Sean Payton is showing how fast you can turn teams around
Let's be real for a second.
Sean walked into a significantly better situation in Denver than he did here. He didn't really have to turn a whole franchise around at all. Denver's roster was LOADED when he took over. The broncos were NOT in disarray they were just poorly coached. Basically all he had to do was come in, give Wilson enough rope to hang himself, cut Wilson and draft a moldable QB. When he got to Denver they had one of the best defenses in the league, multiple capable wide receivers and a young stud running back.
(1) Okay, was Russell Wilson really the problem in Denver? Because he's managed to bounce back pretty nicely in Pittsburgh albeit more as a "don't screw it up" game-manager QB plus he's surrounded by maybe his best overall supporting casts in maybe 5 years with Steelers defense, Najee Harris, a decent TE and some good WR's like George Pickens? He's 36 years old and if he does okay in Pittsburgh for the next 1-2 years, it might actually improve his HOF chances that were severely diminished by his time in Denver? I just don't think Wilson in Denver was a good fit plus bad, inept coaching kept any momentum from building. Sometimes, very good QB's will never fit in with other teams' schemes or offenses.
(2) Overall, I agree bad coaching was mostly what was keeping Denver out of contention, but it was also trying to replace a huge void in that Pat Bowlen, IMHO, one of the best, yet over-looked owners in NFL history about 11-12 years ago started having Alzheimer's/dementia issues and these health problems worsened, John Elway took on more of a prominent role as personnel decision-making. For several years it worked due to Denver's "No Fly Zone" Defense and acquiring Peyton Manning but those were done in consultation with Bowlen, once he was pretty much out of the picture by 2015, even though they won SB 50, a series of bad drafts, poor decisions regarding Payton's eventual successor, and an aging, less effective defense saw Denver hit its worst point since the early 70's. After Kubiak left, they also hired some bad, mediocre HC's like Vance Joseph until Payton arrived. Until this season, SWJJ, Denver hadn't had a winning season since Obama's last year in office in 2016.
It was indeed a product of a series of bad coaching hires but that was arguably due to having one of the smartest, most successful NFL owners over the previous 30 years be forced to leave the game due to medical issues and less-competent, poor talent evaluating personnel types take his place. John Elway stopped being such an effective, winning GM after 2016 and it wasn't until a new ownership group with its own perspective made the best football-related decision ever by hiring Sean Payton.
(3) Payton didn't arrive in Denver with his custom-built QB so while Denver wasnt a total rebuild in terms of talented positions being stacked, here in New Orleans very early on, he knew what he had with Brees and what he had accomplished in San Diego and even more excitedly, what the both of them were going to do for a very long time to come. In Denver he add to make some substitutions, add and subtract a couple of people and selected a very good QB in Bo Nix who has a lot of potential.
(4) Payton's Broncos are sort of stuck in same difficult conundrum Mora's Saints were from the mid-late 80's--early 90's: a very good, talented team stuck in an ultra-competitive, super-tough and hard AFC West with the NFL's next ascendent Dynasty, Reid's Kansas City Chiefs. As long as Kansas City has Mahomes and their defenses stay good, they can afford to lose future HOF'ers like Travis Kelce. He's not easily replaceable, mind you but the NFL MVP throwing the ball to him has this penchant for making almost-superhuman plays and can make average offenses look pretty good. Plus, Denver has a very competitive Chargers team with a great Pro Bowl QB and a revamped defense plus a charismatic, fiery new HC who has a history of restoring struggling programs/teams like with the 49ers and Michigan.