Payton's emotional style has paid off for Saints

By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer

MIAMI (AP) — Sean Payton can look downright possessed during
games, shooting fiery glares at players, assistant coaches and
officials.

His eyes seem to be saying: “Don’t you dare disappointment me.”

“We’ve all seen that look,” New Orleans Saints linebackers coach
Joe Vitt said. "That look has served him very, very well.

“You can definitely get a picture of him on game day, the look
in his eyes, the way he purses his lips, the way he sets his
jaw,” Vitt said.

For Payton, the next game day happens to be this Sunday in
Miami. It’s a Super Bowl matchup with an even more famous Peyton
- quarterback Peyton Manning – and the Indianapolis Colts.

The Saints are hoping the game’s result produces a little more
positive publicity for the other Payton – their Payton – a coach
they see as an offensive innovator and master motivator.

“I marvel at the way he is able to say the perfect thing at the
perfect moment, whatever it might be, whether it’s a
motivational word or an inspirational story,” Saints quarterback
Drew Brees said. “He is able to always have his finger on the
pulse of the team and know this is the time to press forward and
work or this is the time to back off and have a little fun. He
has a knack and ability to use humor or a joke to challenge you
or motivate you.”

Examples of when Payton poked fun at a player and saw results
are sprinkled throughout his four seasons as a head coach, all
in New Orleans.

One came during practice between the first and second games of
this season. Veteran safety Darren Sharper had intercepted
Detroit rookie Matt Stafford twice in Week 1, but was unable to
take either back the other way for a score.

Payton lightheartedly reminded the entire defense that Sharper,
in his 13th season, was nearly over the hill, and that everyone
would have to make a block if he was to return an interception
for score. Payton even told Sharper he’d buy him dinner if he
managed to do it.

During the next game at Philadelphia, Sharper intercepted Kevin
Kolb at the New Orleans 3 and ran it back 97 yards for a score.

Sometimes Payton’s approach is more solemn. Players find
inspirational messages or poems in their lockers. Other times,
he uses props. He’s been known to strategically place rat traps
around the club’s training headquarters before the Saints play
teams they are expected to handle easily – warnings of a trap
game.

During this postseason, he’s given players wooden baseball bats
as a way to inspire his team to “bring the wood” to its
opponents.

Then there are the motivational speakers. Payton brought in
former San Francisco safety Ronnie Lott to address the team
during preseason, then brought him back the night before the
Saints’ NFC title win over Minnesota. Other speakers have
included NBA coach Avery Johnson, NBA general manager Joe
Dumars, former college head coach Bill Mallory, former
Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann and former Tampa
Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden.

Motivation is only part of the “formula for winning,” as Payton
likes to say. The coach puts a lot of stock in players’
personalities, hoping to fill his roster with men who can
demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice personal glory for the
good of the team.

Then there’s his reputation as one of the most aggressive and
creative offensive play-callers in the game.

“He has an incredible knack for finding weaknesses and setting
plays up and then taking advantage of opportunities that the
defense presents. He’s a very aggressive play caller,” Colts
head coach Jim Caldwell said. “What I mean by aggressive is he’s
just not one of those guys that is just going to settle for 5-
and 6-yard passes. He’s going to throw that thing deep on you
often and early, so you have to be ready.”

Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. said Payton
designs unique formations and builds pre-snap shifts into plays,
all in an effort to both disguise what the Saints are doing
while luring defenses to tip their hands.

Payton’s strength as an offensive coach stemmed from his playing
days as a quarterback in high school in Naperville, Ill., and
later in college at Eastern Illinois. His brief pro playing
career included stints in arena football, with the CFL and with
the Chicago Bears as a replacement player during the 1987
strike. Then there was a final stop in England with the
Leicester Panthers, an experience resembling that of the
protagonist in John Grisham’s “Playing for Pizza.” The book is
about a quarterback who struggles to make it in the NFL before
signing a contract with an American football team in Italy.

“It was clear that I was going to have to get into this
profession in a different area,” Payton said, reflecting on his
decision to give up playing for coaching.

Despite his experiences as a player, Payton does not consider
himself a “player’s coach,” a term he said makes him cringe.

“It’s important you’re demanding,” Payton said. “It’s important
you’re fair. I think you don’t want to settle for anything less
than exactly what you’re looking for and it’s not our job to be
the player’s friend. It’s our job to teach and motivate, give
them a plan to be successful and make tough decisions.”

In any event, his players speak highly of him. They admire what
he’s accomplished in New Orleans and the path he took to get
there, starting as a graduate assistant at San Diego State in
1988. His other stops as a college assistant included Indiana
State, Miami (Ohio) and Illinois before he got his first NFL job
as an assistant in Philadelphia in 1997. Later, there were
stints with the New York Giants and finally the Dallas Cowboys
under Bill Parcells.

“I wouldn’t want to play for anyone else,” Brees said. “I get a
proud feeling when I think of him and the road he has traveled
to get to where he’s at right now and all he has invested and
how hard he has worked.”