Sean Payton would not take the Detroit Lions head coaching job if it were open

It’s an interesting idea, but Sean Payton would not take the Detroit Lions’ head coaching job if it were available.

Prior to becoming the Detroit Lions head coach, Dan Campbell worked as an assistant under Sean Payton with the New Orleans Saints for five seasons. After Payton surprisingly stepped down as Saints’ head coach after last season, Campbell talked about his former boss and mentor.

Payton is essentially spending a gap year working as an analyst for FOX, with the expectation he will return to coaching somewhere in 2023. He will have options, with the Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers among the possible options that come to mind.

Even with a 1-5 record this season and a 4-18-1 record as Lions’ head coach, there are no strong indications Campbell will be fired two seasons into his tenure. This is a multi-year teardown/rebuild in Detroit, and ownership understands that. But Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes have received the generally dreaded vote of confidence from Sheila Ford Hamp, who made a rare appearance with reporters on Wednesday.

Sean Payton wouldn’t take the Detroit Lions head coaching job if it were available

Over at Woodward Sports, the idea of Payton being the next Lions’ head coach if Campbell were fired was put out there. It’s an idea that’s a mix of interesting and hopeful, but it’s not going to happen.

When the Lions were looking for Matt Patricia’s permanent replacement, and in the context of their situation, they really had to settle for Campbell and his resume with 12 games as the Dolphins’ interim head coach in 2015. Someone with other options, including staying put in their current position as a coordinator if it came to that, was simply not going to take the job. That’s not meant as a knock on Campbell.

When the next NFL head coaching hiring cycle starts, and beforehand as openings start to trend to being open, Payton will be at the top of plenty of wishlists for teams with openings (and their fans). The Lions may not even a have a job to offer after the season. And even if they do, Payton would have to set aside all his other options to really entertain it. Beyond that, he may not want to replace his former assistant and friend.

Campbell is probably not going to be fired two years into a six-year contract. Payton will have better options, whenever he’d like to return to the sideline. It adds up to a Super Bowl-winning head coach never becoming the head coach in Detroit, whenever the job might be available again– and certainly not next season.