NFL: Sean Payton Talks Saints, Bill Parcells & More At First Interview Since Being Suspended For 2012 Season

Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, holding his first interview since being suspended for the 2012 season for his team’s involvement in a bounty system, said he will decide in two or three days whether or not to appeal and plans to name an interim coach by the end of the month.

Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis will meet with Bill Parcells Tuesday before Payton flies back to New Orleans to finish planning out the 2012 season. Parcells, sources have told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, has discussed possibly coaching the Saints for the 2012 season.

 

“I kinda speak with him (Parcells) pretty regularly,” Payton said. “My conversations with him to date have just been about the uniqueness with the situation.”

One role Payton is certain about: He’s “100 percent” confident he will coach the Saints in 2013.

 

Payton described a long checklist of decisions that needed to be made by the end of this week. His suspension will officially start Sunday. Commisioner Roger Goodell said Payton has until Monday to appeal and if he does he could stay on as coach pending an expedited hearing.

 

“I’m appreciative of the opportunity to appeal,” Payton said. “I don’t know if there would be a benefit.”

 

Payton arrived at the NFL owners meetings Monday and planned to stay one day before flying back to New Orleans and spend the rest of the week making decisions.

 

“I’m one of those check-list guys and so I’ve got a lot of ‘to-do’ things right now specific to football,” Payton said. “It starts with leadership and starts with the staff. It gets into the draft. It gets into our players. The offseason calendar and everything has been basically planned up until the Hall of Fame game. Between now and then, there is a lot of little things that I will try to make sure we have covered.”

 

Though he hasn’t decided about an appeal, Payton spoke with respect about how the commissioner has handled the case to date.

 

“I think the commissioner has done a great job of communicating with us throughout this process,” Payton said. “I think being in a leadership role myself as a head coach, certainly I understand the position he was in. I think he has made it clear for good reason we have such a good product right now that the idea with something of this magnitude is an important issue he wanted to address.”

 

The NFL informed the Saints, according to Payton, after the 2009 season about its awareness of a pay-for-hit bounty system and how it needed to stop. At one point of the 17-minute, 39-second interview, Payton was asked how the situation got to the point in which he ended up suspended, the Saints would lose two second-round draft choices and two of his assistants would also be suspended.

 

“Listen, there is a number of things just specifically in the report — some of which I can’t comment on,” Payton said. ” But I made this statement earlier, as the head coach, anything that happens in the framework of your team and your progam you are responsible for. That’s a lesson I’ve learned. It’s easy to get carried away in regards to a certain side of the ball when we’re involved offensively or defensively . That’s something that I regret.”

Payton has several options in finding a temporary replacement. He could go into his staff and promote offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr., offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, defensive head coach Joe Vitt or defensive coordinator Steve Spagnoulo. Carmichael, according to a source, would prefer to just call plays. Vitt is suspended for six games. If Spagnoulo is promoted, Payton might have to find a new defensive coordinator.

 

“We feel like we got a number of good candidates,” Payton said. “The trick is then what it does to affect their roles as they currently are.”

 

Payton said he is considering all options, including Parcells.

 

“You’re asking me what are his great strengths, and I would say to you, he’s a great teacher,” he said. “Certainly, I’m biased having worked with him. He’s a Hall of Fame head coach. I would also say that there are some things probably set up in the framework of our program that would be exactly how he would have set those things up had he been the head coach back in 2006. So I would say there would be some carryover there.”

 

Parcells on Tuesday told ESPN: “Sean has been a friend of mine for many years. He sought my counsel after the suspension and we must have talked 8 or 9 times. We did talk about his coaching staff. That’s a natural thing to discuss in this situation. We’ll talk a little more today.”

 

One NFL source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter on Monday night that he would be “shocked” if Parcells took the Saints job, largely because he likely would have to wait five more years to be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame if he returned to coaching.

 

When asked his reaction and emotions to the penalties, Payton didn’t hold back.

 

“You go back to a range of emotions that hit you,” he said. “You’re disappointed. You’re disappointed in yourself that it got to this point. I think we’re trained as coaches to begin preparation right away. I find myself reflecting on it. You go through a lot of emotions.”

 

WRITTEN BY John Clayton | ESPN.com - Information from ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter and The Associated Press was used in this report & FULL STORY HERE