New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - The Saints’ Lost Season: How Sean Payton and New Orleans Survived 2012

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Even now, the boys of Liberty Christian can walk you through the finer points of 28 Gator Halfback Pass. They were sixth-graders back in the fall of 2012, running around a turf field in late-afternoon practices, ironing out a few wrinkles under the darkening north-Texas sky. And this particular trick play was the brainchild of their new offensive coordinator, who’d drawn up Gator for his 11-year-old son, Connor, an offensive linemen with skill-position aspirations. Here, Connor slid over from center to tight end and Adam Johnson subbed in for Andre Washington at tailback, because he had a better arm.

Liberty Christian ran a ton of sweeps that season, and this one began like any other toss: The defense always swarmed to the ball. But here, by the time Adam stopped in the backfield to cock his arm, Connor was gliding in the distance, wide-open. Best anyone can remember, the Warriors ran Gator on at least three occasions that year, an 8–2 season that ended with a loss in the league championship game—and the ball never hit the ground on any of them.

Hard as it is to believe, many of the boys from that team insist today they had no idea why Coach Payton was there in Argyle, in the north Dallas suburbs, eight hours away from his job as the coach of the New Orleans Saints, teaching a watered-down NFL playbook to a bunch of middle-school kids.

Sean Payton was fun to be around. If your parents forgot to swing by in the afternoon and shuttle you from home to the practice field, Payton was the one who’d convince the other coaches to spare you the daunting late-for-practice sprints. But he also maintained the aura of a guy three years removed from winning Super Bowl XLIV. Ask the coach if a certain play was the same one he’d drawn up for Drew Brees and Marques Colston, and he’d flash a wry smile. “I don’t know,” he’d say. “Maybe it is. Maybe it’s not.”

https://www.si.com/nfl/2019/01/08/ne...erty-christian