Sean Payton’s coaching career started in the late 1980s with San Diego State, and he has been coaching since then. However, Payton’s first head coaching stint came with the New Orleans Saints in 2006. Years later, he opened up about the challenges he faced in his first head coaching job.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“I think the biggest challenge, though, in that situation was hiring staff,” shared Payton on the September 23 episode of the Coach2Coach with Jason Garrett podcast. “Like we weren’t winning any jump balls. Bill Kollar was just here the other day. He arrived, a coach would arrive like that, and man, we’d have the stops.
“Let’s make sure he sees the kind of car he’s going to get. And then, he and I drive to the Senior Bowl, and we pass two boats on the highway, a casino that’s tipped over. And Kollar finally turns to me. He said, ‘Coach, you got to know this now. I love you, but there’s no way I’m taking this job.’”
Yes, that’s how the recruiting process has been more than just serving lucrative offers on the table. It had a lot to do with what a city has to offer. But back in New Orleans at that time, they had nothing to offer.
By the time Payton joined the Saints, the former Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle, Kollar, had become a reputed defensive line coach. He coached the Falcons (1990–2000) and Rams (2001–2005) as a defensive line coach.
While Payton did not mention the exact timeline of when the interaction happened with Kollar, given the visuals he shared, we can relate it to the devastation caused to the city of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. Payton was hired months later on January 18, 2006.
This is not the first time that Payton has spoken about the situation in New Orleans back then.
“Forget Katrina, New Orleans was that place I’ve only been twice, where it was great to visit, but it wasn’t where you wanted to go, move to, and raise a family. At least it wasn’t for me or for us, and Katrina happened, and it was right after that season,” he shared in an episode of Graham Bensinger’s podcast back in 2018.
“It’s now January’06, and I had met Mickey briefly down in San Antonio on like an overback. It wasn’t even an interview. It was a chance to have dinner. And then I was flying to Green Bay for a formal interview, and that was the job… So I interviewed in Green Bay and then came back home, and now I was in New Orleans for this interview. And when I tell you, it was post-Katrina, so it’s January: Katrina was August, but you could count on one hand how many hotels and restaurants were open.
“I saw two people; it was like a ghost town, and I think, as a region, as a country, I think there was more concern as to just the recovery of the city than more than the team. Make no mistake about it; it was a hard place to bring a staff before Katrina.”
Besides the devastation the city went through because of Katrina, the team was also in deep trouble when it came to its performance. New Orleans went 3-13 in 2005, displaced by Hurricane Katrina to play away from the Superdome. Under Jim Haslett, the team posted a .500 record over five seasons. So, keeping all the double thoughts aside, Payton chose to sign up for the challenge.
“It’s hard to look at their talent now compared to their record with all of the circumstances and things that they’ve gone through,” he said back then. “It’s a team that’s certainly shown that they can be competitive and I would look forward to that challenge.”
Payton eventually took the job, fell in love with the city, and turned the Saints into a championship team, winning the Super Bowl in February 2010, making those who passed on the job regret it.