Suspended New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is friends with many Dallas Cowboys players and coaches. He also lives in the North Texas area. But that doesn't mean he's interested in working for the Cowboys. Payton, who was suspended for the season for his involvement in the Saints' alleged bounty scandal, spoke Tuesday at a PwC SMU Athletic Forum luncheon at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. When asked if he would ever like to be the head coach of the Cowboys, Payton responded, "I'd rather answer a bounty question." His humorous answer was met with a loud roar of laughter. "Right now my focus is on staying with New Orleans and really getting back on the sidelines," he added shortly after. Payton spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Cowboys under Bill Parcells. Before that, he was quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator with the New York Giants when current Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was a backup quarterback for the team. Because of his relationship with Garrett and his current job title, it's obviously difficult for him to answer a question about wanting to coach the Cowboys in the future. But he did speak highly of his time with the franchise. "When people ask me about coming here to work for the Cowboys organization and work for Bill Parcells and Jerry, for me it was a lot like law school," Payton said. "In other words, there were some things that I felt I was prepared to do but to be a really good head coach, there was still some learning and I felt like I got that coming here. In turn, I made a lot of close friends."
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