New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton is known for his sometimes-bizarre motivational tactics. Whether he’s posting corny cartoons on the bulletin board or hanging gas masks in the locker room (cautioning players not to get “gassed up” by media power rankings and their own overconfidence), he’s always looking for ways to fire up his players while keeping them focused on the task at hand. Sometimes that’s resulted in pointedly placing empty gas cans next to older players’ lockers.
Last season, that meant flying in college mascots like “Purdue Pete” and the Michigan State Spartan to celebrate upset wins over his players’ alma maters.