New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton announced on Tuesday that he had stepped down from the position that he has had for the last 17 seasons. His decision to step away from coaching the Saints now makes Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin the NFL’s second-most tenured head coach.
Payton became the Saints head coach in 2006, one season before Tomlin was hired by the Steelers to succeed Bill Cowher. The two head coaches that came into their positions at nearly the same time have since had remarkably similar careers from a record standpoint.
With Payton being suspended for the 2012 season due to punishment related to the Saints’ infamous bounty scandal, he and Tomlin have coached a similar number of games.