There is an old expression “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”, and that is exactly what the Saints have been doing by continuing to employ coaches like Joe Vitt and Greg McMahon. Both coaches have been proven to be well past their primes and totally out of their depth for years, but the combination of a close relationship with their head coach and the credit one earns when they help a team win its first Super Bowl has kept them employed…at least until now.
Yesterday the Saints and Sean Payton finally decided enough was enough and they fired a total of 5 assistant coaches most notably including Linebackers and assistant head coach Joe Vitt, Special Teams coach Greg McMahon, and Defensive Line Coach Bill Johnson. Of the three Johnson has built the most goodwill as he has at least helped to develop a FEW good players in his tenure as a position coach, which is something that the other two have difficulty claiming. Vitt has been a hot spot for Saints fans for years as his unit is constantly one of the worst on the team and fans can’t find any reasonable explanation for why he remains employed (although there have been several unreasonable ones providing various degrees of amusement). Vitt is a beloved coach by the players and a trusted friend/assistant for Sean Payton, and in those two capacities his value is unquestionable. However, Vitt’s value as a linebacker coach is also unquestionable and unfortunately that value is in the negative. Vitt has never once developed a young linebacker for the Saints, and his units have always struggled. Even if you want to take talent into account the evidence is overwhelming and the Saints, Sean Payton (and maybe Vitt himself) have decided it is time for him to go.
I have seen some value in Bill Johnson and I do truly believe he has brought some merit to the Saints development of a now at least decent defensive front, and Vitt the man is deserving of both honor and respect. The one guy out of the five coaches who were relieved of their duties that is the most refreshing to me is Greg McMahon. McMahon has a long history with Payton and they go WAY back together, and do you know what the other thing that goes WAY back with McMahon? Mediocrity. Greg McMahon has never once fielded even a decent special teams unit. His units are weak, unimaginative, lack luster, and often times flat out pathetic. I try to be understanding and treat these coaches as human beings as much as I also try to look at their merits to the team itself, but in the case of McMahon while I wish the man absolutely no animosity his departure can best be described in two words: Good Riddance.
If you need a tangible reason why the Saints are better off without Greg McMahon simply count to the number 3. That is how many games that were unquestionably lost this season as a direct result of his inability to coach his unit to respectability. A flaw so obvious that more than half way through the season his presumptive replacement Kevin O’Dea was brought in to help fix the issues he clearly couldn’t. And predictably said issues practically vanished upon his arrival.
There is no guarantee that the Saints will hire coaches who are better than those they are letting go (although it would be hard not to), but what it very clearly shows is that the team is no longer resting on the laurels of the past. If Sean Payton is willing to let go of close friends and trusted advisors, then you had best believe he is willing to do a great deal else in order to see the Saints be a contender again. This is only the first step of many, but god knows its time for the Saints staff to bring in some new blood.
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