Tony Dungy responds to Sean Payton's violation of coaches 'code'

Tony Dungy is the latest member of the NFL community to share his opinion about Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton's verbal torching of New York Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.

"There's a certain respect for each other in the game that you don't say that publicly," Dungy explained during an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show" about Payton going after a fellow coach in such a way, per Andrew Gould of The Spun. 

For a USA Today piece published last week, Payton declared that his predecessor may have executed "one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL" when Hackett served as Broncos head coach for only 15 games during the 2022 campaign. Payton later expressed remorse and indicated he still had his "Fox hat on" when he made his original remarks, a reference to how the 59-year-old spent last season working as an analyst for Fox Sports. 

Dungy, a retired NFL head coach, currently serves as a contributor for NBC Sports' "Football Night in America" program. 

"Sean said, 'Well I had my Fox hat on.' Well, you aren't working for Fox anymore," Dungy continued on Wednesday. Dungy also made it known that criticizing a current coach as a broadcaster isn't the same as an active coach making things personal by slamming a peer. 

Hackett left no doubt he's fired up over the matter during his response to Payton delivered on Tuesday. 

"As a coach, as a coach's kid, we live in a glass house," Hackett said at that time, per Rich Cimini of ESPN. "We know that. We all live in different rooms, we all have a key for it. It's one of those things, there's a code, there's a way things are done in that house." 

Hackett added that he believes Payton broke an unwritten "code" by publicly ripping a fellow coach while speaking on the record to a reporter. 

The Broncos host the Jets for a Week 5 encounter on Oct. 8, and Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports noted Wednesday that the matchup could potentially be flexed into the "Sunday Night Football" broadcast slot. Thus, Dungy may be able to again address the Payton-Hackett situation this fall in front of a national television audience.