Jeff Duncan: Inside the Saints Culture Issues


The way it really happened: Sean went to visit Yoda (Bill Parcells) and he told him to hire Jeff Ireland to run the draft, and Ireland was heavily credited with the whole 2017 draft. Sean hired DA to run the defense. Theses were all Sean's connections, Lucky Loomis was in the room, but it was all people Sean knew from his days in Dallas and DA was w/ the Saints before. Bill had as much to do with our turn around as lucky Loomis. Why do you think Gruden is such a hot topic lately? Another guy Sean brought around here.


https://scooptour.com/local-news/je...n-dennis-allen-and-the-saints-right-the-ship/
To his credit, Payton accepted responsibility for the fall-off and didn’t make excuses. He didn’t reinvent himself. Instead, he just refocused and recommitted himself to the job.


However, after three consecutive losing seasons, more had to change than just Payton’s attitude. The Saints hired Jeff Ireland to oversee their drafts and placed a renewed emphasis on procuring smart, self-motivated, high-character players. Payton also overhauled the defensive and special teams coaching staff. The result: a historic draft in 2017 and four consecutive double-digit-win seasons from 2017 to 2020.