Saints home in on coach decision
Payton, Carthon appear to have separated themselves from pack
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
By Mike Triplett
and Jimmy Smith%%par%%Staff writers
The Saints are leaning heavily toward offering their head coaching job to Sean Payton, according to league sources, and they likely will decide between Payton and Maurice Carthon within the next day or two.
Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike Sherman remains a viable candidate, but he appears to be a distant third choice.
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has elected not to speak with the media until the search process is over, but spokesman Greg Bensel said that no offer had been made as of Monday night, disputing a radio report to the contrary.
The team apparently is finished with interviews and now is evaluating the candidates and possibly negotiating a deal.
As expected from the outset of this coaching search, the Saints are focusing on long-time NFL assistants who have experienced success in the league and have worked for winning coaches.
Payton, the assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach for the Dallas Cowboys, has worked under Bill Parcells, Jim Fassel, Jon Gruden and Ray Rhodes.
Carthon, the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns, spent most of his career playing and coaching under Parcells, also working alongside Bill Belichick, Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis.
The Saints appear to be following the same thought process as most of the 10 teams in the NFL who are replacing head coaches this season -- opting for an up-and-coming NFL assistant rather than a former head coach.
In a year where few "hot names" have emerged leaguewide, Payton and Carthon have each received interest from at least two other NFL teams during this year's interview process.
Payton, 42, seems to have been the Saints' front-runner throughout their coaching search, which began two weeks ago Monday when the team fired Jim Haslett.
Payton has worked under Parcells only for the past three seasons -- a relationship that no doubt leaps off his résumé. But he began his NFL coaching career as a contemporary of Gruden and John Fox, both of whom remain close friends and sing his praises.
"Sean has what I call the 'it factor,' " said Fox, who served as the New York Giants' defensive coordinator while Payton was the Giants' offensive coordinator, going to a Super Bowl together in 2001. "He has the ability to get it done. He is competitive and is deserving of a head coaching position in this league.
"He is a smart guy and brings toughness. He can be hard on guys, yet get their respect at the same time."
Said Gruden, who was the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive coordinator while Payton was the quarterbacks coach in 1997: "Sean is not only a good friend, but an outstanding coach. His accomplishments speak for themselves."
Parcells, who would be in the best position to evaluate the merits of both Payton and Carthon, would prefer not to comment about his current or former assistants until after they are hired, according to a team spokesman.
Crennel and Fassel also were unavailable for comment Monday.
The most telling show of support for Payton may have been Parcells' decision to hand over his play-calling duties to him this season for the first time since Parcells was in New England.
Parcells and Payton have clashing styles -- with Payton a West Coast disciple who likes to get more creative and Parcells having more of a conservative run-first nature. But the two of them seemed to work well together.
Sometimes Payton is criticized for overthinking his game plans rather than paring it down.
"I've been around him a little while, and I have confidence in him," Parcells told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram earlier this year. "I got to watch him, though. He can get the virus."
In that same article, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones admitted that Parcells and Payton butt heads at times but credited Payton for lobbying for his ideas rather than being a "yes man."
"I like the way he works with Bill. He has thick skin," Jones said. "He has Bill's ear, and that's very impressive."
Ironically, the most negative event of Payton's coaching career was when he was stripped of his play-calling duties by Fassel in 2002, sparking a late-season turnaround for the Giants and eventually leading Payton to move on to the Cowboys' staff.
But Fassel speaks highly of Payton and told the Star-Telegram, "After the year was over, I wanted to give it back to him, but I wasn't really sure how the organization would feel about it. I never wanted him to leave. But I understand how he'd feel in those circumstances."
The Cowboys' passing offense has been more middle-of-the-pack than overwhelmingly successful. But Payton is credited for helping middle-of-the-pack quarterbacks like Quincy Carter, Vinny Testaverde and, especially, Drew Bledsoe to some of the best production of their careers.
Carthon is described as much more of a Parcells-like disciplinarian. He received compliments from Cleveland- and Dallas-area writers for instilling that discipline in his players, though he would not necessarily be considered a "players coach."
According to one writer, he may be better suited as a head coach than a position coach.
Carthon, who spent most of his coaching career as a running backs coach, served as offensive coordinator in Detroit and Dallas but called plays for the first time this year in Cleveland.
He received mixed reviews in that department. The Browns scored the fewest points in the NFL (just below the Saints), and both Crennel and Carthon were criticized for not getting rookie receiver Braylon Edwards and tailback Reuben Droughns involved early enough in the offense.
Still, Carthon's learning curve under Crennel, a first-time head coach himself, may have been just as valuable as the years he spent learning under Parcells.
Reportedly, one of the selling points when Crennel interviewed for the job in Cleveland was that Carthon likely would be his offensive coordinator, and the two of them showed good chemistry their first season.
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Mike Triplett can be reached at
mtriplett@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3405. Jimmy Smith can be reached at
jsmith@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3814.
