Sean Payton’s reputation among NFL fans

SigFreudianSlip said
Agreed but I truly think we won 2. The league robbed us of one of them, imo.

2011 hurt too. That was the best team we've ever had imo.

Oh and I love Sean, wish he'd have stayed forever, he's a douche canoe tho.

I think Sean saw the long, very painful road to rebuilding this team would have to go through in a glimpse throughout the 2021 season and he decided to leave, or quit, as some cynical, negative Saints fans at the time saw and perhaps still see it. Winning wasnt going to be quite such an easier, transparent task anymore without #9 so he'd retire for a year and rest up, like Belichick's doing now (or maybe forever) and return to some new-and-improved more "ready-to-win now" team that has more talent, depth, and resources that produce 10+ winning seasons faster.

I also believe that if we had drafted Patrick Mahomes and he eventually replaces Brees' after the 2018 season and he enjoys maybe 30-40% of the same success he's amassed in Kansas City, Payton is still Saints HC at Airline Dr. in Metairie. I think that also tells one all you need to know about his reasoning for "leaving" and that it wasnt coaching burn-out ala Dick Vermeil in Philly after the 1982 season, sleeping in his team headquarters office, not going home for weeks, allowing the cumulative mental/psychological stress to build up where it explodes one morning where he physically can't exit his car in the parking lot, Payton didnt want to coach "here" anymore on a team and squad, he felt wasnt going anywhere.