Where Would Sean Payton Rank Among Great Offensive Minds if He Wins Another Super Bowl? (1 Viewer)

[DerrickB]

I think you have to put him behind the late Bill Walsh.

 

[SweetT]

Head coaches-top 10
Offensive minds-top 3

Dude always has us at the top of offensive rankings

 

[Twyst]

Don Coryell and Mike Martz would be up there as well

 

[Colin311]

You mean when we win another super bowl?

 

[Saint Kamara]

Head coaches-top 10
Offensive minds-top 3

Dude always has us at the top of offensive rankings

I'm not quite sure he gets into the top 10 of head coaches.

Here is a ranking of all head coaches who have won a super bowl from only a year ago:

Ranking Super Bowl-winning coaches: Is Belichick best ever?

He's pretty much at the bottom (25th out of 31), and the only notable coach he's ahead of is John Harbaugh. The rest you'd expect at the very bottom due to having very limited success outside of their one Super Bowl.

I think you can start to argue him right around the 9 spot in that list, when he gets his second title. But my guess is most people would rank him around 15. If he stays long enough and can get near that 175-200 win mark (currently at 105), then I think he's in the top 10 safely and arguably top 8.

I expect Brees to play 4 more seasons and average 11 wins, so that effectively gets Payton to 150 wins.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

why would another SB matter? offense isn't the reason we don't have more super bowls

 

[Saint Kamara]

why would another SB matter? offense isn't the reason we don't have more super bowls

Same exact reason most people do not rank Drew Brees in the top 10 best QBs of all time, even though he's on the verge of having similar numbers to Peyton Manning (who is firmly in everyone's top 5).

Super Bowls get you noticed and increase your legacy exponentially. I don't necessarily agree with it, but that is the stark reality.

What does Drew Brees have to do with defensive coordinators utterly failing late in 4th quarters in playoff games? Absolutely nothing, but it tarnishes his legacy greatly. Again, very unfairly.

The minute Drew Brees is raising that Lombardi over his head again, everything changes. Most will start to say he should be ahead of Manning because he played far better than Manning in the playoffs. They'll start to say he's better than Marino, Favre and Elway. Some will vault him all the way to 3rd best of all time. These same people that have him in the teens right now.

 

[CowtownSaint]

I would have to say top 20. These things are very hard to flesh out, however I think for him to turn this team around after Katrina, endure it all after Bountygate and then if he can bring it back atleast one more time, That deserves alot of Credit. I have always been the first to defend Payton with everything he is done, he is a winner through and through, but I also feel like there are Coaches that have overseen whole teams and really maximized results on both sides of the ball alot better than him. To me he is the greatest coach ever, but legacy wise, there are ALOT of amazing coaches through the years

 

[Saint Jack]

Another Super Bowl gets him into the Hall.

 

[Saint Kamara]

To me he is the greatest coach ever

You're watching Belichick do what's he's doing and you can honestly make that statement?

That entire paragraph you wrote is rife with contradictions.

 

[Thunderchild]

I think you have to put him behind the late Bill Walsh.

From a strictly offensive perspective as the title requests, he may just be the greatest mind ever including Bill Walsh. In an era of historic offensive performances league wide, one can make an easy argument that Payton has been the most consistently outstanding. I'm not sure that even Walsh would be better in this day and age. I know that smacks of hyperbole, but giving it a lot of thought I just can't point to anyone as an obviously superior offensive mind.

Walsh created or greatly improved on the original West Coast Offensive while Payton uses every tool at his disposal, both existing schemes and schemes of his own creation, to get the best performance from his team. So it is a bit apples and oranges.

Still, like guido mentions, offense is not why we have just the one trophy. That is why I would hesitate to rank Payton very high on the list of historic Head Coaches. But as an offensive mind, it is hard to find anyone who you might rank head and shoulders above him.

 

[abnrgr]

Another SB win would make him arguably top 10 or 11-12 with Shanahan and Coughlin. Offensive mind wise, he is top five best in the history of the NFL. Another SB win might make him the best ever.

 

[MLU]

I think he's already #1. Walsh turned the passing offense into a running game, using short passes to control the clock like you would handing the ball off.

Payton takes base personnel, using two TEs and a FB like he works for George Halas and operates the NFLs most prolific offense, never finishing worse than #6 as the HC. He doesn't have a scheme that can really be copied, but rather uses concepts and individual strengths to catch-up versus defender's weaknesses. Every week is a custom offensive scheme. Every season, a different emphasis. Brees makes it all go, but the other pieces are interchangable. That Payton has produced so much without the talents of a Rice, Taylor, Craig, etc speaks volumes to the value of his abilities as playcaller and Brees as the executor rather than the talent at the skill positions. I can't find an offense in NFL history that was as prolific and the repeat Pro Bowlers were the O-Line and not the skill guys. It's just amazing when you stop to observe the production with the level.of talent.

 

[Thunderchild]

I think he's already #1. Walsh turned the passing offense into a running game, using short passes to control the clock like you would handing the ball off.

Payton takes base personnel, using two TEs and a FB like he works for George Halas and operates the NFLs most prolific offense, never finishing worse than #6 as the HC. He doesn't have a scheme that can really be copied, but rather uses concepts and individual strengths to catch-up versus defender's weaknesses. Every week is a custom offensive scheme. Every season, a different emphasis. Brees makes it all go, but the other pieces are interchangable. That Payton has produced so much without the talents of a Rice, Taylor, Craig, etc speaks volumes to the value of his abilities as playcaller and Brees as the executor rather than the talent at the skill positions. I can't find an offense in NFL history that was as prolific and the repeat Pro Bowlers were the O-Line and not the skill guys. It's just amazing when you stop to observe the production with the level.of talent.

Well said. That is basically what I was trying to say, but you made the point much better than I did.

 

[dutar76]

He's already one of the best offensive minds... ever.