It’s getting to the point to where I might be surprised if Payton actually seeks to replace his friend at DC. Payton seems just stubborn enough to me to forget the lack of defensive progress over the past three years and stick with his buddy. If he does that and the defense continues its poor performance, both he and Gibbs will have to go next year. This is reminding me of Haslett and his stubborn retention of RIck Venturi during that stretch of years when his defense also sucked. Speaking of Haslett, here’s something interesting from this article that’s sure to draw Saintsational’s disgust:

Former Saints coach Jim Haslett also could be back on the market if he is not retained by St. Louis, where he was interim coach — though it’s safe to say he wouldn’t emerge as a candidate to return to New Orleans

HA! There’s no way he would come back here or Payton’s ego would even allow him back in the building. Why even mention that as a possible replacement scenario?

Not true. A lot of the best candidates are presently in the playoffs. Preparing their teams ought to take precedence.

BUT…we can at least get rid of Gibbs. That way we’re committed, and potential candidates would welcome another employer in the mix. Maybe Loomis is waiting until those who got passed over are desperate, and our next defensive coordinator will be the former assistant linebackers coach for Detroit. I bet he’d come real cheap.

The kind of defense Sean Payton favors is the kind he can roll over like the Wehrmacht in Denmark. That must be why he likes Gibbs.

Sorry to post repeatedly, but…

If Payton and Loomis have no intention of firing Gibbs, they should just say so. I’m in favor of replacing him, obviously, but I have no desire to see the guy suffer, and PayLoo are just letting him twist in the wind.

The only two reasons I can see for this kind of corporate behavior are 1) they’re really inconsiderate jerks, and bad personnel managers as well; or 2) they are seriously considering replacing Gibbs, and honestly haven’t come to a final determination yet.

I hope it’s 2).

….loyalty.

Somehow, Payton grew a football crush for Gibbs while in Dallas and brought the man with him when he took charge in Nollins. Was there anything wrong with that?

Gibbs stayed for six years, leading the Sooners to a record of 44-23-2 in that time. While he succeeded in his primary task—cleaning up the program’s image—he was perceived as a coach who couldn’t win big games. He went 2-15-1 against Oklahoma’s biggest rivals—Texas, Nebraska and Colorado—and never won more than five games in the Big 8 Conference.
                                                                                             
 -Wikipedia

Convincing the Saints’ front staff to get Shanle some years ago proves that Gibbs is probably much more a linebacker man than a real overall D-coach. And out of loyalty from the Cowboys years, he’s been stuck with Scott since. Regardless of Gibbs abilities to get the hang of it after coaching for over 38 years, he (as much as us) knows that we need a new weak side LB and some serious safeties.
 
Can he turn it aound? Maybe, maybe not….

One thing’s for sure, can’t argue Payton’s will to try and establish continuity sinnce it has been the recipe for every succesfull pro sport franchise.