Sean Payton coached the Saints from 2006 through 2021 (with the exception of the 2012 bounty situation). Before that, he’d spent every year as an assistant coach, all the way back to 1988.
In 2022, Payton worked at Fox for a year. During a Thursday press conference, he was asked about being in high-stakes moments, given that he spent a full season away from the game before coming to Denver.
“It’s funny you brought that up” Payton said. “Yesterday, I shared it with the players. I said, ‘That year away is a big transition.’ We’re all sold on what retirement’s going to be, on the lake somewhere with a fishing pole. . . . It’s a little overrated that way relative to having a purpose and getting up. That year out, very little mattered. Getting ready for the Sunday where they’re going to throw you a few easy questions, and you’re going to have a narrative about the game, and then you stay and then go home.
“But all the while, immediately you realize that racetrack is going. I’ve said this, you smell the gasoline, the lights are on, and you’re like, ‘Man, there’s nothing like that.’ There’s going to be a time where, and I said this to the players, ‘There’s going to be a time where all of us have to get off, but you know what? Not today. Not today.’ There’s nothing like it. There’s nothing like it.”
That’s something former Steeler coach Mike Tomlin will be experiencing in 2026, unless he changes his mind about not coaching next season. Maybe, after considering Payton’s perspective on life without smelling the gasoline, maybe Tomlin will.