Parcells tells Saints he won’t coach
The New Orleans Saints’ one-year opening for a head coach wasn’t enough to coax Bill Parcells out of retirement. Parcells, 70, told the Saints he wouldn’t be the interim replacement for his friend Sean Payton, who has been suspended for the 2012 season for his part in the team’s bounty scandal. “Staying retired,” Parcells stated simply in an e-mail Tuesday to USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell. Parcells, who last coached in 2006 for the Dallas Cowboys, remains eligible to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
“Staying retired.” Those two words from Bill Parcells in an e-mail to USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday apparently set the record straight on whether the Hall of Famecredentialed coach will dust off his clipboard to run the New Orleans Saints for the season. What now? With Sean Payton’s one-year suspension set to begin Monday, the bounty-scarred Saints seem poised to fill the gap from within.
Some league observers say assistant head coach Joe Vitt could become the interim coach, with offensive line coach Aaron Kromer assuming the role when Vitt’s six-game suspension begins at the start of the regular season.
Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo might also be candidates.
The driving force would be to maintain as much continuity as possible for a team that will still be a Super Bowl contender.
“If not Parcells, I don’t see them bringing in anyone from the outside,” said former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, a talk show host in New Orleans. “The reason it might have been Parcells is because he is so tight with Payton.”
It’s unclear whether Parcells, 70, was formally offered the job. Two weeks ago, he told USA TODAY Sports he would consider a return but was happy in retirement. He characterized his discussions with Payton and other talks with general manager Mickey Loomis as similar to consulting.
Although Payton and Loomis reached out to Parcells, the decision to hire the interim coach, as Commissioner Roger Goodell noted recently, is ultimately owner Tom Benson’s.
Despite the interim position, the team is still subject to fulfill the Rooney Rule requirement and interview at least one minority candidate. John Wooten, chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance that promotes and monitors minority hiring, said Tuesday that his group had recommended a candidate to be interviewed and that he expected the Saints would comply with the rule. He would not reveal the candidate.
Meanwhile, Hebert’s take on the coaches in-house:
-Vitt: “I’d think Joe Vitt would run the offseason program and they’d go from there.”
-Kromer: “Well-respected around the league. Helps put in the running game.”
-Carmichael: “I don’t think they want to mess with the connection between Carmichael and (quarterback) Drew (Brees).”
-Spagn-olo: “There’s not enough hours in the day. He’s putting in a new defense.”