Klint Kubiak’s New Orleans Saints coaching staff is beginning to take shape. Kubiak can’t be formerly introduced as the team’s offensive coordinator until after his San Francisco 49ers compete in Super Bowl LVIII this Sunday, but the Saints are already on the search for key position coaches who know his system.
One name to watch: John Benton, who the Times-Picayune | Advocate’s Luke Johnson reports is a frontrunner to coach the offensive line under Kubiak, replacing the recently-dismissed Doug Marrone. Benton, 60, has a wealth of NFL experience — he came up as Gary Kubiak’s offensive line coach with the Houston Texans from 2006 to 2013, playing a big role in establishing one of the league’s best rushing offenses. Arian Foster, an undrafted rookie, twice led the league in touchdown runs and earned four Pro Bowl nods running behind Benton’s offensive line.
He also played for the Saints as a replacement during the 1987 strike. A graduate out of Colorado State (Klint Kubiak’s alma mater), he’s spent time with the St. Louis Rams early in his career (way back in 2003) and more recently on staff with the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars. Notably, he was one of the first assistants that Kyle Shanahan hired with the San Francisco 49ers (having worked together in Houston) back in 2017. He helped install one of the league’s best rushing attacks before leaving for a promotion on Robert Saleh’s New York Jets staff in 2021, being named the run game coordinator. But he was let go after the 2022 season and wasn’t in the NFL in 2023.
He could be a good get. Balancing out a younger offensive coordinator (Kubiak turns 37 in February) with a position coach who has seen it all through a decades-long career and developed so many young players might be the best path forward. Coaching up embattled left tackle Trevor Penning is just one of the responsibilities that come with the job, but it’s a critical task, and Benton just might be the right guy to see it through. The Saints use many of the same zone-blocking concepts that Benton, Shanahan, and the Kubiaks pioneered, just not as effectively. Maybe he can clean up the mistakes and get them on track.
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