After numerous reports emerged that Sean Payton’s tenure as the New Orleans Saints head coach was about to come to an end after nine years at the helm, Payton himself called a press conference today to clear the air, and indicate he would be staying in New Orleans.
“I understand the interest and certainly the skepticism if you will, but this is where I plan on coaching, and I don’t envision myslf ever coaching for any other club,” Payton finally said several minutes into his press conference.
Payton remains focused on improving the team and making the playoffs going forward.
“The main thing all the time…is to really try to look closely at these are the things that we need to improve at. Obviously, when you finish 7-9 and your second year in a row you’re disappointed [and not in the playoffs]; we’ve grown accustomed to, and certainly have an expectation of getting into the postseason and competing,” Payton said. “The hardest time for us is I’d love this press conferene to be about an upcoming opponent and whether we can win in cold weather. Those are a lot more fun. That being said, as disappointing as it is to be in this poisition, there were still some things that were very encouraging.”
Sean Payton To Remain New Orleans Saints Coach
The Saints finished the season with a 7-9 record far short of the teams expectations and failing to make the playoffs for a second consecutive year. Peyton has been with the Saints since 2006 and lead the team to their first Superbowl beating the Indianapolis Colts 31-17 in Super Bowl XLIV in 2009. They have failed to progress beyond the divisional round of the playoffs on three occasions since.
The Saints find themselves at a crossroads going forward, stalwart quarterback Drew Brees is 36 and will account for $30 million against the Saints embattled cap for 2016, he is also in the final year of his five year $100 million contract and will be expecting an extension.
Last Tuesday Brees categorically denied that he and Payton would be going anywhere in an interview with NFLHQ the quarterback stated the following,
“No, I don’t,” he said. “I think we — a plan was put in place throughout last offseason as to how we were going to build a foundation by which to make a run at it in the future. That includes some new faces, that includes some young players that, I think, will all have a chance to come together and kind of build a team that can make a run at it in the future.” (NFL.com)
Payton could have had his choice of suitors and NFL Insider Ian Rapoport has suggested that the former Saints coach had been testing the waters at organizations such as the San Diego Chargers. The Dallas Cowboys were also rumored to be interested in the coach’s services.
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