The New Orleans Saints’ Sean Payton is one of the most influential coaches in the NFL. He’s the second-longest tenured head coach in the league, now in his 15th season on the job. He can say that because he has enjoyed great success, turning the once-woebegone Saints into perennial playoff contenders. He’s also one of three coaches on the nine-member competition committee, which carries a lot of juice in the NFL.
As head coaches in the league go, Payton has arguably become the most outspoken when it comes to issues of social justice and racial inequities, though Seattle’s Pete Carroll and Miami’s Brian Flores are in that conversation as well.