Sean Payton pumping up Mean Green

From Times Pic;

For the first time in three months, suspended New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton stood before and spoke to a football team this week. The team? LSU's season-opening opponent, North Texas.

Payton, who lives in the Dallas, Texas area, said he received a phone call from North Texas asking if he'd make the short trip to the Mean Green's brand-new football stadium to speak to the team.

No. 3 LSU plays host to North Texas Sept. 1 in a game a majority would believe will over before it starts, but Payton said that's not how games are won or lost.

"You're a week away from playing and no one in Louisiana gives you a chance in that game," Payton said. "And really no one gave (the Saints) a chance in that Super Bowl. You can go through the history of sport, that's why you play it."

North Texas has a lackluster football tradition, but Payton said the team is on the cusp of establishing a new reputation for the Mean Green.

"What you're getting ready to accomplish you're going to look back on and very quickly, people won't reference North Texas football in the nineties, late eighties," Payton said. "It's here. Same scholarships, same playing field, same recruiting time, a few difference makers and a few guys that believe. That's it."

Payton, who is suspended from the NFL for a year, said he's currently coaching his son's sixth-grade football team.

"I've got kids looking at dandelions and picking their boogers," Payton said. "I'm trying to put in 50 plays."

Despite missing out on coaching his NFL team, Payton said he'll still be involved in his share of football this season.

"I'm going to fill (the void) with my son's team and I'm going to fill it watching you guys," Payton said.