Despite some talk this year that Sean Payton and the Saints could be ready to part ways, Payton says he’s not going anywhere.
“This is my ninth year coaching here in New Orleans, and it’s come up every, I’m going to say, two to three years. And I guess . . . listen, it comes with the territory,” Payton said, via ESPN. “This is where I call home. I just finished building a home here. I’m close enough to my son back in Dallas where I’m pretty much back there once a week or he’s over here; my daughter is off in college now. So, I see myself coaching this team long past this season.”
Payton added that he expects Drew Brees to be back as the Saints’ quarterback next season.
The combination of Payton and Brees have given the Saints their best years in franchise history, including their only Super Bowl, but this is the Saints’ second consecutive losing season. NFL coaches can be hailed as geniuses one year and fired the next, so it would hardly be unprecedented for a coach like Payton to lose his job. But Payton sounds confident that he’ll remain in New Orleans.