Mike Ditka, the 12th coach of the Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL awarded the city of New Orleans the 16th franchise in the league in November 1st 1966, All Saints Day, five months after the 89th United States Congress approved the merger of the NFL with the American Football League (AFL) in June of that year. In January 1967, the team was given the current "New Orleans Saints" name, and began playing in their first season in September of that year. Since the franchise's creation, it has been based in New Orleans. The team's home games were originally played at Tulane Stadium from 1967 to 1974, it was demolished in 1979, when the team relocated its home games to its current stadium, the Louisiana Superdome.[1]
The New Orleans Saints have had 14 head coaches in their franchise history. Sean Payton has been the head coach of the Saints since 2006, and the most successful in franchise history. Payton served as the assistant head coach/passing game coordinator and assistant head coach/quarterbacks for the Dallas Cowboys for three seasons before he joined the Saints in 2006.[2] In the 2009 season, he led the team to its first NFC Championship Game and title, Super Bowl (XLIV) appearance, and NFL Championship.[3] Tom Fears, the franchise's first head coach serving from 1967 to 1970, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1970,[4] and is the only coach to be inducted into the Hall of Fame while spending his entire coaching career with the Saints. Hank Stram, who coached the Saints from 1976 to 1977, and Mike Ditka, who coached the Saints from 1997 to 1999, were also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003 and 1988, respectively.[5][6] Jim E. Mora has coached the most games for the Saints, with 167. Payton has the highest winning percentage while coaching the Saints, with .613. Ernie Hefferle and Rick Venturi both have a franchise-worst winning percentage of .125. Jim Haslett, Mora, and Payton are the only head coaches to lead the Saints into the playoffs. Ditka, Mora, and Payton have won the AP Coach of the Year Award and the Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year.[1]
Key[]
| # | Number of coaches[N 1] |
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| T | Ties |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| * | Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| † | Spent entire professional head coaching career with Saints |
| *† | Elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and spent entire professional head coaching career with the Saints |
Coaches[]
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2010 NFL season.
| # | Name | Term[N 2] | Regular Season | Playoffs | Achievements[1] | Reference | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | |||||
| 1 | Tom Fears*† | 1967–1970 | 49 | 13 | 34 | 2 | .277 | — | — | — | — | [7] | |
| 2 | J.D. Roberts† | 1970–1972 | 35 | 7 | 25 | 3 | .219 | — | — | — | — | [8] | |
| 3 | John North† | 1973–1975 | 34 | 11 | 23 | 0 | .324 | — | — | — | — | [9] | |
| 4 | Ernie Hefferle† | 1975 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | — | — | — | — | [10] | |
| 5 | Hank Stram* | 1976–1977 | 28 | 7 | 21 | 0 | .250 | — | — | — | — | [11] | |
| 6 | Dick Nolan | 1978–1980 | 44 | 15 | 29 | 0 | .341 | — | — | — | — | [12] | |
| 7 | Dick Stanfel† | 1980 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | — | — | — | — | [13] | |
| 8 | Bum Phillips | 1981–1985 | 69 | 27 | 42 | 0 | .391 | — | — | — | — | [14] | |
| 9 | Wade Phillips | 1985 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 | — | — | — | — | [15] | |
| 10 | Jim E. Mora | 1986–1996 | 167 | 93 | 74 | 0 | .557 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | AP NFL Coach of the Year (1987) UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1987) |
[16] |
| 11 | Rick Venturi | 1996 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 | — | — | — | — | [17] | |
| 12 | Mike Ditka* | 1997–1999 | 48 | 15 | 33 | 0 | .313 | — | — | — | — | [18] | |
| 13 | Jim Haslett | 2000–2005 | 96 | 45 | 51 | 0 | .469 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | AP NFL Coach of the Year (2000) | [19] |
| 14 | Sean Payton† | 2006–present | 80 | 49 | 31 | 0 | .613 | 6 | 4 | 2 | .667 | AP NFL Coach of the Year (2006) | [20] |
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "New Orleans Saints Key Moments". New Orleans Saints. http://www.neworleanssaints.com/Team/History/Key%20Moments.aspx. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Sean Payton Profile". National Football League. http://www.nfl.com/teams/neworleanssaints/coaches?coaType=head&team=NO. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ↑ "Sean Payton Profile". New Orleans Saints. http://www.neworleanssaints.com/Team/Staff/People/Sean%20Payton.aspx. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ↑ "Tom Fears Hall of Fame Profile". Pro Football Hall of Fame. http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=66. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ↑ "Hank Stram Hall of Fame Profile". Pro Football Hall of Fame. http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=205. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ↑ "Mike Ditka Hall of Fame Profile". Pro Football Hall of Fame. http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=57. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
- ↑ "Tom Fears Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/FearTo0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "J.D. Roberts Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/RobeJ.0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "John North Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/NortJo0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Ernie Hefferle Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/HeffEr0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Hank Stram Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/StraHa0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Dick Nolan Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/NolaDi0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Dick Stanfel Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/StanDi0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Wade Phillips Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/PhilBu0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Wade Phillips Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/PhilWa0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Jim Mora Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/MoraJi0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Rick Venturi Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/VentRi0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Mike Ditka Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/DitkMi0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Jim Haslett Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/HaslJi0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
- ↑ "Sean Payton Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/PaytSe0.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
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