According to Underhill, that is not how it went down. Nick said that Pete did want the job, but the Saints slow played him while looking at other OC options, including Liam Cohen. When the Saints could not get Cohen, or the other few guys they liked better than Pete, they went back to Pete and offered him the job. I think the way the rumor that he didn't want the job started is that Pete was considering taking a year off from coaching if he did not get the Saints OC job and people thought it was that he was going to take a year off until the Saints convinced him to take the OC job.