would you take a single playoff berth and starting over at quarterback in 2026 with Harbaugh over Payton? It is not a bad place to be — though I worry that Harbaugh’s mercurial ways would surface after a few seasons.
I asked Payton if he thought he was competing with Harbaugh for the Broncos job.
“I didn’t know who the other candidates were. I knew they were interviewing a bunch,” said Payton, who clearly respects Harbaugh. “I was thinking about the other teams that I was visiting.”
Harbaugh in Denver would have been an enjoyable experience, with heavy doses of quirky and khakis.
Payton was not the Broncos’ first choice. But looking at how this season is playing out with Nix, he was the right one.
