Tuna likely off hook for Saints
THIS IS Bill Parcells, so until there’s another head coach on the sidelines in September subbing for Sean Payton, you can’t count out any Tuna surprises. But all indications are he will not be the Saints substitute teacher in New Orleans as Payton serves his Bountygate suspension for the entire 2012 season.
Parcells didn’t return messages to the Daily News on Tuesday after ESPN reported it was a “virtual certainty” he would not coach the Saints this season after indicating to Payton in a recent conversation he preferred to remain retired. By doing so, he remains on the ballot for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2013. Coming back to coach would have delayed Parcells’ candidacy five years.
Roger Goodell rejected Payton’s appeal Monday to have his suspension reduced. Shortly after Goodell’s announcement, Parcells told the Daily News that he had not spoken to the Saints in more than six days and when asked if he wanted to coach the Saints and/or they wanted him, he responded, “Do not know answer to either question.”
Parcells, who retired from coaching after the 2006 season with the Cowboys, had said he felt obligated to help Payton if the Saints wanted him to be the fill-in this season. It now appears that New Orleans assistant head coach Joe Vitt, who will sit out the first six games of the season after failing to get his Bountygate suspension shortened, will be the Saints head coach beginning Monday, which is the day Payton’s suspension starts and the team’s offseason conditioning program begins. An announcement on the Saints’ plans should come before Payton is barred from the team facility.
Vitt can coach the team through the offseason and all of training camp, then the Saints will have to designate an interim coach for the first six games. It’s likely to come from a group that includes offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer. It could also be a group effort. As long as Vitt follows the guidelines during his suspension, he will be eligible for reinstatement for the Saints’ seventh game of the season. The NFL is expected to release the 2012 schedule on Tuesday.