After serving as an assistant with
Central High School and
BYU, Payne moved to the
Canadian Football League in 1968. He served as an assistant with the
Edmonton Eskimos,
Winnipeg Blue Bombers and
Saskatchewan Roughriders before becoming the Roughriders head coach in 1973. In his four season as head coach, Payne had a 40–23–1 record and led Saskatchewan to the
1976 Grey Cup. Payne left the Roughriders in 1977 and joined
Tommy Hudspeth's coaching staff with the
Detroit Lions. The entire staff was fired on January 9, 1978. He returned to the CFL, replacing
Tom Dimitroff as head coach of the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats five games into the 1978 season. He had some success with Hamilton, compiling an 18–24–1 record over three seasons and leading the team to the
1980 Grey Cup. After the Tiger-Cats trouncing at the hands of the Edmonton Eskimo dynasty 48–10 in the Grey Cup game, owner
Harold Ballard indicated that he preferred recently fired
Arizona State football coach
Frank Kush over Payne, which led to his resignation. After leaving the Hamilton TigerCats, Payne went to
Texas Christian University (TCU), where he coached as the offensive line coach under head coach
F. A. Dry from 1981 to 1982. He then moved to
Chicago to coach with the
Chicago Blitz of the
United States Football League (USFL) under
George Allen. Payne moved to
Arizona when the Blitz franchise was moved and became the
Arizona Wranglers. In 1985, Payne became head coach at
Abilene Christian University located in
Abilene, Texas. He was the Wildcats head coach for six seasons and had a coaching record of 26–34–2. Payne returned to the CFL in 1993 as the offensive line coach for the
Sacramento Gold Miners. In 1995, Norton Herrick, an
Orlando, Florida real estate developer, announced plans to move the CFL's
Las Vegas Posse to
Jackson, Mississippi. Payne was to be the club's head coach, however plans fell through and the relocation did not take place; the team instead folded. In 1996, Payne, then an assistant with the
Ottawa Rough Riders, was promoted to head coach. He coached the team to a 3–11 record; the team finished the year 3–15. The Rough Riders ceased operations after the season and Payne became the final coach in the 120-year history of the team. On November 18, 1997, the
New York CityHawks of the
Arena Football League named Payne offensive coordinator. ==Head coaching record==