New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton had a whole lot to say about the slew of offensive-minded coaches NFL teams have hired over the past few years.
“It’s not frustrating, but the thing that can be disappointing is when you talk to someone and they give you the profile. And then I’ll say, ‘Well, you’re not interested in a young Bill Belichick or a young Tony Dungy?'” Payton said, via Mike Triplett of ESPN. “They get so pigeonholed, because this is cyclical, right? And then ultimately you would say if we did a little history, successful head coaches probably come from the East and the West, the North and the South, they probably come of both color, and they probably come on defense and on offense, and they’re good leaders — they’re great leaders.”
Payton also went on to say that he thinks the NFL has a “diversity problem” following the hiring of eight new coaches in which only Brian Flores of the Miami Dolphins is a minority.
Lastly, Payton had this this funny pun when he compared his own star running back Alvin Kamara to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.
“It’s like, ‘I want Alvin Kamara.’ Well, you can’t have him,” Payton said. “Now you can go draft 10 more running backs and be 0-for-10 trying to find him. Or McVay.”
That’s solid gold right there. Regarding Payton, he is one of the more established coaches in the league and began coaching the Saints in 2006.