When Tom Benson’s ax fell on Mike Ditka, Bill Kuharich and the entire coaching staff, many New Orleans Saints fans were not surprised. Miss-Lou residents echoed the sentiments many have felt during the long football season:

Vidalia head football coach Dee Faircloth: &uot;That’s just one of those things. That’s the nature of the business. They didn’t seem like they were going in the right direction. But that’s to be expected. I would have been surprised if they kept him.

&uot;He’s got a restaurant, so he’ll be alright. He’ll probably a color analyst on one of the networks. They could dig Coach (Paul &uot;Bear&uot;) Bryant from the grave and he couldn’t win down there.&uot;

Joe Fortunato: &uot;Like he (Ditka) said, when you go 3-13 you’re going to be fired. He tried to do the job, but he couldn’t do it. He said he loved the city, he loved the players, he loved the organization.

&uot;According to him he’s not going to coach anymore, but I don’t know about that. It’s a tough team to coach down there.&uot;

ACCS head football coach Bo Swilley: &uot;I hate it for Mike Ditka. The problem is not the coaching. The problem is the ownership. They keep trading away too many good players. Until they get a top-notch quarterback and some other good players, they’re not going to do too well.&uot;

Natchez High student Joshua Murray: They should have fired the whole team.