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PAYTON'S PLACE
Coach paid his dues before landing in New Orleans

By JIM MASHEK - jwmashek@sunherald.com

Sean Payton always has been drawn to football. Growing up in Naperville, Ill., playing Division I-AA football at Eastern Illinois University, living a nomadic life as a journeyman quarterback in several pro leagues, Payton may have been destined to be a coach.
In 1988, after playing his last game in the British League with the Leicester Panthers, Payton took a job as an offensive assistant at San Diego State. Within seven years, he had coached at SDSU, Indiana State, SDSU again and Miami of Ohio, before moving on to the Big Ten, taking the quarterbacks coach job at Illinois.
Then, in 1997, Payton became the quarterbacks coach with the Philadelphia Eagles, serving under the intense, sometimes brooding Ray Rhodes. He stayed two seasons before becoming Jim Fassel’s quarterbacks coach with the New York Giants, and he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2000.

New Orleans Saints head coach walks off the field before the Saints' NFL football game against the New York Jets in New Orleans, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009.
In 2002, however, with the Giants slumping, Fassel stripped the offensive play calling duties from Payton, assuming those responsibilities himself, a rarity for an NFL head coach. The Giants would go on to reach the playoffs with a wild-card berth, but Payton would soon leave for greener pastures, becoming Bill Parcells’ assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach with the Dallas Cowboys.
Parcells, one of the more demanding coaches in the business, made quite an impression on Payton. Payton had a chance to take the head coaching job with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders in 2004, but he was wary of that club’s reputation and consulted with Parcells before deciding to stay put.
Then, in 2006, the New Orleans Saints came calling.
The Saints had been displaced from the Louisiana Superdome after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area on Aug. 29, 2005, and they played home games in San Antonio, Texas, and LSU’s Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. The team was dreadful, and then-Saints coach Jim Haslett finally benched enigmatic quarterback Aaron Brooks with three games left. Haslett was soon gone himself, and Saints owner Tom Benson looked to take his team in a different direction,
Enter Payton.
“I think this was an opportunity unique to the NFL,” he said at the time.
Payton moved quickly in his first few months on the job, parting ways with Brooks and bringing in veteran quarterback Drew Brees, who had been a steady player with the San Diego Chargers. The Saints used the second pick in the NFL Draft to take Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush to go with former Ole Miss star Deuce McAllister in the backfield. They took Alabama safety Roman Harper in that draft, along with offensive lineman Jahri Evans and Zach Strief.
With their final draft choice that year, however, the Saints selected unheralded Hofstra wide receiver Marques Colston. He was the 252nd player chosen overall. That fall, the 6-foot-4 Colston caught 70 passes for 1,038 yards and eight touchdowns. The Saints would win 10 games in regular-season play and reach the NFC championship game, only to lose to the Chicago Bears at chilly Soldier Field.
Payton had found a home.
The Saints struggled on defense the next two seasons, at which point Payton fired defensive coordinator Gary Gibbs. He brought in respected defensive coordinator Gregg Williams from the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Williams’ influence has made an immediate impact in the Saints’ 4-0 start over the last five weeks.
Meanwhile, on offense, Payton, Brees and the rest of the Saints continued to put up points on the board. The Saints will face Eli Manning and the New York Giants on Sunday in the Louisiana Superdome.
“All these games are important,” Payton said, “and I think that’s important to understand. As you continue to play, and if you do continue to play well, they become increasingly bigger. And if you don’t, they dissipate.”
Saints fans are counting on the former in Year 4 of the Sean Payton era.

PAYTON'S PLACE - New Orleans Saints - SunHerald.com