- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Coaching Changes
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Sean Payton Interview
Posted on 2/16/11 at 8:15 pm
Posted on 2/16/11 at 8:15 pm
He's notoriously closed mouthed with coach-speak. This might be the most candid I have ever read.
Best parts-
NOC: Somehow, I can’t envision you as a GM/president type, wearing a suit and tie, sitting behind a desk from 9 to 5, especially right now. That's why the rumor didn't resonate with me. First of all, you have two years remaining on your Saints' contract. Secondly, I couldn’t see you walking away from coaching at age 47. Does a front office job interest you at this time or in the future?
SP: You never say never. But, I can honestly say that role doesn’t interest me. I’m still having too much fun on the sideline with the challenge of preparing my team for the challenge week-in and week-out. But I will say this: I don’t see myself coaching 10 or 15 years from now. I would very much like to end my coaching career right here. I like the idea of going into television after my coaching career is finished and being able to watch my kids play sports. But that time isn’t close.
NOC: I know you won’t address specific players with me but will you at least target some areas of your 53-man roster that need to be upgraded in the coming months?
SP: Like all teams, when the season ends we grade our 53, the players on IR, the players on the practice squad, all the players in the building and try to have an honest assessment of where we’re at as a team. I think we can get younger in certain positions – our defensive front, specifically our down linemen, and the linebacker position. We need to look at adding some youth there. We have to look at it with the idea that our free agents aren’t currently here. So, for example, when you look at our offensive line, you look at Jermon Bushrod and Jonathan Goodwin as being unrestricted players right now. We’ve got depth at the wide receiver position. I think Adrian Arrington had a good season, although he didn’t play a lot, but he played a lot on the practice squad and was elevated to the 53 at the end. So we’ve got depth there. I think the running back position will be a key spot for us as we look at the players who are in the building and the players who technically are not -- Pierre Thomas is an unrestricted free agent. I think we’ve got depth at corner. It’s going to be important at the safety position. I think Malcolm Jenkins had an outstanding year. I think Roman Harper (an unrestricted free agent) is a guy who will be a critical piece to what we’re trying to accomplish. I do feel that we when we ran the ball in the ’09 season, there is a key element there that helped us win consistently and we weren’t as good in that area offensively this season. Defensively, we didn’t have the takeaways that we had the year before. I think we feel like we can improve in the kicking game. Part of that is the depth at the positions that I talked about. When you have an injury to (linebacker) Jonathan Casillas, that impacts the defense but it also impacts the special teams because of his skill set. That is a broad overview. We’re young at the punter and we’re young at the kicker and we’re certainly young at the long-snapper position. So there are some key elements in place there that are crucial to being successful. But the overall depth is something that will help us in all three phases, especially in special teams.
NOC: Will Bush come back at his current number ($11.8 million base salary in 2011)? Is that being debated behind closed doors right now?
SP: In fairness to your question, we’re very sensitive to whether it has to do with negotiations or players’ contracts and we’ve typically left that to when an announcement is to be made. I’m sensitive as the head coach to these guys focusing on their rehab and their offseason plans. I’ve shared that with these guys in the last team meeting – I’ve told them to come see me if they have any questions. But it won’t be something that we discuss with the media. But yes, I have a vision for Reggie Bush on this team.
NOC: Do you plan to put the franchise or transition tags on any players?
SP: I don’t see us using any tags. That is something that is always fluid, but the answer to your question is no.
Best parts-
NOC: Somehow, I can’t envision you as a GM/president type, wearing a suit and tie, sitting behind a desk from 9 to 5, especially right now. That's why the rumor didn't resonate with me. First of all, you have two years remaining on your Saints' contract. Secondly, I couldn’t see you walking away from coaching at age 47. Does a front office job interest you at this time or in the future?
SP: You never say never. But, I can honestly say that role doesn’t interest me. I’m still having too much fun on the sideline with the challenge of preparing my team for the challenge week-in and week-out. But I will say this: I don’t see myself coaching 10 or 15 years from now. I would very much like to end my coaching career right here. I like the idea of going into television after my coaching career is finished and being able to watch my kids play sports. But that time isn’t close.
NOC: I know you won’t address specific players with me but will you at least target some areas of your 53-man roster that need to be upgraded in the coming months?
SP: Like all teams, when the season ends we grade our 53, the players on IR, the players on the practice squad, all the players in the building and try to have an honest assessment of where we’re at as a team. I think we can get younger in certain positions – our defensive front, specifically our down linemen, and the linebacker position. We need to look at adding some youth there. We have to look at it with the idea that our free agents aren’t currently here. So, for example, when you look at our offensive line, you look at Jermon Bushrod and Jonathan Goodwin as being unrestricted players right now. We’ve got depth at the wide receiver position. I think Adrian Arrington had a good season, although he didn’t play a lot, but he played a lot on the practice squad and was elevated to the 53 at the end. So we’ve got depth there. I think the running back position will be a key spot for us as we look at the players who are in the building and the players who technically are not -- Pierre Thomas is an unrestricted free agent. I think we’ve got depth at corner. It’s going to be important at the safety position. I think Malcolm Jenkins had an outstanding year. I think Roman Harper (an unrestricted free agent) is a guy who will be a critical piece to what we’re trying to accomplish. I do feel that we when we ran the ball in the ’09 season, there is a key element there that helped us win consistently and we weren’t as good in that area offensively this season. Defensively, we didn’t have the takeaways that we had the year before. I think we feel like we can improve in the kicking game. Part of that is the depth at the positions that I talked about. When you have an injury to (linebacker) Jonathan Casillas, that impacts the defense but it also impacts the special teams because of his skill set. That is a broad overview. We’re young at the punter and we’re young at the kicker and we’re certainly young at the long-snapper position. So there are some key elements in place there that are crucial to being successful. But the overall depth is something that will help us in all three phases, especially in special teams.
NOC: Will Bush come back at his current number ($11.8 million base salary in 2011)? Is that being debated behind closed doors right now?
SP: In fairness to your question, we’re very sensitive to whether it has to do with negotiations or players’ contracts and we’ve typically left that to when an announcement is to be made. I’m sensitive as the head coach to these guys focusing on their rehab and their offseason plans. I’ve shared that with these guys in the last team meeting – I’ve told them to come see me if they have any questions. But it won’t be something that we discuss with the media. But yes, I have a vision for Reggie Bush on this team.
NOC: Do you plan to put the franchise or transition tags on any players?
SP: I don’t see us using any tags. That is something that is always fluid, but the answer to your question is no.
3
Posted on 2/16/11 at 8:18 pm to blueslover
NOC: Statistically, it would seem your offensive line overall underachieved and did not fulfill expectations this past season. That said, does this area need to be tweaked or upgraded during the offseason beginning with longer looks at second-year OT Charles Brown and G/C Matt Tennant?
SP: It starts with us dealing with the free agents in that group (LT Jermon Bushrod and C Jonathan Goodwin). Let’s start with the running game. The pressure diminishes on the O-line group when you can run more effectively like we did in ’09. So being healthy at running back can really contribute to that. It’s an area, statistically per pass attempt, that we’ve done a real good job at minimizing the sacks. That is something that Drew does very well. It all gets back to the running game and having that balance. There is a formula that we look at and we feel like if we’re running the ball more efficiently, all those things kind of take care of themselves. With a lack of a good, consistent running game, there is more pressure on that O-line and there is more pressure on that quarterback, and we understand that as well. When we’ve won here _ and I’m not referencing last year when we won 11 games – but in ’06 we ran the ball and had balance and in ’09 we had the same balance. Clearly, we feel like that can contribute to those other areas.
NOC: How long can Brees continue to play at his current Pro Bowl-caliber level?
SP: I don’t think he’s even finished playing the front nine yet and made the turn. With the way he’s played for us the past five years, he’s still a guy we can sell to other free agents who are thinking of coming here and even to our own free agents who might be thinking of going elsewhere. ‘Hey, come join us. We have Drew Brees playing quarterback for us.’ No, he’s still playing at a very high level and I don’t see any reason for that to change.
-more HERE definitely worth the read
SP: It starts with us dealing with the free agents in that group (LT Jermon Bushrod and C Jonathan Goodwin). Let’s start with the running game. The pressure diminishes on the O-line group when you can run more effectively like we did in ’09. So being healthy at running back can really contribute to that. It’s an area, statistically per pass attempt, that we’ve done a real good job at minimizing the sacks. That is something that Drew does very well. It all gets back to the running game and having that balance. There is a formula that we look at and we feel like if we’re running the ball more efficiently, all those things kind of take care of themselves. With a lack of a good, consistent running game, there is more pressure on that O-line and there is more pressure on that quarterback, and we understand that as well. When we’ve won here _ and I’m not referencing last year when we won 11 games – but in ’06 we ran the ball and had balance and in ’09 we had the same balance. Clearly, we feel like that can contribute to those other areas.
NOC: How long can Brees continue to play at his current Pro Bowl-caliber level?
SP: I don’t think he’s even finished playing the front nine yet and made the turn. With the way he’s played for us the past five years, he’s still a guy we can sell to other free agents who are thinking of coming here and even to our own free agents who might be thinking of going elsewhere. ‘Hey, come join us. We have Drew Brees playing quarterback for us.’ No, he’s still playing at a very high level and I don’t see any reason for that to change.
-more HERE definitely worth the read
Posted on 2/16/11 at 8:24 pm to blueslover
He mentioned Adrian Arrington and we have been keeping him around on the PS for a couple years now... i wonder if maybe devery or another receiver might be traded or let go for Arrington. The guy shows alot of promise and Devery did have a down year
Posted on 2/16/11 at 8:33 pm to realtalk
Devery's under contract, with no CBA imminent he'll prolly be around another year unless they get an offer after the CBA
Lance Moore needs a new deal and no other guy really fits his mold/role
Arrington really has earned a shot for more reps. As much sacrilege as it might be to some the player I see him replacing most is Colston. Colston's contract is up after this year. His injuries have become a factor. His drops have increased and his sure handedness has decreased. I dunno if they'll want to or even be able to elevate him to elite WR money.
Lance Moore needs a new deal and no other guy really fits his mold/role
Arrington really has earned a shot for more reps. As much sacrilege as it might be to some the player I see him replacing most is Colston. Colston's contract is up after this year. His injuries have become a factor. His drops have increased and his sure handedness has decreased. I dunno if they'll want to or even be able to elevate him to elite WR money.
Posted on 2/16/11 at 8:35 pm to realtalk
I think they have definitely liked Arrington for awhile. I heard that a few other teams wanted him, but Payton told him he had a future here so he stayed.
Posted on 2/16/11 at 8:40 pm to Saurus
yea I really like Arrington's size and speed combo at 6'3. He is a playmaker at the position. He and Casillas could be two young up and coming stars for this team.
Posted on 2/17/11 at 7:25 am to realtalk
im ready to shake things up at wr. I think that is a position that you have to have some turnover at every few years. I like lance and colston is very good, but the rest are really spotty.
Posted on 2/17/11 at 3:04 pm to diat150
I'm thinking Lance will be pursued by a few teams and end up signing somewhere else once FA begins. Hope I'm wrong.
This post was edited on 2/17/11 at 3:29 pm
Posted on 2/17/11 at 11:32 pm to blueslover
Posted on 2/17/11 at 11:49 pm to LooseCannon22282
quote:
I'm thinking Lance will be pursued by a few teams and end up signing somewhere else once FA begins. Hope I'm wrong.
I think he'll be discounted somewhat with the thought being he is a product of the system here. With that I'd expect workable terms between him and the team. He has a particular skill set and reliability that they will ante up for. More likely here than gone IMO.
Page 1 of 1
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News