5 things Haslett did before Payton (1 Viewer)

[sfidc3]

This is true for whatever reason. There is a consensus that Haslett is out of his depth.

But there is something in his Neanderthal approach that does seem to match up well against the finesse, offensive "geniuses". He likewise had the number on Mike Martz. Haslett Saints always gave the Martz Rams fits and I think probably had a winning record against them.

Yet back to London Fletcher and Haslett being a shifty, untrustworthy dissembler:

“He is a guy that does not know what he is doing,” Fletcher went on. “And the Washington Redskins — and Jay Gruden in particular — better watch his back and get Jim Haslett out of the door….Jay Gruden better get him out the door because he’s probably back stabbing Jay Gruden like he did everybody else –- like he did to Scott Linehan in St. Louis and like he did to Mike Shanahan in Washington….

Maybe, London Fletcher was an extremely well respected veteran LB that played at a high level when most players were well past their prime or already out of the league. He was also known as a locker room leader and a mentor to young players....I believe every word he says about Haslett.....

 

[LAhotsauce]

Haslett was an idiot as a coach. The guy had very little to no scheme, couldn’t manage players, couldn’t get any kind of consistency. He was a rah rah go beat em up emotional sort of guy. The absolute opposite of the Payton era here. I still tot his day think Brooks could’ve been an all time great QB, he just had no consistent or good coaching to help him improve. As long as he could sandlot QB he was great, as was the team. But that’s all Haslett was

The Saints didn't run a sand lot offense tho. That's been said here already and offense was not the Saints problem. Aaron Brooks was an above average QB most of his time here.

In case folks forgot Mike McCarthy was the offensive coordinator. Who then went to Green Bay and won a Super Bowl with a similar style offense.

 

[Goatman Saint]

Thing is the attitude around the team was undisciplined and no one can deny it. Haslett has the great fortune of walking into a situation with 2 very good lines, running back and some good pieces in the defensive backfield. As soon as Ditka lines were dismantled, the team went downhill.

We can disagree, but either through talent, a lack of team discipline, whatever, the offense was a sandlot offense.

 

[rsmith2783]

Beyond that travesty, was it 2001 when the team also absolutely quit on Haslett at the end of the year?

Was 2 0r 3 games at the end of the season when they were still in contnetion I think that they just quit and got blown out in successive weeks...later to learn there was a lot of drama in the locker room at the time.

That was a major red flag and from there it was pretty clear you might consider replacing Haslett. He was given too many chances and probably should have been out 2 seasons sooner. But then we likely don't get Brees.

Benson didn't do a lot of firing and the word around the camp is that if you're loyal to him, then he's loyal to you. They claim that was a reason why Venturi stayed around so long.

 

[rsmith2783]

This is true for whatever reason. There is a consensus that Haslett is out of his depth.

But there is something in his Neanderthal approach that does seem to match up well against the finesse, offensive "geniuses". He likewise had the number on Mike Martz. Haslett Saints always gave the Martz Rams fits and I think probably had a winning record against them.

Yet back to London Fletcher and Haslett being a shifty, untrustworthy dissembler:

“He is a guy that does not know what he is doing,” Fletcher went on. “And the Washington Redskins — and Jay Gruden in particular — better watch his back and get Jim Haslett out of the door….Jay Gruden better get him out the door because he’s probably back stabbing Jay Gruden like he did everybody else –- like he did to Scott Linehan in St. Louis and like he did to Mike Shanahan in Washington….

One thing I noticed is that his defense was very exotic. Multiple looks, blitzes, etc. I kept wondering why he never ran anything like that when he was with us.

 

[Grant Backer Two]

GREAT Read OP! What about Haslett, allowing players to have a "gauntlett"? Rookies were lined up, and had to run through players, as they were hit with socks filled with coins.
SMH......... SP would NOT put up with such feces..... SP is in charge, without a doubt!! #9, #56 and #94 make sure of it! We had VERY FEW REAL leaders back then. We had Deuce and Will Smith, (RIP) were two of the few. Haslett didn't have Jeff Ireland either.... Just a few thoughts.

 

[HouseCall]

GREAT Read OP! What about Haslett, allowing players to have a "gauntlett"? Rookies were lined up, and had to run through players, as they were hit with socks filled with coins.
SMH......... SP would NOT put up with such feces..... SP is in charge, without a doubt!! #9, #56 and #94 make sure of it! We had VERY FEW REAL leaders back then. We had Deuce and Will Smith, (RIP) were two of the few. Haslett didn't have Jeff Ireland either.... Just a few thoughts.

I think “The Gauntlet” was during the Ditka times at the tail end of the LaCrosse days.

One of the real positive things that Haslett and Mueller did was immediately moving training camp to Thibodaux and trying to re-engage the local fan base.

Also, them cleaning house and bringing in a bunch of veterans was a big help too.

I think what Haslett did was give the Saints fans a sense of what we could experience as a fan base with the early success and the playoff win.

Sadly, his failure to switch an injured Brooks out for Jake Delhomme, with the playoffs in our grasp in 02’ really caused some fans to turn and was beginning of the end for him — despite lasting 3 more seasons.

The 2000 Saints team will always be one of my absolute favorites.

 

[Icon]

Haslett was an idiot as a coach. The guy had very little to no scheme, couldn’t manage players, couldn’t get any kind of consistency. He was a rah rah go beat em up emotional sort of guy. The absolute opposite of the Payton era here. I still tot his day think Brooks could’ve been an all time great QB, he just had no consistent or good coaching to help him improve. As long as he could sandlot QB he was great, as was the team. But that’s all Haslett was

A major issue with having a coach and QB come along and succeed to the level that Payton and Brees did is that it gives some the confidence to unfairly / inaccurately paint the predecessors in a completely dim and unflattering light. "The other guys were inept dimwits, but the new guys were amazing!" I've often griped at how those who didn't truly follow the Saints pretty much assigned the narrative of "this team was the poor, pitiful Aints until Payton and Brees arrived!"........but posts like this remind me that some members of our own fanbase are just as responsible for that happening.

An "idiot" for a coach probably isn't gonna immediately win a playoff game, then keep the team reasonably in the playoff hunt for most of the other seasons, minus Katrina. Sean Payton himself talks about how hard it is to win 1 game in the NFL.......so, if we're to take that at face value, the fact that Haslett could usually win at least half his games would indicate that he at least knew SOME aspects of winning football.

Ultimately, Sean Payton ended up being better, we know this......but let's also not forget that we've had plenty of 7-9 under him as well.

I think what Haslett did was give the Saints fans a sense of what we could experience as a fan base with the early success and the playoff win.

Probably as good of a one-sentence summation of the point I was trying to capture with this thread, as any I've read.