Sean Payton announced his retirement after 15 years as head coach of the New Orleans Saints. It was sudden after some speculation about his future. But at a news conference this week, Payton made his retirement official. And the platitudes began to recount his time with the Saints.
Payton brought the Saints respectability in the NFL after years of being non-competitive and compiled a regular season record of 152-89. His teams averaged 10 wins a season, qualified for 9 playoffs, had a 9-8 record in the playoffs, won the Super Bowl in 2009 and recorded 10 winning seasons as the Saints head coach. The Saints went to and won the Super Bowl in Payton's fourth year as head coach, a remarkable accomplishment which his team never repeated in the 11 seasons since 2009.
And like nothing is ever perfect, all was not positive in Saint land. Bounty gate reared its ugly head and set the team back for several seasons. It took place on Payton's watch and he was fined and suspended from coaching one full year by the NFL. Payton and Brees, praised by the Saint's sport writers as offensive genius, in the 9 playoff seasons they participated in, won more than 1 game only once, the Super Bowl year of 2009. The Saints ended the 2021 regular season with a winning record of 9-8, only because the NFL added an extra game to the schedule.
The positives out weigh the negatives but "Politidose" was right on target when it predicted five years ago in commentary that Payton and Brees had already seen their best years as a Saint and it actually turned out that way. So now the Saints will be looking for a new head coach and the world of sports media will be all over the place in their predictions. But the bottom line is really fundamental balance. If the Saints hire the right coach and produces a winner, Payton will just be a memory and Saint's fans and the sports world will soon forget. That is the nature of sports.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
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