Every New Orleans Saints head coach ever: full list

The New Orleans Saints have had 17 different head coaches since entering the NFL in 1967. The most decorated Saints head coach is, without a doubt, Sean Payton, who took over the reins as the Saints head coach not even a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city and surrounding areas.

Only three head coaches can say they've led the Saints to the playoffs as of this writing and Payton is one of them. The other two are Jim Mora, who led the team for 10 years, and Jim Haslett, who led the organization to its first-ever playoff win.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Saints head coaches didn't succeed during their time with the team. Some of them are memorable but not necessarily for good reasons. Let's take a trip back and look at every Saints head coach in franchise history.

Every New Orleans Saints head coach in team history

Tom Fears

The first head coach in New Orleans Saints history was Tom Fears, who had spent time coaching in different roles with the Packers, Rams, and Falcons before the Saints hired him. Fears had played in the NFL for nine years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1970 so he knew the sport pretty well.

Unfortunately, expansion teams tend to struggle early on and the Saints were no exception to that rule. In four years on the job, Fears only managed to win 13 games in New Orleans and was fired after the team got off to a 1-5-1 start in the 1970 season.

J.D. Roberts

After Fears was fired, J.D. Roberts was brought in to replace him as the second head coach in franchise history. While the Saints won Roberts' first game at the helm, the team finished the 1970 season on a six-game losing streak.

In Roberts' first draft, the Saints had the second overall pick and selected Ole Miss' Archie Manning, hoping that he'd be able to help turn the franchise around. Unfortunately, the Saints continued to struggle and Roberts was canned following the 1972 season, winning just seven games in two and a half years.

John North

In 1973, the Saints had to find the third head coach in franchise history and hired John North to lead the way. New Orleans did improve in North's first year, going from two wins during Roberts' last year to five wins in North's inaugural season at the helm. The Saints won five games in North's second season but a 1-5 start in 1975 led to his eventual firing.

Ernie Hefferle

The Saints named Ernie Hefferle as the interim head coach following North's departure and things didn't go well with him in charge. New Orleans won just one of their eight games under Hefferle and he was not retained following the 1-7 finish.

Hank Stram

If you ask most football fans, they're probably not going to remember that Hank Stram coached the Saints for two years at the end of his career. He was known for the 15 years that he coached the Chiefs franchise, leading them to two Super Bowls and one Super Bowl win.

Stram was hired to help the Saints become a winning franchise, something they hadn't been to this point but it did not go well. In Stram's defense, Archie Manning missed all of the 1976 season with a shoulder injury and didn't play the full 1977 season as well. Stram was only able to win seven games in two seasons on the job and was fired following the conclusion of the 1977 campaign.

Dick Nolan

The Saints went for another head coach who had seen success elsewhere, bringing in Dick Nolan as their sixth head coach. Nolan had success with the 49ers before he came to New Orleans, having led the Niners to two NFC Championship Games.

Nolan got off to an excellent start in the Big Easy, leading the Saints to a franchise-best seven wins in the 1978 season and their first non-losing season in 1979. Unfortunately, the team was terrible in 1980 and Nolan was fired after an 0-12 start to the season.

Dick Stanfel

Following the firing of Nolan in the 1980 season, offensive line coach Dick Stanfel was named interim head coach. He did not do well in the role, leading the team to just one win in four games. The Saints finished the season 1-15 and Stanfel left following the 1980 season. He did rejoin the Saints in 1997 when Mike Ditka was hired after spending four years away from coaching.

Bum Phillips

After leading the Houston Oilers for six years, the Saints hired Bum Phillips to help lead them to similar success. Unfortunately, that never came to be, as the Saints' best year under Phillips came in 1983 when they went 8-8 and just missed out on making the playoffs. He resigned near the end of the 1985 season after a 4-8 start to the season.

Wade Phillips

After Phillips resigned, his son, Wade Phillips, was named interim head coach. The younger Phillips had been the defensive coordinator of the Saints since his father took over as head coach. Wade Phillips went 1-3 in his four games as the interim head coach but both sides moved on when the 1985 season came to a close.

Jim Mora

The Saints had not been a successful franchise since entering the NFL in 1967 and they needed someone who could reinvent them. Jim Mora had been a coach in the USFL before the Saints hired him and he turned out to be the perfect choice.

In just his second year on the job, Mora led the Saints to their first-ever winning season, as New Orleans went 12-3 and made it to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The Saints made it to the postseason four times under Mora but they sadly didn't win any of those four playoff games.

In Mora's 11 years on the job, the Saints had five winning seasons and as noted, reached the playoffs four times. Mora resigned following a 2-6 start in 1996 and later would become the head coach of the Colts and utter the famous "Playoffs?" line during a press conference.

Rick Venturi

Following Mora's resignation, Rick Venturi was named interim head coach for the final eight games of the 1996 season. New Orleans went 1-7 under Venturi and while he didn't stay on as the head coach following the season, he still served as an assistant head coach and coordinator of different defensive positions for five years and then the defensive coordinator from 2002 to 2005.

Mike Ditka

Mike Ditka is most famous for the 11 years he spent as the head coach of the Chicago Bears where he led them to a Super Bowl title in the 1985 season. Ditka's last year in Chicago was in the 1992 season and he spent five years out of coaching when the Saints came calling.

Ditka did not have the same success he had in Chicago, leading New Orleans to back-to-back six-win seasons in 1997 and 1998. Ditka's Saints tenure is remembered by him trading all of the team's draft picks to move up and take Ricky Williams in 1999.

The Saints never had a winning record under Ditka and he was fired at the end of the 1999 season.

Jim Haslett

The Saints hired Jim Haslett and for all of the complaining that Ditka did about how bad his teams were, Haslett turned the team into winners right away. The Saints went 10-6 in 2000, winning their division, and their first-ever playoff game. Haslett was crowned Coach of the Year from turning a terrible team into a division winner and playoff squad.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there. While Haslett only had two losing seasons during his team in New Orleans, the Saints never got back to the playoffs in his final five years on the job and after a 3-13 record in 2005, Haslett was fired.

The Saints had to play every single game on the road that year due to Hurricane Katrina so maybe it wasn't fair to blame Haslett for the team's failures. That being said, the Saints were then in position to hire who would become the best head coach in franchise history.

Sean Payton

New Orleans wasn't a sexy destination in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina but Sean Payton agreed to become the next head coach. Payton immediately turned the Saints into winners, as they went 10-6 during his first year on the job, won the division, and made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise history.

Just four years into his Saints tenure, Payton helped lead New Orleans to its first-ever Super Bowl appearance where the good guys won and brought the Lombardi Trophy to the Big Easy. That, sadly, was the only time the Saints reached the Super Bowl despite Payton nearly always having a good team to coach.

While Payton was suspended for the duration of the 2012 season due to Bountygate and saw his teams suffer some heartbreaking defeats in the playoffs during his tenure, aside from Drew Brees, he's responsible for turning the Saints from a laughing stock to a contender. He stepped away from coaching following the 2021 season but took over as the Broncos head coach in 2023.

Aaron Kromer

When Payton was suspended for the 2012 season, two different guys slid into the role of interim head coach for the season. Aaron Kromer led the charge for the first six games but the Saints won just two games with him at the helm. He had previously served as the offensive line coach from 2009 through the 2012 season.

Joe Vitt

Joe Vitt was suspended for the first six games of the 2012 season due to having involvement with Bountygate but once he returned, he was the interim head coach for the rest of the season. Vitt had previously been the assistant head coach and linebackers coach since 2006 so it made sense for him to slide into the interim head coach role upon his return from suspension. The Saints went 5-5 under Vitt.

Dennis Allen

After Sean Payton announced he'd be stepping away from coaching following the 2021 season, the Saints had to do something they hadn't done in over a decade: Find a new head coach in the offseason. They promoted Dennis Allen from defensive coordinator to head coach.

Allen had previously served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the early 2010s with little success but he was tremendous in the defensive coordinator role in New Orleans, which helped him land the head coaching gig. In Allen's first year on the job, the Saints won seven games and the team looked lackluster.

In Year 2, Allen led the Saints to a winning season, his first as a head coach. He had big shoes to fill taking over for Payton so we'll have to see how the Dennis Allen era pans out.