Sean Payton resigned as head coach of the New Orleans Saints earlier this year and is now working for Fox Sports as an analyst. However, it’s possible the Super Bowl champion coach could return to the sidelines next year. Payton recently appeared on the NewOrleans.Football podcast and said he would be interested in coaching again next year. However for that to happen, Payton said the “right situation” have to come up for him.
“If the right situation presented itself, I would definitely be interested,” Payton said, per ESPN. “And there’s no utopia, if you will, when it comes to teams, but if I felt like it was the right situation, I would have an interest in that. That all being said, that could come in a year, that could come in two years.”
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When asked what he’s looking for in a coaching opportunity, Payton revealed two important things. “The most important element is functional ownership [and] front office … because there’s a handful of teams that aren’t, and those teams, regardless of what takes place, they can win on Sunday but they have trouble winning long term,” he said. “The opportunity to win consistently and the willingness to build the correct culture and all those things.” When Payton resigned from the Saints he still has a few years left on his contract. He will still have two years remaining on his deal after the 2022 season, meaning if he wants to coach another team, the Saints will be compensated by the franchise.
Payton left the Saints in January after spending 16 seasons with the team. During his time in New Orleans, Payton posted a 152-89 record and a 9-8 record in the postseason. And in 2009, Payton led the Saints to their first Super Bowl title in franchise history.
In the summer, PopCulture.com spoke to legendary quarterback Drew Brees about his former coach stepping down as Saints head coach. “I think when you step back, I mean, even just within 24 hours of the decision, I felt like I understood why he did it,” Brees said. “I absolutely think he’ll coach again. But look, he’s been going at it with the same team, same organization for 16 years and highly invested. And look, I don’t think he would’ve done that unless he felt like it was in good hands, which obviously it is in very good hands with, just from the top down of leadership, from owner, to GM, to the new head coach and everything. And obviously, the players that were in place and leadership there.”
