![]() ![]() His role with the Broncos will be his first in the NFL. ![]() Stops at Toledo and Iowa State as a running backs coach had Ayeni working with current pro running backs Kareem Hunt and David Montgomery, among others, and he returned to Northwestern as its running backs coach and recruiting coordinator in 2018. Ayeni, a member of Northwestern’s Big Ten championship team under Walker in 2000 and whom teammates and coaches called “Sweet Lou,” spent time in NFL training camps with the Colts and Rams before returning to his alma mater as a graduate assistant in 2008. King was a fourth-round pick of the Buccaneers in 2003 and played three seasons in the NFL before embarking on a coaching career that included previous stops with the Raiders and Bears. That Strief is getting to begin this chapter of his coaching career next to Ayeni and King - “I can’t tell you how many stories Zach started with, ‘My good buddy Austin …’” Stinchcomb said, laughing - is probably not something he could have predicted when they were college teammates more than two decades ago. What can Broncos expect playing for Sean Payton? 'Tireless' preparation to win He even knew what some of the reads were going to be for the quarterback - three-step, five-step, seven-step - and so just knew exactly when to get his hands up.” The guards, tackles, center knew the tight ends’ job. He understood how to get to the second level. “When I found out he wanted to get into coaching, I wasn’t shocked one bit,” said Lions head coach Dan Campbell, who was an assistant in New Orleans during Strief’s final two seasons with the Saints. Strief might be stepping into a lead position role for the first time after spending the past two seasons as an assistant O-line coach with the Saints, but nothing he does with the Broncos this season will be new. He is replacing Butch Barry, who was fired along with head coach Nathaniel Hackett after only 15 games last season, and is charged with improving a unit that played a significant role in the Broncos surrendering a league-high 63 sacks last season. Perhaps no assistant on Denver’s staff has a more pivotal role this season than Strief, who is the Broncos’ third offensive line coach in three years. Smart, tough and accountable are three things those guys were about as players.” With all of those guys, and I know they all have different personalities, I just can’t say enough about how smart they are. “Those guys all played for Randy Walker, who was also my coach when I played at the University of Miami (in Ohio). “It is just one of those things that’s awesome to see come full circle,” said James Patton, who was the offensive line coach on Walker’s staff at Northwestern when Strief, King and Ayeni played at the school. ![]() Why Sean Payton's 'reset' year could pay dividends for Broncos' new head coach New assistant offensive line coach Austin King and running backs coach Lou Ayeni also played for Walker at Northwestern, and they were college teammates with Strief in 2002. And the connection to Walker, who unexpectedly died of a heart attack at 52, just two months after Strief was drafted, goes even deeper than that. When Payton became the Broncos’ head coach in February, one of his first moves was to hire Strief as the offensive line coach. The story of that call will soon have another chapter. “That was a good phone conversation,” Payton said. He played 12 seasons in New Orleans, later becoming an anchor on the offensive line, a pillar in the community and an invaluable locker room leader. Weeks later, the Saints drafted Strief in the seventh round. Payton moved Strief’s magnet over to the group of sixth-round prospects. So when the call ended, Payton walked into the Saints’ draft room and saw a magnet with Strief’s name on it sitting among a group of priority free agents. Walker told Payton that if Trai Essex, an offensive lineman on Walker’s 2004 Northwestern team, was good enough to be drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the 2005 draft, Strief was good enough to play in the NFL for 10 years. We finished (the conversation about) the quarterback, and he said, ‘What do you think of my right tackle?’ I didn’t know who his right tackle was, right? I said, ‘Who’s your right tackle?’ He yelled at me like I should have known, and I probably should have.” “Now, you have to know Randy Walker,” said Payton, now in his first season as the head coach of the Broncos. What Payton couldn’t have predicted is where the conversation would turn and the lasting impact it would have. ![]()
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