New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is one of the most successful coaches in franchise history, but he's stepping away from his role with the team after 16 seasons at the helm.
While Saints fans are still acclimating to their team's new look with Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill under center (and, for now, their coach), no one will be rooting harder for Payton in all his choices than his loving wife, Skylene Montgomery.
Now that Payton is taking a break (and not necessarily retiring), he'll have a rock-solid family to spend time with.
Sean Payton's Wife Skylene Montgomery
AP Photo/Matthew Hinton
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Sean Payton is currently married to Skylene Montgomery, who he dated for over eight years before he surprised her with a proposal in 2019 while at the Longway Tavern in the French Quarter.
Montgomery hails from West Virginia and is a former Miss West Virginia winner, having won the competition in 2008. She represented West Virginia in the 2009 Miss USA held at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.
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Per nola.com, Saints owner Gayle Benson was in on the surprise marriage proposal and even helped Payton by staging the private party as Montgomery's 35th birthday party. Payton and Montgomery reportedly live together in the Uptown area of New Orleans, Louisiana, in a beautiful 6,000-square foot mansion.
Montgomery earned a nursing degree from West Virginia University and moved to New Orleans in 2013, where she began working at Ochsner Medical Center. Payton and Montgomery first met at a Saints game, when the team traveled to face the Panthers while Montgomery was living in Charlotte.
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The couple officially tied the knot at a luxury resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on June 18, 2021. Former NBA player and coach Avery Johnson, who lives in New Orleans, was the officiant. The man who normally roams the sidelines thinking of plays looked as happy as ever roaming the beach in a pair of Jordans with his new bride.
Sean Payton's Ex-Wife Beth Shuey
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Prior to his marriage with Montgomery, Payton was previously married to his ex-wife Beth Shuey, per Sports Illustrated. Payton and Shuey were married for 24 years and have two children together, daughter Meghan and son Connor Payton.
Meghan has followed her dad's footsteps into sports. She's a sports reporter currently working for Chat Sports, per her Twitter account, and even once interviewed her father for NFL Total Access.
Sean Payton Coaching Career
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Sean Payton was afootball player himself prior to becoming a football coach. He played high school ball for Naperville Central High School in Illinois and later attended Eastern Illinois where he played quarterback.
He got his coaching debut as an assistant at San Diego State in 1988. He then held assistant coaching roles at Indiana State University, Miami University and Illinois.
He made the leap to the NFL in 1997 when he was employed as the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. He took the same role with the New York Giants in 1999, before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2000. He spent two seasons in that position before joining the Dallas Cowboys as the assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach in 2003.
In 2006 he took over as head coach of the New Orleans Saints, taking the helm of the struggling franchise and luring star free agent quarterback Drew Brees to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome (now Caesars Superdome) after he had departed from the Chargers that offseason. Payton has been the Saints' head coach for 15 seasons and won Super Bowl XLV in 2009 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Sean Payton Net Worth
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According to Celebrity Net Worth, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton boasts an estimated net worth of $24 million. Per reports, Payton was currently the fourth-highest paid NFL head coach, earning $9.8 million per season.
Sean Payton has already cemented his place in NFL history, so if he chooses to never coach again he'll be just fine.
