3 Denver Broncos who should help fans root for a San Diego State upset

Sean Payton, Head Coach

Yes, the new head coach has ties to San Diego State too.

Sean Payton is a California boy, which is why his name was heavily tied to the Chargers this offseason. He was born in San Mateo and after his playing career ended in 1988, his first ever coaching gig was at San Diego State.

He started as an offensive assistant for two seasons and then took a job at Indiana State before coming back to SDSU as the team's running backs coach in 1992 and 1993. In that role he was given a chance to coach the best football player in program history, Marshall Faulk.

That led to him becoming the offensive coordinator at Miami (Ohio) before one season as quarterbacks coach at Illinois. In 1997, he was selected as the quarterbacks coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and he has been in the NFL ever since, aside from his brief break between coaching the New Orleans Saints and the Broncos.

For those wondering, San Diego State and UConn have never met in college football and have faced each other just one time in basketball, with UConn winning a Sweet 16 matchup in 2011.