Sean Payton Addresses Jake Heaps Working With Russell Wilson At Broncos Facility
Feb 6, 2023, 3:46 PM | Updated: Feb 7, 2023, 10:59 am
SALT LAKE CITY – New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton addressed Russell Wilson working his personal quarterback coach and former BYU signal-caller Jake Heaps at team facilities.
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On Monday, February 6, the former New Orleans Saints coach was introduced as the next man to lead Denver’s NFL franchise.
Shortly after his introductory press conference, Payton was asked about players having their own coaches and trainers get access to the Broncos’ building.
“Russell Wilson had a personal coach, Jake Heaps, in the building with access and wasn’t on the staff…How do you feel about players having their own people, off the staff, in the building?” the new Broncos coach was asked.
“I’m not too familiar with that,” Payton replied, “Yeah, that’s foreign to me. That’s not gonna take place here. I’m unfamiliar with it but our staff will be here, our players will be here, and that’ll be it.”
“That’s not gonna take place here” Coach Sean Payton on personal coaches being in the building. pic.twitter.com/AJM4wRuKPu
— Darren McKee (@DMacRadio) February 6, 2023
“If you’re having a bad day, at least you’re not Jake Heaps. The guy got fired from the facility on Day 1 of the Sean Payton era,” Denver Sports’ Will Peterson tweeted about the situation.
If you're having a bad day, at least you're not Jake Heaps. The guy got fired from the facility on Day 1 of the Sean Payton era. #BroncosCountry
— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) February 6, 2023
The Broncos acquired Wilson in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks in March 2022.
RELATED: Seahawks, Broncos React To Russell Wilson Trade
A few months later in June 2022, Heaps announced that he was leaving his job as co-host of a Seattle Sports radio program. The former BYU player, who had worked with Heaps in Seattle, shared that he was moving to Colorado to become Wilson’s personal coach on a full-time basis.
In recent years, Heaps has juggled his responsibilities as a radio host and a quarterback coach for players at every level of football, including Wilson.
Spoke with Jake Heaps on Russell Wilson QB Academy. First camp is at Kennedy HS, then a lot of sessions in Tacoma. https://t.co/AI9zuNoTl0 pic.twitter.com/bS08jKWGd1
— TJ Cotterill (@TJCotterill) July 8, 2017
“It is with mixed emotions that I tell you that I will no longer be able to host on Seattle Sports’ station and will no longer be able to do the Jake and Stacy show every day,” Heaps said. “As we all know, Russell Wilson was traded and when this happened I knew that my two careers that were perfectly aligned here in Seattle had become complicated. Speaking honestly, I’ve spent the past few months working through how to make both of those work, but it became clear that it just wasn’t going to be possible. I have resigned to pursue a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to coach Russell Wilson full-time and develop the next generation of quarterbacks.”
Former @BYUfootball & @NFL QB Jake Heaps (@jtheaps9) is leaving @SeattleSports to work full-time with @Broncos QB @DangeRussWilson. 💪#LocalsInTheNFL #NFL #BroncosCountry #BYU #GoCougs #BYUFOOTBALL https://t.co/eJVW9uAh76
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 16, 2022
About Jake Heaps
Heaps, 30, is a native of Issaquah, Washington.
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After a standout career at Skyline High School in Sammamish, Washington, Heaps signed with the BYU football program as the nation’s top quarterback prospect.
Heaps played for the Cougars from 2010-11.
During his seasons at BYU, Heaps threw for 3,768 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions with a completion rate of 57.2 percent.
Midway through the Cougars’ 2011 season, Heaps announced that he was transferring from BYU. The sophomore quarterback decided to transfer to the University of Kansas. Heaps played for the Jayhawks in 2013 before transferring to the University of Miami for the 2014 campaign. Heaps finished his college career passing for 5,233 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 27 interceptions with a 54.7 percent completion rate.
Heaps went undrafted in 2015 and signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets.
He was released before the start of the 2015 season. Heaps went on to spend time with the Seattle Seahawks in 2016 and 2017.
During his tenure with the Seahawks, Heaps developed a relationship with NFL star Russell Wilson, who was Seattle’s quarterback until this offseason, when he was traded to Denver.
Former BYU/NFL QB Jake Heaps (@jtheaps9) detailed Russell Wilson's first workouts as the quarterback of the @Broncos. 💪
✍️: @PetersenWill / @1043TheFan#NFL #BroncosCountryhttps://t.co/4pxXMKY2o2
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 27, 2022
Heaps also spent time in the Canadian Football League before turning to radio and coaching full-time.
Disclosure: Seattle Sports, is part of Bonneville International, sports.ksl.com’s parent company.
Kyle Ireland is a Locals in the NFL Insider for sports.ksl.com and co-host of the Yards After College Podcast. Follow him on Twitter (@kyleireland) and Instagram (@kyleirelandksl).
