Here we are, the Saints didn’t even make the playoffs and yet another heartbreak has occurred in the month of January. A year filled with nothing but adversity for the Saints, the one piece that was holding everything together is now gone. The cherry on top of everything that has gone wrong this year. Sean Payton is stepping away from coaching and won’t be the head coach of the Saints in 2022.
Payton has been the head coach of the Saints since 2006 and has been one of the greatest offensive masterminds and coaches ever. Years of confidence of going into any game and thinking the team had a chance to win is out of the window. But who could blame him?
There’s been reports that Sean Payton has been dealing with this decision for quite a while and finally decided to step away. It was a choice that needed to be made now rather than later, and with the struggles of relocation, injuries, four quarterbacks, and COVID-19 it was time for Payton to take a break from coaching. Payton mentioned the ultimate factor was that it’s not in his heart to coach right now. He’s doing what’s best for him, and then revealed that the past seasons didn’t play a role in his decision. He even went out in Sean Payton fashion, beating the Falcons with Taysom Hill as the starting quarterback, and to still have the team at 9-8 and one game away from the playoffs shows the resilience and perseverance that Sean Payton has.
It stings, not being prepared to embrace the retirement of Payton. No backup plan, no preparation like there was with Drew Brees, just stings.
The next chapter of his life is uncertain whether he’ll be a TV broadcaster or simply just live his own life away from football. However, there is optimism that in a few seasons Sean Payton will return to coaching, but needs a break. Payton even mentioned in his press conference that coaching isn’t in his heart right now but in the future it could be. Retirement isn’t the right word, it’s more so a break. He’s currently under contract with the Saints until 2024, if he returned and wanted to coach another team the Saints would get compensation for him in a trade.
What does the next chapter and era of Saints football consist of in terms of coaching and philosophy? The top candidate for head coach should be Dennis Allen without a doubt. He has experience, turned one of the worst defenses into a top 3 defense, other teams interviewed him for a head coaching spot, the Saints should give him his second stint at head coach. Kris Richard or Ryan Nielsen could then take over as defensive coordinator with Pete Carmichael calling the plays on offense.
Outside the building candidates could include Vic Fangio, Mike Zimmer, Joe Lombardi, Aaron Glenn, Vance Joseph, Brian Flores, Eric Bienemy are all names to consider who are not currently in the building. There are a significant number of other names but those are probably at the top of the list.
This is by far the most important offseason for the Saints since 2006. They’re looking for a quarterback, head coach, offensive rebuild essentially with the defense playing on a championship level. They have to play their cards right to get into a comfortable position for 2022 to stay on the winning side of things. It’s not like Sean Payton left the team with nothing, this team knows how to win games and continue the winning culture from the past four to five seasons. The team has to avoid becoming what the 2015-2016 Broncos were. Have a hall of fame quarterback, after he retires and the coach retires the team starts off hot then misses the playoffs for 5-6 years straight because of no franchise quarterback while the defense is still elite and the weapons are there. Coaching struggles have been a problem as well in Denver. Trevor Siemian was even the quarterback for Denver when things went downhill. Two very similar situations that the Saints have to avoid at all costs.
Without Sean Payton, that will affect which free agents want to go play for the Saints and which ones don’t. Playing for Sean Payton was the pitch to these guys and now without him the front office will have to find new creative ways to get new guys in the building. Not having Payton will also affect the way the team drafts. Payton liked getting skill players in late rounds or undrafted, that’ll definitely change things as to how the team approaches the draft. It’s the things Payton did behind the scenes, the things most wouldn’t notice that will be missed the most. The way he handled adversity and found creative ways to win games with almost nothing going right.
There isn’t much more to say about the guy, he did more than anyone could ask. He had some of the best offenses in NFL history and has created a winning culture in New Orleans.
Written By Kadin Janisch
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