Jake Heaps, Russell Wilson’s personal coach, joined the Broncos quarterback last season in his move from Seattle to Denver.
He attended the last off-season training camp, but will not have access to Broncos facilities under Sean Payton.
The Broncos officially introduced their new head coach on Monday and he was asked about Heaps and his entry. He replied that he is “unfamiliar” with the practice, but that it will not continue under his leadership.
“That’s strange to me,” Payton said. “That’s not going to happen here. I’m not familiar with it. But our staff will be here, our players will be here, and that’s it.”
Wilson’s first season in Denver was a disaster. The nine-time Pro Bowler had the worst season of his career as a Broncos team with Super Bowl ambitions standing at 5-12. Denver averaged a league-worst 16.9 points per game with a lukewarm offense that rated the midseason as one of the worst in NFL history.
Rookie head coach Nathaniel Hackett did not survive the season. Wilson did, and his five-year contract with $165 million in guarantees all but guarantees that he will for seasons to come. But it won’t be as usual under Payton, who joins the Broncos as the offseason’s most prominent coaching hire after a 15-season stint at New Orleans that included nine playoff appearances and Super Bowl victory for a formerly eternally moribund Saints. franchise.
Who is Jake Heaps?
A former college quarterback at BYU, Kansas and Miami, Heaps joined the New York Jets in 2015 as an undrafted rookie. never threw an NFL pass, but he built a relationship with Wilson during his time in Seattle.
Heaps has not been on any football roster since a stint in 2017 on the exhibition team of the CFL’s BC Lions. He has since worked as a sports radio host in Seattle and as a quarterback coach. He resigned from Seattle Sports 710 a.m. in 2022 to follow Wilson to Denver and work full-time as his quarterback coach.
Wilson, like Payton this offseason, joined Denver as a high-profile trade acquisition expected to lead the Broncos to success. In addition to Heaps, Wilson also brought his own trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and massage therapist to Denver. It’s an arrangement not unknown in NFL circles.
Lamar Jackson’s personal coach Adam Dedeaux joined him at Raven’s training camp last low season. Trainer Alex Guerrero worked closely with New England’s Tom Brady before head coach Bill Belichick banned him from the Patriots’ facilities. Heaps said last offseason that he was wary of pushing his limits in Denver.
“They were great and it was really nice to work with him and for Russell to get this opportunity in Denver,” Heaps told Denver’s 9 News last summer. “It’s not my job to step on the staff’s toes.”
The boundaries are now clear to the Payton regime. Heaps are not welcome at Broncos HQ. However, that doesn’t mean he won’t work closely with the Denver quarterback.
Payton is credited with helping Drew Brees develop into a Hall of Fame caliber quarterback in New Orleans. His primary job in Denver will be to pave a path for Wilson to return to the form that led him to success in Seattle. He spoke on the subject on Monday.
“Obviously it wasn’t the type of season he wanted to have,” Payton told Wilson reporters according to the Denver Post. “I feel like in recent weeks we’ve seen a little more of what we expected or used to. . I think the number one job for us as coaches when evaluating our players is, ‘What is he doing really well?’ And then let’s try to get him into those positions, at least that’s the premise of emphasizing their strengths and then minimizing what the weaknesses might be.
‘This is what I know. I know he is a worker. An extremely hard worker. This is important. And I think you take that, you understand the skills. … And then you go from there.”
