Charles and Daniel Kinnane’s ‘Home Team,’ a sports film streaming on Netflix, is based on the life of renowned football coach Sean Payton.
Following the infamous Bountygate scandal that rocked modern football, the NFL suspended Payton for the 2012 season.
The film begins with the suspension of Payton and continues with his role as offensive coordinator for Connor’s football team, the Warriors.
As this unbelievable drama unfolds, one has to wonder if the Super Bowl-winning coach was actually the assistant coach of his son’s sixth-grade team. Okay, then, let’s find out!
Did Sean Payton Really Coach His Son’s Team?
To answer your question, Sean Payton did indeed serve as the head coach of his son’s football team.
Payton rejoined his son Connor’s Argyle, Texas-based sixth-grade football team, the Liberty Christian Warriors, after being suspended in the early months of 2012.
Payton served as offensive coordinator for the team under head coach Brennan Hardy and instituted numerous new strategies and formations.
He adapted some of the New Orleans Saints strategies to fit the team’s style and improve their play.
Here’s a class of sixth graders you have a chance to influence… Looking back at it, I needed this team more than they needed me,” he said about his motivation to join the Warriors.
Payton spent his suspension period working in the football industry rather than joining a television network as an analyst. “There are so many things you miss [with the suspension].
And now I had the opportunity to actually witness everything that you normally only hear about during the fall football season,” he continued.
Payton’s tenure at Liberty Christian Warriors was eventful.
He conceived a playbook for the players to follow, which led the team to a consistent winning run.
The players and officials of the team were stunned to see the results of Payton’s efforts as the Warriors kept on winning by huge margins.
The most challenging experience Payton had as the coach of Liberty Christian Warriors was the perplexing game plan of Springtown Porcupines.
After the defeat against them in the regular fixture, Payton wanted to be victorious in the championship game against them.
Bill Parcells, a coach who had won the Super Bowl twice, was his idol, and he called him for guidance.
Payton and the Warriors’ 2012 season ended in another defeat against the Springtown Porcupines.
Although he was disappointed to finish second in the championship, he was pleased with the 2012 season’s development of his team’s players.
Although the Warriors weren’t a terrible team as the film depicts, Payton did lead them to new heights.
After the final game of the match, he expressed how much the experience with the boys mattered to him as a coach in his career.
When Bountygate and the eventual suspension became a dark phase in his life, Payton dealt with it positively by nurturing the game in a bunch of sixth-graders.
