Getty Image / Jonathan Bachman
Since Sean Payton made the decision to leave the New Orleans Saints and become a broadcaster, football fans have been speculating about when he will return to coaching.
Over the past year, that speculation has turned into a certainty that we’ll see him coaching again next season.
Payton hasn’t said he’ll be back, but there have been reports about which franchises he’s interested in coaching next year. He has even named the most important thing for whatever franchise he would take a job with next.
Now Payton is reportedly making moves that make it seem like a sure thing that he will be back to coaching in the NFL next season. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Payton is already putting together an all-star coaching staff for his return. He has even picked out Vic Fangio to be his defensive coordinator.
Sean Payton is so interested in returning to coaching in the NFL that he's already putting together an all-star staff that includes former Broncos head coach Vic Fangio as his potential defensive coordinator, per sources.https://t.co/0G0ZXPlqwl
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 24, 2022
Fans last saw Fangio in action as the head coach for the Denver Broncos. His 3 year stint in charge in Denver resulted in 3 losing seasons, but Fangio had put together an impressive career as a defensive coordinator before becoming a head coach.
He has worked as the defensive coordinator for 5 different franchises and even helped lead the Carolina Panthers to the NFC Championship Game in his 2nd year on the job all the way back in 1996.
More recently, he turned the Chicago Bears into one of the NFL’s best defenses and earned himself the Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2018.
With such a strong start to Payton’s all-star staff, you can only wonder who he’s planning to have fill the offensive coordinator position.