Tag: Andrew Janocko

Latest staff moves indicate Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald is empowering Klint Kubiak

Latest staff moves indicate Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald is empowering Klint Kubiak

The Seattle Seahawks made sizable changes to their offensive coaching staff on Monday. New offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak appears to be at the forefront of those decisions. Andrew Janocko was officially named quarterbacks coach, and John Benton was named offensive line coach. Frisman Jackson was retained as wide receivers coach.

Both Janocko and Benton worked alongside Kubiak with the New Orleans Saints last season. Janocko replaces Charles London, who was a good quality quarterbacks coach. Benton replaces Scott Huff, which makes more sense because he was a Ryan Grubb hire. Either way, head coach Mike Macdonald is allowing Kubiak to make these decisions.

It’s a fair way for Macdonald to conduct business. He’s a defensive-minded head coach who decided to replace his first offensive coordinator after one season. It’s imperative that the Kubiak appointment goes smoother than Grubb’s tenure. Providing Kubiak with the resources and freedom required to hire an offensive coaching staff he’s comfortable with is crucial to success.

For now, Kubiak has added two coaches he’s extremely comfortable and familiar with in Janocko and Benton. Macdonald is allowing him to install his offense around a quality group of skill players, ranging from an above-average quarterback in Geno Smith, to high-level weapons like DK Metcalf, Kenneth Walker III, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. It’s on Kubiak to maximize his opportunity. Macdonald is counting on it.

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Seahawks officially hire Andrew Janocko as QB coach

Seahawks officially hire Andrew Janocko as QB coach

The Seattle Seahawks requested and were granted permission to interview New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko last week. Merely days later, it was announced that current Seahawks QB coach Charles London was taking the same job with the New York Jets despite being under contract in Seattle. The writing was clearly on the wall.

On Monday, the Seahawks officially named Janocko as their new quarterbacks coach.

New Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak clearly oversaw this appointment. Kubiak and Janocko have an incredibly familiar relationship. Outside of obviously serving on the 2024 Saints staff together, they previously spent three shared campaigns (2019-21) with the Minnesota Vikings.

Kubiak was clearly interested in reuniting with Janocko for a third time. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald allowed Kubiak some rope with this decision. London has officially been replaced by Janocko, who will coach Geno Smith next season.

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Klint Kubiak is bringing a couple of key assistants with him to the Seahawks

Saints QB coach Andrew Janocko was expected to join Klint Kubiak with the Seahawks, but he’s bringing OL coach John Benton with him, too:

The New Orleans Saints lost offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to the Seattle Seahawks a week ago, and it was expected quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko would also follow suit. Seattle received permission to interview Janocko in a lateral move. On Monday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that Janocko is joining Kubiak in Seattle — and they’re bringing offensive line coach John Benton with them.

Janocko has always been Kubiak’s quarterback coach. They were on the Minnesota Vikings’ staff together before Kubiak brought him to New Orleans. It would make sense for those two to reunite in Seattle.

Kubiak was smart to jump to Seattle. At the time, the Saints coaching search was still up in the air. New Orleans is now in line to hire Kellen Moore. Kubiak making that move may keep himself and Janocko employed.

As for Benton? He’s an experienced and respected line coach around the league, having previously worked on the New York Jets and before that the San Francisco 49ers staff under Kyle Shanahan. He did good work preparing Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning to swap positions last offseason, but a new head coach (Moore or someone else) is going to want their own support staff.

We’ll see who else finds new jobs in the days and weeks ahead, and whether any assistants stay on board to work under a new coach.

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A Saints assistant coach may be joining Klint Kubiak on the Seahawks

A Saints assistant could be joining Klint Kubiak in Seattle. They’ve allowed quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko to interview with the Seahawks:

The New Orleans Saints may be losing another component of their 2024 coaching staff, as quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko was given permission to interview with the Seattle Seahawks. This comes shortly after Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak joined the Seahawks in a lateral move, and Janocko may look to follow him there.

Katherine Terrell of ESPN also reported that, “The Saints would like to keep Janocko, but as they close in on a head coach, they have been letting more coaches interview and leave for lateral positions. Some position coaches were waiting to see if Darren Rizzi would get the permanent job.”

Losing Janocko would be a tough blow for a Saints team that has essentially already cleaned house, however it makes sense given whoever the new head coach is will want to bring in their own staff to surround them, and give them the best chance to succeed. The Saints may be looking for someone to handle the quarterbacks room once again this offseason as this develops.

Saints QB coach takes unique step to prepare for Monday’s frigid weather

It’s hard to prepare for Wisconsin weather in New Orleans, but QB coach Andrew Janocko took a unique approach inspired by “Cool Runnings”

The New Orleans Saints play in sunny Louisiana, and the Green Bay Packers play in frigid Wisconsin. The differences in climate make it difficult to simulate the weather the Saints are about to endure when they play the Packers on Monday night, so quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko has had to get creative.

Current forecasts have the weather at 25 degrees on Monday night at Lambeau Field, with a possibility for snow. Meanwhile, it is over 40 degrees in New Orleans. So what were the Saints to do?

A lot has been made of the improvements to the team cafeteria this summer (as part of construction on the facilities that moved training camp to California), but the Saints probably didn’t think they’d be practicing in the walk-in freezers. To attempt to prepare for the Wisconsin weather, Janocko had Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener run through plays in the cafeteria freezer, set at a frosty 10 degrees.

“Hopefully it’s not 10 degrees (at Lambeau Field), but we’ll be ready,” Rattler said this week.

Janocko got the innovative idea from Cool Runnings, the classic 1993 film about the Jamaican Olympics bobsled team. While he opted to put the quarterbacks in the freezer instead of an ice cream truck, Janocko said the reactions to the innovative move were positive: “(The) guys thought it was hilarious. The cafeteria workers think I’m out of my mind.”

For a team that rarely experiences this type of weather, this was a creative way to give the quarterbacks a chance to feel a semblance of the weather they’re about to walk into.

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Teddy Bridgewater shares unexpected connections with 2024 Saints team

Teddy Bridgewater, who plans to make an NFL return in the near future, shares some surprising connections with the Saints’ new-look coaching staff:

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has announced that he plans to make an NFL return in the upcoming weeks, and while the Saints may not be the most likely landing spot, he does share some intriguing connections with their current offensive staff. Beyond his two-season stint from 2018-2019 with the Saints, there are some former faces he may recognize from around the league currently on the Saints coaching staff as well.

First up is current Saints quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, who worked with the Minnesota Vikings from 2015 to 2017, which overlaps with three of the four seasons Teddy Bridgewater played for the Vikings. While Janocko was not a quarterbacks coach at the time, he was an offensive quality control assistant for the first two of those seasons before moving to be an assistant offensive line coach, so they likely worked together in those first two seasons.

Another notable coaching overlap is current Saints senior offensive assistant Rick Dennison, who was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator in 2018 for the New York Jets, where Bridgewater spent his offseason before being traded to the Saints prior to the season.

Interim head coach Darren Rizzi and general manager Mickey Loomis would ultimately make the calls on any potential signing if one were in the works, and both of them were obviously here during the time frame Bridgewater was, and got to see how successful he was in the absence of Drew Brees during his thumb injury. We will see where Bridgewater ultimately ends up, but there are definitely a few notable ties between him and the current Saints staff (as well as the roster) worth noting.

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Saints agree to terms on one-year deal with free agent OL Lucas Patrick

The New Orleans Saints agreed to terms on a one-year deal with free agent offensive lineman Lucas Patrick:

Here’s some improved depth for the New Orleans Saints’ offensive line. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill reported that the Saints have reached an agreement with free agent lineman Lucas Patrick on a one-year deal. Patrick has spent seven years in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers and, most recently, the Chicago Bears. He entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent from Duke.

Last year Patrick started 15 games at center for Chicago, where he worked with Andrew Janocko; the current Saints quarterbacks coach held the same role with the Bears. In his career Patrick has logged 1,000-plus snaps at both center and right guard, as well as 628 reps at left guard. So he could push guys like Nick Saldiveri and Shane Lemieux for that vacancy.

There won’t be a corresponding move for the Saints signing Patrick. They filled 89 of 90 roster spots going into rookie minicamp this weekend so they had room for one more. But we should anticipate some roster moves after that minicamp with several dozen players trying out in hopes of landing a spot on that 90-man roster. Stay tuned.

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Saints could have traded for Justin Fields, if they had wanted to

The Saints had the draft picks to trade for Justin Fields, and they just hired his quarterbacks coach. It says a lot about their plans that he wasn’t considered:

It says a lot about the New Orleans Saints’ plans at quarterback that they never entered trade talks while the Chicago Bears were trying to find a new home for Justin Fields. The 25-year-old was dealt to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft; if he’s able to get on the field ahead of Russell Wilson and play well, it can turn into a fourth rounder.

The Saints could have beaten that offer. They own multiple picks in rounds five and six this year which is more lucrative than selections in 2025. They could’ve made a stronger offer than Pittsburgh did, had they chosen to.

And they had an inside scoop on Fields after hiring his quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko. Janocko worked closely with Fields the last two years in Chicago and knew everything there was to know about the young quarterback. If the Saints liked what he had to say, they would’ve made a move. But they didn’t.

Which gets to our point: the Saints weren’t interested. As we’ve been saying, they want to support Derek Carr, not threaten his position on top of the depth chart with someone who might be better. They don’t want to have more ugly moments were fans were booing him off the field and cheering on Jameis Winston as happened last year. That’s why they signed a mediocre backup in Nathan Peterman, whose best-case scenario is getting blitzed by Jake Haener in training camp before hanging on with the practice squad, maybe.

Carr was a tough watch for much of the 2023 season. Still, Saints decision-makers like head coach Dennis Allen and general manager Mickey Loomis are confident he can deliver on the expectations that come with his $150 million contract. To his credit, Carr was much more impressive through the last six weeks when ex-offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael began tailoring the offense to his strengths with more play-action passes and pre-snap movement. Allen hired an entirely new offensive coaching staff this offseason, including Janocko, with the goal of putting Carr in a position to succeed.

Does that mean they were right to pass on Fields? No. Teams should keep adding quarterbacks until they know they have the right one, whether that means rolling the dice in free agency, taking a flyer on another team’s castoff, or drafting one themselves. Carr, who turns 33 in a few weeks, has probably hit his ceiling without ever winning a single playoff game. Allen, Loomis, and the Saints as an organization are determined to find out if he can lead the team to success in spite of that. They’re going with Carr, sink or swim, and that’s why they’re not in on an exciting young quarterback like Fields. It’s why fans shouldn’t expect them to draft another passer coming out of college, either.

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First look at the New Orleans Saints 2024 offensive coaching staff

The New Orleans Saints 2024 offensive coaching staff is complete. Here’s a look at all of the new faces and returning assistants working with Klint Kubiak:

The New Orleans Saints had a frustrating offense in 2023, which led to an almost complete overhaul of the staff for the 2024 season.

Starting with a new offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak, the Saints filled out a new staff that only has a couple of returning names. With the list of potential coordinators that the Saints interviewed, it is clear that the team wanted to take a younger and more innovative approach this season. Most of the traces of the Sean Payton era are now gone from the offense as they now embrace the new era of offensive football.

Here are all of the coaches that will run the Saints offense in 2024, as the team tries to find success with the same core players:

Saints assistant Jordan Traylor has a new assignment in 2024

New Orleans Saints assistant coach Jordan Traylor has a new assignment in 2024: working with the quarterbacks

The New Orleans Saints are hiring within their own staff as Jordan Traylor has been promoted to the assistant quarterbacks coach, replacing D.J. Williams, per 247 Sports’ Matt Zenitz.

Traylor played college football at Texas A&M as a quarterback, and has been with New Orleans for five years now. He spent two years as a scouting assistant before joining the coaching staff as a defensive assistant. He switched to offense last season and will now move up to his new role for 2024. It’s clear that he has made a name for himself in New Orleans as he will stick around among a lot of offensive turnover on the staff.

Traylor will work closely with recently hired quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko. It’s a positive that the Saints were able to find at least some continuity within the offensive staff as Janocko remains an up-and-coming coach at just 36 years old. Janocko could leave for a promotion of his own if Derek Carr makes rapid progress in the fall. Developing in-house replacements like Traylor is a key to sustaining success.

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