After a two-year hiatus from the head coaching role in the NFL, Sean Payton had just become the Denver Broncos head coach ahead of the 2023 season. But just in his second year leading the Broncos, Payton was ready to step back from his job, not because he failed to lead the Broncos to the playoffs in 2023, but because he wanted his close friend, Bill Belichick, to create NFL history. In his recent report, ESPN’s Seth Wickersham revealed:

“When Belichick and the Patriots divorced in 2024, Payton considered presenting Broncos owner Greg Penner a proposal for the ages: Hire Belichick as head coach until he reached 15 wins, enough to break Don Shula’s career record of 347. Payton would temporarily step down to assistant head coach and run the offense, then move back after Belichick became the all-time leader. In the end, it was too complicated — and maybe too fanciful.”

By the time the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick parted ways following the 2023 season, the legendary head coach had accumulated a record 302 regular-season wins and 31 playoff wins, bringing his total to 333, second only to the former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula.

While Belichick remains the winningest head coach in NFL postseason history, he still needed 15 more victories to surpass Shula’s all-time wins record. That’s why Sean Payton, Belichick’s longtime friend, was willing to step aside into an assistant head coach role to give him that opportunity. In the end, however, that scenario never came to fruition.

Both coaches worked under the legendary Bill Parcells before becoming HC’s. Belichick spent over a decade working under Parcells with the New York Giants and later with the New York Jets. Payton, meanwhile, spent three seasons as the Dallas Cowboys assistant head coach & quarterbacks coach, with Parcells leading the franchise.

Their first real interaction happened during the 2007 Pro Bowl. Payton was coming after making an NFC Championship appearance in his first year as the New Orleans Saints head coach. Belichick, meanwhile, was leading the AFC.

“So when you’re there 10 days, and you realize the Pro Bowl practice is half an hour, you’re going to have a lot of time,” Payton revealed his first meeting with Belichick. “I got to know him. The timing was perfect and he’s in the AFC, I was in the NFC. He’s very gracious. I think we took both staffs on this three or four-boat fishing trip. He’s pretty good with that fishing stuff. I don’t know anything about it. Then we would have these discussions.

“And then eventually joint practices and then I think we had four joint practices. And not one time in those four practices was there a scuffle or fight. We got a lot of work done… I was lucky enough as a young coach that that unfolded that way.”

The Pro Bowl saw Belichick come out on top, grabbing a 31-28 win. However, Payton was not too mad at the result, as he gained a friend from that fixture.

When he had the chance, he even tried to push Belichick to get the HC position to cement his name as an all-time great. Although it did not materialise, the Broncos’ head coach is optimistic that Belichick will indeed land another NFL job.

Sean Payton missed Bill Belichick not being in the NFL

It’s been a couple of years since Bill Belichick left the NFL. The rumors of his return, however, persist. In fact, just last December, Sean Payton acknowledged that he misses Belichick not being in the NFL and is optimistic that the eight-time Super Bowl champion will land another head coaching role in the league.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Payton said. “I miss him not being in the league. I miss him not being in the league and I wouldn’t be surprised—and I would be somewhat hopeful that he ends up back in the league. We’d all be better for it. He’s something.”

When the Giants fired Brian Daboll last year, Belichick was linked to land the head coaching role in New York. However, he eventually denied all the rumors, as the Giants eventually hired John Harbaugh to replace Daboll. Still, if Belichick ever decides to return to the NFL, we can expect him to break Don Shula’s record to become the winningest head coach in the league.