NFL head coaching positions a slippery ride.
Sean Payton despises the term « Black Monday. » And he’s one of the coaches who always survives it.
Six head coaches were fired as the NFL season concluded, four of them on Monday. Two, Mike McCarthy in Green Bay and Hue Jackson in Cleveland, didn’t even make it that far.
Saints coach Payton, finishing his 13th season in New Orleans and now owning the second-longest tenure with a team after Cincinnati fired Marvin Lewis, had some strong words about how the coaching carousel gets derailed every year.
« Our owners’ network that they own have created this, » Payton said, referring to NFL Network that is owned by the league, « marketed this and sold this ‘Black Monday,’ and that’s just disappointing. »
In reference to Lewis, who was with the Bengals since 2003, but went an all-time worst 0-7 in the playoffs, Payton added: « He’s been a fabulous coach, but I don’t want to comment on anyone or all of them (who were fired). »
He added that the whole Black Sunday scene, which some media outlets promote the way they do actual competition, is « ridiculous. »
Payton and every other coach in pro sports recognize that change is understandable and at times necessary. As long as it is thought out and includes a plan for the future, revision can make sense.
When it’s more on an owner’s whim or due to some serious impatience, that’s another story.
