Just saw a great piece about Sean Payton on the Xbox 360 ESPN app. Not sure if ESPN has it available on their site or not, but I highly recommend it for people who have access to Xbox Live. In general, the piece details what has been fairly known locally but what may not quite be known nationally, and that is Sean Payton's rather dominating personality. Payton is reportedly a man who has gained an indescribable amount of clout within the organisation that he often uses upon anyone who he feels is challenging his stance, ideals, or team. There are numerous reports down here of Payton barring members of the press from future team activities that have heavily criticised the team at any point during the Payton era. Some former players have also spoken unfavourably to Sean.
There's also a local rumor of Sean getting a former Saintsation pregnant, hence the divorce going on right now with his wife. To be fair to Sean, there's no concrete report out there of this being even remotely true. Secondly, I'm sure every coach has players who are bitter towards him.
Now we all know the success the Saints have had since Payton's arrival. I'm not going to list the accomplishments because they're just too many. What I would like to do, however, is compare him to our own Gary Kubiak, who became a head coach the same year as Sean had. Clearly we all know which of the two coaches has had a more successful run, so I don't think that in any way could be denied. Likewise, I think we'd agree that the two men approach the game with a drastically different style.
The ESPN special however made me ponder the contrasting styles of Kubiak and Payton. Payton not only asks, but demands, that his organisation has "swag." He wants his players to be not only confident, but perhaps arrogant. Kubiak, meanwhile, seems to be very quiet when it comes to the limelight. And while Sean seems to have a heavy hand within his organisation, Kubiak gives the impression that he is rather lax with his guys. I think the Texan fanbase has been extremely critical of Kubiak for perhaps being too much of a "player's coach." Such is why many people have said that the Texans were a soft team, because the team is a reflection of its head coach. The Saints, meanwhile, are perceived to be the aggressor on the field; they always seem to go for the jugular. Perhaps its why they have traditionally been quite good in big games while the Texans have often sputtered or flat out choked.
In short, I ask a simple question: who would you rather have as your head coach? Sean Payton or Gary Kubiak. Admittedly, at first glance, the question seems silly. How can one even take the time to consider Kubiak on par with Payton? While it is true that Payton is one of the greatest playcallers in football, I feel Kubiak isn't getting his due. I'm fairly positive that most franchises in this league consider Kubiak one of the top playcallers and gameplanners out there. It also seems silly to mention this question because of the fact that the Saints have been to the playoffs on a consistent basis, while it took Kubiak six years and Peyton Manning not playing to get there. To his credit, however, Kubiak went into the playoffs and dang near went to the AFC Championship Game with a third string quarterback.
There is also a cultural difference between Houston and New Orleans that I at least feel is worth mentioning. While it is natural that New Orleans holds an "us against the world" attitude going into the season, it doesn't sit quite well with me given the circumstances of why the team has the challenges it does. For those of you who aren't familiar with me, I'm a New Orleans native and 99% of the city is very much on the conspiracy theory train. Their argument is that the NFL does not want the Saints in the Superbowl because the NFL would lose too much money. The theory is absolutely silly, but the amount of people who believe it is scary. There is also a belief that the media is out to get them. While I cannot say for sure every other city would feel differently, it concerns me that the local culture here is very quickly putting their football first over human principle and ethics.
So I'm very much interested to hear the Texan opinion of Kubiak versus Payton now that we're entering year seven of both tenures, both statistically and culturally. Do you think Sean is too hard, or Gary too soft?
**** TL : DR **** Gary Kubiak or Sean Payton?
There's also a local rumor of Sean getting a former Saintsation pregnant, hence the divorce going on right now with his wife. To be fair to Sean, there's no concrete report out there of this being even remotely true. Secondly, I'm sure every coach has players who are bitter towards him.
Now we all know the success the Saints have had since Payton's arrival. I'm not going to list the accomplishments because they're just too many. What I would like to do, however, is compare him to our own Gary Kubiak, who became a head coach the same year as Sean had. Clearly we all know which of the two coaches has had a more successful run, so I don't think that in any way could be denied. Likewise, I think we'd agree that the two men approach the game with a drastically different style.
The ESPN special however made me ponder the contrasting styles of Kubiak and Payton. Payton not only asks, but demands, that his organisation has "swag." He wants his players to be not only confident, but perhaps arrogant. Kubiak, meanwhile, seems to be very quiet when it comes to the limelight. And while Sean seems to have a heavy hand within his organisation, Kubiak gives the impression that he is rather lax with his guys. I think the Texan fanbase has been extremely critical of Kubiak for perhaps being too much of a "player's coach." Such is why many people have said that the Texans were a soft team, because the team is a reflection of its head coach. The Saints, meanwhile, are perceived to be the aggressor on the field; they always seem to go for the jugular. Perhaps its why they have traditionally been quite good in big games while the Texans have often sputtered or flat out choked.
In short, I ask a simple question: who would you rather have as your head coach? Sean Payton or Gary Kubiak. Admittedly, at first glance, the question seems silly. How can one even take the time to consider Kubiak on par with Payton? While it is true that Payton is one of the greatest playcallers in football, I feel Kubiak isn't getting his due. I'm fairly positive that most franchises in this league consider Kubiak one of the top playcallers and gameplanners out there. It also seems silly to mention this question because of the fact that the Saints have been to the playoffs on a consistent basis, while it took Kubiak six years and Peyton Manning not playing to get there. To his credit, however, Kubiak went into the playoffs and dang near went to the AFC Championship Game with a third string quarterback.
There is also a cultural difference between Houston and New Orleans that I at least feel is worth mentioning. While it is natural that New Orleans holds an "us against the world" attitude going into the season, it doesn't sit quite well with me given the circumstances of why the team has the challenges it does. For those of you who aren't familiar with me, I'm a New Orleans native and 99% of the city is very much on the conspiracy theory train. Their argument is that the NFL does not want the Saints in the Superbowl because the NFL would lose too much money. The theory is absolutely silly, but the amount of people who believe it is scary. There is also a belief that the media is out to get them. While I cannot say for sure every other city would feel differently, it concerns me that the local culture here is very quickly putting their football first over human principle and ethics.
So I'm very much interested to hear the Texan opinion of Kubiak versus Payton now that we're entering year seven of both tenures, both statistically and culturally. Do you think Sean is too hard, or Gary too soft?
**** TL : DR **** Gary Kubiak or Sean Payton?
