NFL coach of the year?

[Displaced Flames fan]

Some nominees...

Eric Mangini
Sean Payton
Brian Billick
Mike Nolan
Jeff Fisher

Thoughts?

[Sainters7]

Finalists: Mangini, Payton, Fischer. Winner: Sean Payton, end of discussion.

Mangini has had similar success as Payton: 1st year head coach takes a downtrodden team into the playoff race. But Payton's story has been more impressive. 32 new players, 12 new starters. Turns 29th ranked offence in league to 1st offence in league in one year. 3-13(2nd worst record in NFL) to division champions in one year. And most importantly: delivering a winner to New Orleans when they needed it most.

No way Payton doesnt win this award. Absolutely no way.

[Pagal4321]

I think the finalists will be Mangini, Payton and Billick....but like Sainters said, there is no way Payton doesn't win the award.

[Seabass]

It will probably be Payton. What about Lovie Smith?

[Flickered Flame]

Payton hands down, I don't even think it will be a close vote.

[Flames in 07]

Remember the Saints last year?

Peyton by a mile.

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah, Sean Peyton takes it. The other guys maybe get a free dinner.

[burn_baby_burn]

Jeff Fisher. He took a team that wasn't expected to do anything, and got them to believe in themselves. They have went from the laughing stock of the league to respectable through the course of the season. While playing a rookie QB to boot.

[Bobblehead]

Question: How bad were the Saints last year?

I know their record and everything, but without having a stadium to play or practice in, with everything going on in NO, these are just a couple of things that had to contribute to the poor showing of the '05 Saints.

This season they have stability and they have Brees, Colston and Bush. These are huge factors, and I'm not sure how much of the Saints turnaround can be attributed to these factors vs Sean Payton. How much input did Payton have on those draft signings? (I can't recall the timeline of when he was hired).

I don't want to diminish the results of Payton or the Saints, but I'm not sure, if you only look at coaching, if Payton has done a better job than some of those other guys.

[CaramonLS]

Question: How bad were the Saints last year?

I know their record and everything, but without having a stadium to play or practice in, with everything going on in NO, these are just a couple of things that had to contribute to the poor showing of the '05 Saints.

This season they have stability and they have Brees, Colston and Bush. These are huge factors, and I'm not sure how much of the Saints turnaround can be attributed to these factors vs Sean Payton. How much input did Payton have on those draft signings? (I can't recall the timeline of when he was hired).

I don't want to diminish the results of Payton or the Saints, but I'm not sure, if you only look at coaching, if Payton has done a better job than some of those other guys.

Payton gave Brees a tour of the city if I recall, so he was there.

It is Payton, hands down, case closed.

[Bobblehead]

Payton gave Brees a tour of the city if I recall, so he was there.

It is Payton, hands down, case closed.

That's right, and they got lost. I do recall hearing that story.

[burn_baby_burn]

Payton gave Brees a tour of the city if I recall, so he was there.

It is Payton, hands down, case closed.

One could argue that anybody could have come in and improved the Saints record over last season. Not many teams would thrive in the situation the Saints were in last season.

How much of the Saints resurgance is from Payton? And how much is from improved personal? They are all factors of course. But which is bigger?

[dirk diggler]

Funny how nobody mentions Marty Schotenheimer... San diego was supposed to struggle this year, but because they win, everyone gives credit to L.T only... I agree payton is a good choice, but Marty should be mentioned

[Sylvanfan]

Funny how nobody mentions Marty Schotenheimer... San diego was supposed to struggle this year, but because they win, everyone gives credit to L.T only... I agree payton is a good choice, but Marty should be mentioned

Well I'll give Schottenheimer a bit of credit for abandoning Marty ball after that loss to Baltimore. But his team had pretty good personell coming into this season. The only reason people thought they might struggle was because they had to go with an unknown at QB. Still no one figured they'd be a 5-11 team or anything like that. Most figured they'd be second in the division and in contention for a playoff birth. Still the Chargers have overcome some tough injuries/suspensions to their defence, and Marty appears to have finally realized the Cam Carson should be trusted to call plays for the entire game. This might be the best job he's ever done coaching a team.

I still think Sean Payton is the winner, and that Jeff Fisher is making a big push. They have the turn around factor working more in their favor, and thats always big in a coach of the year vote.

[Saint Troy]

Sean Payton please step up and accept your award. He is to Saints fans what Darryl is to Flames fans.

[Saint Troy]

One could argue that anybody could have come in and improved the Saints record over last season. Not many teams would thrive in the situation the Saints were in last season.

How much of the Saints resurgance is from Payton? And how much is from improved personal? They are all factors of course. But which is bigger?

The improved personel is due to Payton for the most part. He had a huge hand in getting Fujita, Shanle, Copper(all ex-cowboys), and cutting or trading away dead weight by having the most brutal training camp in the league. Payton is all about what players bring to the field, not what your draft status was, eg. Marques Colston, most teams wouldn't have given him any reps in mini or training camps due to his draft status. Payton recognized his talent and work effort was better than former first rounder Dante Stallworth and moved Dante out, most coaches wouldn't have the balls to do so.

[Schrempsky43]

Sean Payton and it isn't even close.

Fisher, as always is finding a way to win too.

[Sainters7]

One could argue that anybody could have come in and improved the Saints record over last season. Not many teams would thrive in the situation the Saints were in last season.

How much of the Saints resurgance is from Payton? And how much is from improved personal? They are all factors of course. But which is bigger?

...all of which were brought in by Payton. Payton scouted and went after Drew Brees. Payton took Reggie Bush in the draft(I know it was a gift by Houston. But Im doubtful Haslett wouldve taken Bush at the #2 spot). Payton changed the dynamic in the locker room, by making tough calls when he outed some big Saints playmakers(Donte Stallworth, Aaron Brooks, Dwight Smith), because he values character over athleticism. The guy brought in 32 new players, 12 new starters. And youre seeing the result. Definitely alot of it has to do with improved personnel...but even in that situation, you still have to credit Payton. He made those moves as well.

[burn_baby_burn]

...all of which were brought in by Payton. Payton scouted and went after Drew Brees. Payton took Reggie Bush in the draft(I know it was a gift by Houston. But Im doubtful Haslett wouldve taken Bush at the #2 spot). Payton changed the dynamic in the locker room, by making tough calls when he outed some big Saints playmakers(Donte Stallworth, Aaron Brooks, Dwight Smith), because he values character over athleticism. The guy brought in 32 new players, 12 new starters. And youre seeing the result. Definitely alot of it has to do with improved personnel...but even in that situation, you still have to credit Payton. He made those moves as well.

Is he the GM as well?

[Sainters7]

Is he the GM as well?

No Mickey Loomis is. But Payton cuts who he wants from the roster. And Loomis has said that Payton wanted Brees.

[J pold]

While I will agree that it is Payton, if the Jets had not lost to the Bills last week I would think that the Mangini would get some serious consideration simply because the AFC is about 10000 times better than the NFC, and the Jets where picked to be the worst team in the league yes even worse than the Saints, not to mention the rest of Saints Division is a joke Carolina and Atlanta always find ways to loose and Tampa bay is well Tampa bay

[rubecube]

I may come off as a bit of a homer here but I think Andy Reid deserves a nod as well. It's Payton in my mind but look at what Reid has done with the Eagles. They were 6-10, last year lost arguably their biggest playmaker on offense in the offseason (regardless of how big a cancer he was), and lost the heart and soul of the team for the season (Donovan McNabb). Yet this team is still ranked #3 in total offense and still has a very legitimate chance at winning the division.

Like I said, Payton's the clear winner in my mind but Andy has done a terrific job.

[Saint Troy]

While I will agree that it is Payton, if the Jets had not lost to the Bills last week I would think that the Mangini would get some serious consideration simply because the AFC is about 10000 times better than the NFC, and the Jets where picked to be the worst team in the league yes even worse than the Saints, not to mention the rest of Saints Division is a joke Carolina and Atlanta always find ways to loose and Tampa bay is well Tampa bay

Granted the top end of the AFC is very solid, the AFC east is far from the toughest division. If it were to go to an AFC coach, my choice would be Mr. Martyball himself.

[moon]

What about Rod Marinelli?

He took a team with the talent to win 1 game and got them to win 2. He doubled the wins the team should have won. He may not quite be up there with Peyton but I would say doubling the wins a team should have got should at least get him a few votes. :D

[burn_baby_burn]

The Saints started off hot and havn't looked back since. If you look at the Titans. They started off as a joke and have climbed to a 7-7 record. We have all seen what a good coaching job Fisher has done with this team. He has keep them beleiving in themselves which isn't easy to do when it looks like your the laughing stock of the league.

[Bobblehead]

While I think Payton will win and is a deserving winner; I don't think it is the lock that some here have made it out to be.

I think Fischer is Payton's biggest competition but there are others as well. If you judge by pre-season expectations SD was supposed to struggle with an untested QB and weak receiving corp. SF was going to be lucky to get 3 wins. Jets are doing it with a rookie head coach and a QB everyone thought was washed up. The Bills are a pretty big surprise in my books.

There are a bunch of coaches who should get consideration.It isn't (or at least shouldn't be) a lock for Payton.

[J pold]

Granted the top end of the AFC is very solid, the AFC east is far from the toughest division. If it were to go to an AFC coach, my choice would be Mr. Martyball himself.
Marty? Please!!! The guy has arguably one of the most talented players in NFL history the only thing that Marty has done is find a way to not lose games.

Mangini has taken a team that was supposed to be a punch line and made them a legit wild card contender, truly amazing

[burn_baby_burn]

Marty? Please!!! The guy has arguably one of the most talented players in NFL history the only thing that Marty has done is find a way to not lose games.

Mangini has taken a team that was supposed to be a punch line and made them a legit wild card contender, truly amazing


The Lions had the most talented player in NFL history for a while as well. And it didn't seem to matter.