Sean Payton Named NFL Coach of the Year

Wow, what a story the New Orleans Saints are. In 2005, the Saints essentially played 16 games on the road. The NFL handled it about as well as possible. The Saints eventually were able to play their "home" games at LSU's Tiger Stadium, but ask any athlete...that's still not playing at home. Deuce McAllister, their best offensive player, tore his ACL in week 5 and missed the rest of the season. Joe Horn dealt with leg injuries and missed several games while not being near 100% in others. Aaron Brooks was still their quarterback, and perhaps defined his career by throwing the ball over his head while being sacked for absolutely no reason. Their defense was a mess and couldn't stop anyone. Coach Haslett had overstayed his welcome by several years and never had the team playing consistently the entire time he coached there. All players were playing with a heavy heart since their city, family, and friends had their lives turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina. Haslett was fired after the season, and New Orleans decided on Sean Payton as their next coach. Payton was a hot commodity around the league, establishing a solid reputation as a good offensive mind. He had his work cut out for him to not only rebuild a team, but rebuild a city's excitement in the sport of football coming off one of the biggest national disasters in United States' history.

Flash forward to the night before the 2006 NFL Draft on Friday, April 28th. The Houston Texans report that they have signed Mario Williams to a contract and would be selecting him with the first pick in the draft. Reggie Bush, the most exciting and marketable NFL prospect since Michael Vick, fell right into New Orleans' lap. I'm sure they received a number of very solid offers when that news broke, but there was no way New Orleans was going to pass on Bush. Not only would he provide insurance should Deuce McAllister not make it back from his knee injury in time to start the season, but he would also provide a sagging team and a deflated city with a big reason to be excited about football again. The Saints had also signed Drew Brees to be their franchise QB, which had fans excited as well. He was coming off a serious injury to his throwing arm, but the reports all summer long remained positive about his prognosis and there was every reason to think he'd be ready to roll once the season started.

New Orleans started off the 2006 season with a win at Cleveland, and McAllister rushed for 90 yards, more importantly looking healthy and past his knee injury. The most surprising performance of the game was by 7th round pick Marques Colston who posted 49 yards and a TD while starting opposite Joe Horn. The next week they won a shootout with Green Bay 34-27, and Brees lit it up the GB secondary for 353 yards and 2 TDs. New Orleans returned home in week 3 to the Superdome in a huge divisional battle with the Falcons, and set the tone of the game by blocking Atlanta's punt on their first possession and returning it for a TD. They went on to win decidedly by a score of 23-3. They finished the 2006 season with a 10-6 record, good for 2nd best in the NFC, and a first round bye.

Payton's greatest accomplishment, aside from reviving an entire franchise and fan base, was the creative ways he utilized the strengths of Drew Brees, Deuce McAllister, and Reggie Bush on offense. Brees was finally able to consistently throw the deep ball, Deuce McAllister handled the tough, inside running, and Reggie Bush was utilized extensively in the passing game and on returns so that Payton could effective use both him and McAllister. Bush won the game for the Saints in week 5 with a punt return for a TD, his first NFL TD. He finally broke out on the ground in week 16 against the Giants, recording his first 100 yard rushing game and scoring once on the ground. The most shocking aspect of the Saints offense was the production of Colston, who despite battling an injury starting in week 11, managed to post 1038 receiving yards and 8 TDs on the season. He would have been the hands down OROY had he not been injured as he was on pace to shatter all rookie receiving records. He even stepped up as the go-to guy when Horn went down. Amazing.

It's a shame that Payton didn't win the award unanimously. The other two coaches that received votes were the Jets' Eric Mangini, the Chargers' Marty Schottenheimer, and the Titans' Jeff Fisher. All of those coaches had great seasons, but when you factor in everything that Payton had to deal with this season and how he successfully overcame it, nobody was even close.