The New Orleans Saints have won just one Super Bowl since joining the highest rank of professional back in 1967.
Reaching the postseason only 13 times throughout that same span, the Saints have found most of the team's overall success in recent years, with the early portion of the franchise's existence producing a less than favorable amount of wins.
With the Saints current serving as a staple of NFL success in addition to becoming a cornerstone of both the NFC South division and NFC as a whole due to the team's winning ways, it wasn't always so easy down in the “Big Easy” as New Orleans struggled mightily prior to becoming an absolute powerhouse.
Nonetheless, the Saints remain one of the most recognizable and well-known entities in the entire NFL while managing to employ some very notable names and high-profiled figures as the team's head coach over the years.
1. Sean Payton
Although this is a list of five head coaches, this list really starts and ends with current New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton.
With Payton leading the Saints to the team's only Super Bowl appearance and the team's lone Super Bowl title, there is no question that he is the best to do it for the NFC South franchise. Not only did he lead the Saints to a title in just his fourth season as the team's head coach, but Payton was named the league's Coach of the Year in 2006, his first season in New Orleans.
Of the team's 13 all-time postseason appearances, Payton's Saints are responsible for eight of those trips to the playoffs. Reaching the postseason in each of the last three years heading into 2020, Payton has led the Saints to the NFC Championship Game three times in addition to producing a Walter Payton Man of the Year, a Super Bowl MVP, an Offensive Rookie of the Year, a Defensive Rookie of the Year and three Offensive Player of the Year winners.
In all, Payton has led the Saints to eight postseason wins, all of which have been highlighted by a Super Bowl win over the Indianapolis Colts in 2009.
2. Jim E. Mora
Outside of the man that tops this list, Jim E. Mora has served as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints longer than anyone else on Planet Earth. With his tenure in New Orleans originally kicking off in 1986, More went on to lead the NFC franchise to its first bit of postseason success in just his second season in charge. Leading the Saints to a stellar 12-3 regular-season record despite his team ultimately getting blown out in its first-ever playoff appearance at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings, Mora would go on to become the league's Coach of the Year in 1987.
Although the Saints would never win a postseason game as a result of the four postseason appearances that the team had under his watch, Mora notably led the team to the playoffs in three consecutive seasons from 1990 through 1992. Even with his lack of postseason success on his record, there is no doubt that Mora helped turn the Saints in a formidable foe and a legitimate threat in the NFC.
3. Jim Haslett
There is absolutely no doubt that Jim Haslett is one of the best head coaches that the New Orleans Saints have ever had.
With Sean Payton an absolute no-brainer at No. 1 and Jim E. Mora following in second on this list, Haslett is notably one of three head coaches to garner Coach of the Year honors while with the Saints with the aforementioned tandem also laying claim to such a feat.
Even though Haslett's time with the Saints only got worse over time in terms of the team's record, he started red-hot en route to leading the team to the postseason in his first go-round back in 2000. Splitting a pair of postseason games that year, the Saints did manage to defeat the defending Super Bowl Champion St. Louis Rams in the opening round of the playoffs with Haslett winning the league's Coach of the Year Award in the process.
This victory was also the Saints' first-ever playoff win after losing every single time that the team reached the postseason before 2000. Unfortunately, Haslett's Saints would never reach the postseason again with his tenure along the sideline coming to a halt after the 2005 campaign.
4. Bum Phillips
One of the most well-known coaches in NFL history, Bum Phillips, did not last all that long in the bayou en route to producing just one season at the .500 mark for the New Orleans Saints.
Spending parts of five seasons in New Orleans, Phillips' best year came in 1983 as the Saints finished the regular season at an even 8-8.
However, Phillips did manage to help Saints running back George Foster earn Offensive Player of the Year honors in the coach's first season with the Saints in 1981. Because of how little success the Saints were having back then, the fact that Phillips could even do that in New Orleans is a small moral victory on its own.
5. Mike Ditka
With the early portion of the New Orleans Saints tenure in the league coming and going without much success, the team hired former Chicago Bears tight end and NFL legend Mike Ditka to serve as head coach.
Although things did not go as planned for Ditka and the Saints, the polarizing figure certainly put some serious attention on New Orleans for the three seasons that the NFC franchise employed him. Even after a pair of 6-10 seasons and a three-win campaign in his final go-round at the helm in 1999, Ditka still belongs on this list — albeit at the very bottom of it — due to his level of fame and notoriety among football circles.
It is also worth noting that the hiring of Ditka showed the world that the Saints could attract some well-known names to man the sidelines as the team has only had two head coaches since 1999-00, and both of them are on this list.
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