N/S Payton critiques old Broncos staff, says Jets are setting themselves up for a hard fall, etc.

When Payton was here, we all knew that he was good for a few arrogant and cocky soundbytes, esp. after bountygate.

But part of me thinks even for SP, these comments were a bridge too far. Yes, SP is calculating, but I doubt all this attention (mostly negative) wasn't what he was shooting for. Coaching is a pretty tight NFL fraternity, despite the stiff competition for acquiring both HC positions and a spot on a staff. Openly burying one of your own after taking a job after a franchise cleaned house is dirty pool, imo. Yes, what he said was probably true, but what good does airing all that dirty laundry do?

I don't remember at all in recent history a HC go on and on about how crappy a job the previous regime did. Further, Hackett was a first year HC who flopped in his first year. He may or may not get another opportunity to coach again, but there have been more than one HCs who start slow and grow into the job and have a lot of success. And he's got a pretty decent resume; it wasn't similar to the Colts hiring Jeff Saturday out of the booth with very little or no experience. The rant just seemed, well unnecessary.

The point is there's a fine line between confidence and cockiness and hubris bordering on obnoxious when it comes to what HC says, and lately it's been the latter more than the former with SP.