Thankful we kept Payton all this time (1 Viewer)

[ChaChingBaby]

Seeing the fall out coming in GB with McCarthy has got me to thinking that we were once at a crossroads and torn on keeping Payton as our head coach. Thankfully, he's still here despite the mistakes we made in previous years and frustrations.

In the midst of those 7-9 years, many of us wanted Payton fired at the height of our frustrations. I'm glad we stuck with him, cause we wouldn't be where we are now without him.

Payton has had the #1 or #2 ranked offense in 7 of his 12 seasons at head coach. That has to mean something, even if you are on a down slope finishing 7-9.

 

[BCK30]

I was thinking about this just the other day...In today's world most coaches in that situation would have been shown the door. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

 

[NOLAJM504]

"He who laughs last" comes to mind for SP and Drew Brees regarding Mike McCarthy/Rodgers and all the GB knob-slobbing that was going on from 2010-2016. I knew our guys were better and I was hoping Drew and SP would be together long enough to see the fall from grace for the other side. Its finally come to fruition.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

I was thinking about this just the other day...In today's world most coaches in that situation would have been shown the door. Thank goodness that didn't happen.

Except for the clapper in Dallas. Payton has a ring though, while their NFC title drought continues.

"He who laughs last" comes to mind for SP and Drew Brees regarding Mike McCarthy/Rodgers and all the GB knob-slobbing that was going on from 2010-2016. I knew our guys were better and I was hoping Drew and SP would be together long enough to see the fall from grace for the other side. Its finally come to fruition.

To be fair to McCarthy, most coaches eventually do slip up and fall after a decade in the NFL. The league changes and evolves ever so often. It comes down to evolution or extinction. Those who don't evolve with the changing times, eventually burnt out.

Tom Landry was the best coach in the league in 1977. A decade later in 1987 far past his prime, he was in the lower tier of the bottom 10 coaches employed at the time.

We witnessed a similar dead end with Jon Gruden's similar west coast style offense that fell flat in the 2000's and is looking even worse now.

We are blessed that Payton has changed his schemes and adapted as the NFL has changes. This offense looks completely different to plays and situation schemes they were running a decade ago.

The only other offensive coach I can think of who has done as well as Payton even through rough breaks has been Andy Reid. He's done a great job with every QB he's had and he's morphed his offenses, changing them with the times. But Reid don't have a SB ring and his poor clock management in playoff games is always going to be brought up in an argument.

 

[Rdanderson91]

Hell we had people calling for Payton to be fired after the week 1 loss to the Bucs.

 

[FootballLady]

Yep. Remember this thread?

 

[ChaChingBaby]

Yep. Remember this thread?

LOL, fond memories. At least we can look back and laugh at ourselves.

 

[Bill]

Hell we had people calling for Payton to be fired after the week 1 loss to the Bucs.

Well... we took away the internet service from all of those people. So we're good now.

 

[HouseCall]

In order to last at one place for 10+ years in the NFL of today, you need to have a couple specific things happen:

Early success, specifically a Super Bowl win in the first 5 years. This buys the coach a lot of latitude when the inevitable lean seasons come.

A dynamic super star qb who can win games you probably should have lost. Especially during re-building and re-loading non-playoff seasons. Basically 7-9 or 8-8 rather than 3-13 or 4-12 type seasons.

Using Payton, Tomlin and McCarthy as the prime examples here -- (Belichick and Marvin Lewis are somewhat outliers in this example)

Anyway, Tomlin, McCarthy and Payton all three had early success. All three have had dynamic QBs that have kept mediocre teams at least competitive during lean seasons and all three have been on the "lukewarm seat" at some point in the last 5 years.

Where McCarthy is failing and Tomlin and Payton are succeeding in that Payton and Tomlin are attempting to evolve with the game and the talent around them.

McCarthy seems content with letting Aaron Rodgers win games on talent alone. He isn't building complete teams and his offensive strategy doesn't play to the strength of his talent. Also, he's got a personality that rubs players the wrong way it seems and that's all good when you are winning but really, really awful when losing.

Payton was in football purgatory for 3 years and it was seemingly obvious that his time here had run its course. However, Payton finally stepped aside and allowed a talented evaluator (Jeff Ireland) to build a team with a solid foundation.

Payton then shifted his playcalling and offensive philosophy to accentuate the strengths of his players and to preserve the body of his aging but amazing QB. Thus far, it's working well and it seems now Payton has rekindled the fire that was snuffed during the 2012 suspension.

I always looked at McCarthy and Payton in parallel. Both are offensive guys who came to be head coaches around the same time (McCarthy 05', Payton 06'). The trajectory of their careers seemed eerily similar. However, you are now seeing a divergence.

It's interesting to watch and I'm so happy that Payton has seemingly evolved as a coach.

 

[RKNSaint]

Heck I think it was our beloved Jim Henderson who was writing in 2008 Payton was on the downside of his popularity in NO. Staying the course has proved the smart strategy.

 

[Swimmer]

YES! As much as I love SP, by 2016, I was ready to can him. Actually, I was pushing for us to hire a real GM who was above SP. I wrongly thought SP needed that so that we could build a defense correctly. But Benson, SP and Loomis did some real gut searching self analysis and I take my hat off to all of them, they fixed the problems themselves.

 

[ChaChingBaby]

In order to last at one place for 10+ years in the NFL of today, you need to have a couple specific things happen:

Early success, specifically a Super Bowl win in the first 5 years. This buys the coach a lot of latitude when the inevitable lean seasons come.

A dynamic super star qb who can win games you probably should have lost. Especially during re-building and re-loading non-playoff seasons. Basically 7-9 or 8-8 rather than 3-13 or 4-12 type seasons.

Using Payton, Tomlin and McCarthy as the prime examples here -- (Belichick and Marvin Lewis are somewhat outliers in this example)

Anyway, Tomlin, McCarthy and Payton all three had early success. All three have had dynamic QBs that have kept mediocre teams at least competitive during lean seasons and all three have been on the "lukewarm seat" at some point in the last 5 years.

Where McCarthy is failing and Tomlin and Payton are succeeding in that Payton and Tomlin are attempting to evolve with the game and the talent around them.

McCarthy seems content with letting Aaron Rodgers win games on talent alone. He isn't building complete teams and his offensive strategy doesn't play to the strength of his talent. Also, he's got a personality that rubs players the wrong way it seems and that's all good when you are winning but really, really awful when losing.

Payton was in football purgatory for 3 years and it was seemingly obvious that his time here had run its course. However, Payton finally stepped aside and allowed a talented evaluator (Jeff Ireland) to build a team with a solid foundation.

Payton then shifted his playcalling and offensive philosophy to accentuate the strengths of his players and to preserve the body of his aging but amazing QB. Thus far, it's working well and it seems now Payton has rekindled the fire that was snuffed during the 2012 suspension.

I always looked at McCarthy and Payton in parallel. Both are offensive guys who came to be head coaches around the same time (McCarthy 05', Payton 06'). The trajectory of their careers seemed eerily similar. However, you are now seeing a divergence.

It's interesting to watch and I'm so happy that Payton has seemingly evolved as a coach.

Great post here.

It's always amazed me that coaches get fired much quicker now than they did years ago. But on the flip side of this, you have someone like Jason Garrett in Dallas who has always been nothing short of mediocrity, yet he can't get fired. Every Dallas fan I know has been screaming for him to be fired for years now. Those same fans didn't even trust him in 2016 when they had a 13-3 record.

Houston stuck with Gary Kubiak for 7 years before they began to consider firing him. he didn't make the playoffs until his 6th year, and he mostly escaped the criticism of how rundown and destroyed Matt Schaub was in that last year. Schaub got all the blame and became an internet meme as they were on their way out the door.

 

[Taker597]

Sean Payton is a hall of fame offensive genius. You don't dump him when he producing top 10 offenses for a middle of the road defensive coach. You have to ride or die that till he can't produce a top offense anymore.

Just the blind Haters that want to play like a 1990s defensive team. Horrible idea. I knew with the league changing. Payton was ahead of the curve. Defense is dead and you better be happy having the best offense in the league. A lot of ignorance on here that still haven't eaten their crow.

 

[Saintsfan8989]

SP deserved to be called out for 2014-2016. Posters weren't crazy for wanting a change. Glad he adapted & got that fire back.

 

[Taker597]

In order to last at one place for 10+ years in the NFL of today, you need to have a couple specific things happen:

Early success, specifically a Super Bowl win in the first 5 years. This buys the coach a lot of latitude when the inevitable lean seasons come.

A dynamic super star qb who can win games you probably should have lost. Especially during re-building and re-loading non-playoff seasons. Basically 7-9 or 8-8 rather than 3-13 or 4-12 type seasons.

Using Payton, Tomlin and McCarthy as the prime examples here -- (Belichick and Marvin Lewis are somewhat outliers in this example)

Anyway, Tomlin, McCarthy and Payton all three had early success. All three have had dynamic QBs that have kept mediocre teams at least competitive during lean seasons and all three have been on the "lukewarm seat" at some point in the last 5 years.

Where McCarthy is failing and Tomlin and Payton are succeeding in that Payton and Tomlin are attempting to evolve with the game and the talent around them.

McCarthy seems content with letting Aaron Rodgers win games on talent alone. He isn't building complete teams and his offensive strategy doesn't play to the strength of his talent. Also, he's got a personality that rubs players the wrong way it seems and that's all good when you are winning but really, really awful when losing.

Payton was in football purgatory for 3 years and it was seemingly obvious that his time here had run its course. However, Payton finally stepped aside and allowed a talented evaluator (Jeff Ireland) to build a team with a solid foundation.

Payton then shifted his playcalling and offensive philosophy to accentuate the strengths of his players and to preserve the body of his aging but amazing QB. Thus far, it's working well and it seems now Payton has rekindled the fire that was snuffed during the 2012 suspension.

I always looked at McCarthy and Payton in parallel. Both are offensive guys who came to be head coaches around the same time (McCarthy 05', Payton 06'). The trajectory of their careers seemed eerily similar. However, you are now seeing a divergence.

It's interesting to watch and I'm so happy that Payton has seemingly evolved as a coach.

Shifted play calling... Stepped aside Ireland... What is this one sided garbage to paint Payton as adetriment to himself ? Payton was a master offensive mind that got the most out of his chess pieces, and he brought in Ireland to help with drafting when the team was going through a rebuild. He didn't change his philosophy on offense... He simply didn't have the talent. So, he engineered an offense that works.