The New Orleans Saints have decided that assistant head coach Joe Vitt will take over for head coach Sean Payton as he serves a one-year suspension in 2012.
The Saints announced the news on their official website. Payton's suspension, which stems from the NFL's investigation into the bounty program run under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, will begin on April 16th.
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said this in a statement:
...we need to set a course of action that gives us the best chance to win this season without our head coach, and that is why I am announcing today that Joe Vitt will assume Sean’s duties. We considered a number of great options to handle Payton's duties both internally and externally, but believe this will provide the most seamless transition for our players and our coaching staff, allowing our offensive and defensive staffs to remain intact with the fewest changes. This is the same structure we used last season during Sean's knee injury.
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