Sean Payton on poaching Zach Strief: ‘It’s only right, because I found him’
Zach Strief will join Sean Payton in Denver.
For #BroncosCountry who might not know Strief just yet…listen in from #SuperBowl Radio Row 👇 pic.twitter.com/PKUQ1pSSAB
— Brooke Kirchhofer (@brookechesney) February 11, 2023
One of the bigger departures of the New Orleans Saints offseason has been Zach Strief, one of Sean Payton’s former players who turned to coaching after hanging up his helmet. Payton reflected on his history with Strief and how he came to New Orleans in a conversation with WWL’s Brooke Kirchhofer.
“When I arrived in ’06, we’re putting the draft board together and going through it. We’re in the late rounds and I called the late Randy Walker, then the head coach at Northwestern. I was asking him about a quarterback,” Payton reminisced, “He said, ‘What do you think of my right tackle?’ I had no idea who he’s talking about, he goes ‘This kid will play at your level. He’s been a captain here for two years.'”
That conversation compelled Payton to move Strief up their board from an undrafted free agent to a seventh-round grade, and the Saints called him up at the second pick in that frame at No. 210 overall. And the rest is history. Strief first got on the field with the offense as the sixth man in jumbo packages before starting for years at right tackle. Payton hired him as his assistant line coach after a brief stint doing play-by-play on the radio for Saints games, and now he’s being promoted on Payton’s staff in Denver.
“It’s not announced yet but he is going to be coming with us. And I feel like it’s only right, because I found him,” Payton grinned. Replacing Strief won’t be easy, but he was the assistant to full-time offensive line coach Doug Marrone, so the Saints should be able to find some good options. One candidate who should be considered is Strief’s old teammate Jahri Evans, who worked with him as a coaching intern for training camp last summer.
