CANTON, Ohio - When the New Orleans Saints face the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL's annual Hall of Fame Game on Sunday evening, Assistant Head Coach and Linebackers Coach Joe Vitt will be making his debut as the Saints' acting head coach.

Coach Vitt, a former Tiger player and coach, is running the Saints while Sean Payton sits out the 2012 season due to a season-long suspension by the NFL.

A former Tiger linebacker who played for the Stagg Bowl team in 1976, Vitt has been part of the Saints' staff since 2006.

He is looking forward to coaching the Saints in the Hall of Fame Game.

He says, "I think it’s an exciting time.  We played this game in ’07 when we played Pittsburgh.  We had a great time as a team going through the Hall of Fame.  Now, we’re going to go through the Hall and we’re going to see this display up there of when we won the world championship, so our players are looking forward to seeing that.  We’re going to get there and see Willie Roaf’s induction, we’re going to take a tour of the Hall, and then Cortez Kennedy, who is a close friend of ours, is also going in.  We’re going to have a certain amount of people who are staying back who will want to see that.  We’ll have two busses going back to the hotel in Cleveland.  It’s a huge weekend.  Everyone is looking forward to it.”

Another former Tiger, Jermon Bushrod, will also be playing his first pre-season game of the year when the Saints face the Cardinals. He earned All-Pro honors at offensive tackle last season.