Metairie, La. - Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt was one of Sean Payton's first hires when he took over as Saints head coach back in 2006, so for Vitt, not having Payton around for his seventh training camp in New Orleans truly hurts.
"There's a huge hole in my chest personally, and professionally, because I'm not around him and I'm not going to lie to you, I miss him. I know Mickey [Loomis] misses him, Mr. Benson misses him, and our players miss him."
Drew Brees missed all of the offseason workouts so he didn't quite feel the lack of Payton's presence. He says it didn't hit him until he arrived at training camp.
"Normally I would be talking to him pretty frequently, but that's going to be an adjustment, there's no way around it. This is going to be tough, especially during camp and the first part of the season as we try to reestablish our identity and get into the flow without having Sean Payton here."
Payton didn't just coach a team, he built a program.
That program has won 62 games in six seasons, plus five playoff wins and, of course, one Super Bowl win.
Payton's presence will be felt in the foundation that he has built, according to Brees.
"A guy isn't fully appreciated or the measure of how valuable he is until he steps away and you're able to see how he was able to influence others, players and coaches, to just fill the role. A lot of times they say that about a CEO. When he leaves the company, how do they do. If they continue to succeed then in a lot of cases you can say he helped mold and develop and mentor those that would take over after him and I believe that's what Sean Payton has done for all of us here," said Brees.
Now that Payton is gone, however, Vitt knows the show must go on and Payton wouldn't want it any other way.
"This team has been through a lot since we got together in '06. We made the statement at the conclusion of OTAs that Sean would be proud of the body of work that we've done to this point but now we're on the clock," says Vitt.
In their last conversation together, Vitt says Payton's message to the team was simple, "Do your job."
Those words now hang in the indoor practice facility with a stern picture of Payton in the midst of his Super Bowl victory.
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