Payton selected Saints head coach
The New Orleans Saints will hire Dallas Cowboys assistant Sean Payton to his first NFL head coaching job, a team official familiar with the decision said Tuesday.
The Saints’ official was speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press because the formal announcement wasn’t expected until today.
Payton has been a quarterbacks coach for three seasons under Bill Parcells in Dallas. He also held the title of assistant head coach. Before that, he was a New York Giants assistant, a stint that included that team’s NFC Championship in 2000.
Payton will succeed Jim Haslett, whose tenure lasted six years. The Saints were 3-13 in 2005. The Saints were a .500 team overall during Haslett’s first five seasons.
Jets hire Mangini
Eric Mangini has worked for Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, learning from two of the greatest coaches in the NFL.
The New York Jets are banking on that pedigree to lead them back into the playoffs.
Despite his youth and relative inexperience, the organization hired Mangini as its coach. The former Patriots defensive coordinator, who turns 35 on Thursday, becomes the youngest head coach in the league.
Terms of the deal weren’t known, but it is believed he will get between $2 million and $2.5 million per year over five years.
The Patriots, meanwhile, promoted linebackers coach Dean Pees to defensive coordinator to replace Mangini.
Bills interview Jauron
Interim Detroit Lions coach Dick Jauron interviewed for the Buffalo job, the second candidate to talk to the Bills since coach Mike Mularkey’s resignation last week.
Jauron declined comment, referring questions to the Bills. Buffalo’s WGRZ-TV filmed Jauron leaving the team’s headquarters in a car driven by Bills owner Ralph Wilson.
Jauron is considered a strong candidate for the Buffalo job because he has previous NFL head coaching experience and is close to Marv Levy, the Hall of Fame coach hired by the Bills last week as general manager. Levy maintains a home in Chicago and broadcast Bears games while Jauron was the team’s coach through 2003.
No Super Bowl for Browns fan
The fan who ran onto the field at Cleveland Browns Stadium during a Pittsburgh-Browns game was sentenced to spend Super Bowl weekend in jail.
Nathan Mallett, 24, will begin his three-day sentence on Feb. 3 and won’t be allowed to watch the Feb. 5 game on TV or listen to it on radio.
Municipal Court Judge Joan Synenberg ordered Mallett not to attend Browns games in Cleveland or any other city for five years as a condition of his probation.
Around the league
Norv Turner, fired as coach of the Oakland Raiders two weeks ago, moved across San Francisco Bay to become the 49ers’ offensive coordinator. Coach Mike Nolan hired his former boss with the Washington Redskins to replace Mike McCarthy, named the Green Bay Packers’ head coach last week. … Five days after becoming the Packers’ coach, McCarthy hired three coaches and kept three others. Edgar Bennett will return as running back coach, as will Joe Philbin (offensive line coach) and James Campen (assistant offensive line coach). Ty Knott becomes offensive quality control coach, Ben McAdoo is tight ends coach and Jimmy Robinson will coach wide receivers. … The wife of Indianapolis Colts cornerback Nick Harper will not face a felony battery charge for cutting him with a kitchen knife, a judge ruled. Daniell Harper, 31, still faces a criminal recklessness charge. … Assistant head coach Mike Singletary will stay with the 49ers after he was removed from the list of candidates for the Detroit Lions’ head coaching job. … The New York Giants have fired secondary coach Ron Milus after the defense ranked near the bottom of the league against the pass. … Safety Siddeeq Shabazz signed with the Miami Dolphins. Shabazz played in two games with New Orleans in 2005.