Sean Payton is wasting no time getting back to work with the Saints.

Payton is clearly unhappy with the Saints’ defense while he was gone. One of his first items of business was to fire defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and secondary coach Steve Flajole.

One and done in the season following bountygate? Seems a little harsh. The defense had some moments, including some great redzone stops and a shut out of the Bucs in Week 15.

So why did Spags get the boot?

Payton clearly didn’t like what he saw (on TV) from the defense this season. The 2012 Saints defense was historically bad in 2012. Record-setting for the worst. Ever.

There were also rumors that Spagnuolo had lost the locker room. An anonymous player claimed that Spags was a control freak who was terrible at making adjustments and upset players and coaches.

Officially, Payton announced that the Saints were changing their defensive scheme to a 3-4 alignment and Spags didn’t fit the new philosophy.

Payton said that the Saints would take their time in hiring a new DC. There are rumors that the team has reached out to former Chiefs coach Romeo Crennal and former Jets coach Eric Mangini.