Sean Payton Reveals Darren Sproles Will Be a Broncos' Coaching Intern in 2026

Story by

Douglas Santo

Fri, Aug 8, 2025 ·

3 min read

Sean Payton Reveals Darren Sproles Will Be a Broncos' Coaching Intern in 2026 originally appeared on Athlon Sports .

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton spent most of his NFL coaching career with the New Orleans Saints before joining the Broncos in 2023. During his time with the Saints, he coached running back Darren Sproles for two years.

Sproles spent 2011-2013 in New Orleans between his five and six year stints with the San Diego Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles , respectively.

The two developed a strong relationship in New Orleans, and Sproles reached out to the Broncos' head coach recently wanting to get back into football, but on the coaching scene. Payton joined " Scoop City " earlier this week and revealed Sproles will be joining the Broncos' coaching staff in 2026 as a coaching intern.

"There was something about fricking Darren Sproles," Payton said . "When I tell you this, and I just spoke to him. He's coaching now, all right, and he's reached out, and he wants to get into it at this level, and he's going to do an internship for us next fall."

Sproles played 14 years in the NFL, made three Pro Bowls, and won a Super Bowl. The 5-foot-6 back did it all, rushing for over 3,500 yards, receiving almost 5,000 yards, and scoring 55 touchdowns combined throughout his career.

The all-purpose back also gained nearly 3,000 yards on punt returns, more than 8,000 yards on kickoff returns, and nine touchdowns on special teams. Sproles affected the game in so many ways, and now he'll get his coaching start in the NFL with the Broncos.

"I'll never forget, Drew ( Brees ) saying every snap that he played with Darren, and I don't know how many snaps that was, obviously it was a lot - the Chargers the same way - Drew said there wasn't one time on the field he surprised me with what he did, and his football IQ was off the charts," Payton said. "And so, like a lot of these cut ups that I'm grabbing (RJ) Harvey or (J.K.) Dobbins, or any, you know, any one of these backs up in the room and we're going through, you know, there's Reggie (Bush), there's (Alvin) Kamara.

"But he would do something every time, like even something you never cover on a choice route, slip under an end, come up the field, and it was always the right thing. Sproles' one of those unique guys, and then you forget about his talent as a runner."

Payton has coached several great running backs, and Sproles adds to the mix. The Broncos' running back room is extremely young, but loaded with talent. Dobbins has the most experience, but he's even had limited playing time during his years in the NFL due to injury.

Sproles won't be coaching in 2025 just yet, but he'll be a major addition to the running back room in 2026 for Denver. It's also worth pointing out that Harvey is only 5-foot-8, just two inches taller than Sproles, who built an incredible career in the NFL despite his small stature.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 6, 2025, where it first appeared.