July 31, 2010; Davie, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins executive vice president of football operations Bill Parcells during training camp at the Dolphins training facility. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Now it seems the ol’ Tuna may be headed back to the sidelines to try and knock some of the tarnish off the past decade. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that suspended head coach Sean Payton has approached his mentor, Parcells, about coaching in his absence next season.

While seeking the counsel of his former boss and mentor, Bill Parcells, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton has broached the idea of Parcells becoming the interim head coach during Payton’s suspension for the 2012 season, according to several league sources.

While none of this has been run up the ladder, it doesn’t shock me Parcells would be amenable to this. After failing in Dallas and Miami, and with the stench of Tuna still burning in Dolphins HQ down in Davie, Parcells didn’t exactly leave the NFL on a high note.

That was reflected when he wasn’t elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, a distinction that Parcells surely coveted.

This would give the Tuna a chance to try and put a nice exclamation at the end of his career. Truth be told Parcells hasn’t won anything since the 80′s, hasn’t won consistently since the 90′s and even despite the ESPN hype machine repping him, his reputation isn’t what it once was.

But a Super Bowl run with a loaded Saints team?

The Tuna always did dream big. That would be too good to be true, if he can bring stability to a franchise that has been rocked by Bountygate and win, suddenly his legacy looks a little better. Suddenly that second run at Hall of Fame eligibility has a much better first ballot shot.

The Tuna always was a glory hound. It’s why he quits on teams before the failure can be reflected on him. It’s why he left the Jets, it’s why he left Dallas when he lost faith in Tony Romo, and it’s why he bailed in Miami before the bottom fell out.

So if this ridiculous idea actually does play out and he sits in front of the media in New Orleans for the first time, don’t buy the baloney about it not being about him.

It’s always about the Tuna.

Jan 14, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton watches from the sideline during the fourth quarter of the 2011 NFC divisional playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park. The 49ers defeated the Saints 36-32. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

That’s frankly a huge penalty, one that could effectively sink the Saints if not addressed properly. There is some ambiguity as to when Loomis begins his suspension. Drew Brees is up for a contract and if Loomis cannot operate the team until midway through the season that futher complicates things. Either way the Saints are in trouble this upcoming season.

This whole saga began when the NFL started investigating claims that the Saints were paying out bounties for devastating hits during the 2009 season. A pot of as high as 50,000 dollars was collected and doled out for hits that knocked players out of games and fired up the defense.

Whether or not that’s just football or an over the line is debatable, but clearly based on the penalties handed down today, the NFL feels it was the latter.

“We’re in good shape,” said Doug Thornton, vice president of SMG, the company that manages the Superdome and neighboring New Orleans Arena. “We’ve got some exterior signs ripped and things like that, downed fences and light poles blown over, but nothing major, nothing structural or nothing that would affect the interior condition of the building.”

“We are continuing to monitor the situation in close coordination with the Saints,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said. “Our focus today is on the brave people of the Gulf Coast. We have great admiration for them and for the public safety and emergency personnel who are tirelessly working to protect lives and property in that region. We will make an announcement at the appropriate time about the status of the Saints’ game scheduled for Sunday in the Superdome.”

I really don’t want the two home games flip flopped which was one of the possible scenarios mentioned the other night by Adam Schefter of the NFL Network.  That would give us 4 road games in a row, and a stretch of 6 out of 7.