Tag: assistants

Saints head coach candidate Kellen Moore hints at potential staff addition

Saints head coach candidate Kellen Moore hinted at a potential staff addition. His Mizzou OC brother may ‘have a lot of really good opportunities’ very soon:

With Kellen Moore likely becoming the next head coach of the New Orleans Saints, many have wondered what a Moore-led staff would look like.

During yesterday’s media availability, Moore was asked about his younger brother Kirby who just finished his second season as the offensive coordinator for the Missouri Tigers. Kellen Moore had some high praise for his brother’s accomplishments while noting the potential for more opportunities in the near future.

If hired by New Orleans, Moore will be expected to put his coaching staff together immediately. Already behind schedule with hires being announced around the league by the day, it becomes increasingly likely that Moore will look to bring in more familiar faces. Potentially moreso than those with league experience and a strong resume. This is not to say that those options aren’t still out there, but as the last coach hired from this year’s cycle, those options become limited.

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Two Saints defensive coaches linked to a surprising new team

New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Joe Woods and secondary coach Marcus Robertson have emerged as candidates for Pete Carroll’s Las Vegas Raiders staff:

The New Orleans Saints coaching staff has been undergoing lots of change during this offseason, with the arrival of their new head coach expected to bring more turnover. We’ve seen much of the team’s offensive staff find new destinations in the last couple of weeks with an offensive-minded head coach likely on the horizon in Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore

On the other hand, the defensive staff has experienced much less turnover since season’s end with the only notable name being linebackers coach Mike Hodges leaving for a job with the Cincinnati Bengals.

However with that said, things are starting to ramp up as Super Bowl LIX inches closer and closer. A recent report from Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports and 247 Sports names Saints defensive coordinator Joe Woods and secondary coach Marcus Robertson as potential candidates for Pete Carroll’s staff on the Las Vegas Raiders.

Woods spent the last two seasons with the Saints under former head coach Dennis Allen, spending most of his time in the secondary while DA called the defense. Robertson, a former safety himself, aided Woods in those responsibilities by adding a relatable voice in the defensive back room.

Pete Carroll and the Raiders front office just announced recently that Patrick Graham would remain as the team’s defensive play caller which would take Woods out of the discussion for that role. With that said though, there will most certainly be room for the team to add experience in the secondary with both Woods and Robertson in whatever role they are given. Having the opportunity to boost a middle-of-the-pack passing defense could make a huge difference for a team that is still waiting for an answer at the quarterback position.

Nothing is set in stone just yet, but things could be trending in this direction very shortly. We’ll see what changes the Saints’ next head coach has in mind for the New Orleans defense soon enough.

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Cowboys hired a coach Kellen Moore may have been eyeing for Saints

The Dallas Cowboys hired a coach that, ESPN reports, Kellen Moore was potentially hoping to bring with him to the New Orleans Saints:

The New Orleans Saints seem to be nearing a decision on their next head coach with Kellen Moore being the heavy favorite, but now that opens them up to even more competition to fill out a staff. And with Moore unable to sign a contract or communicate with the Saints until after Super Bowl LIX, other teams are jostling for potential assistants on his staff.

Just over a week ago, the Dallas Cowboys decided to promote Brian Schottenheimer from their offensive coordinator position to their head coach spot. Schottenheimer then hired Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach Klayton Adams to be his OC. Per a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Adams could have also been an eventual hire by Moore to join his staff with the Saints.

Adams and Moore did not really cross paths there (they missed each other by a year), but they did both play college football with the Boise State Broncos. It makes sense as a fit and could actually still point to what Moore wants to do with the New Orleans offense.

While Adams held some control with the offensive line for the Cardinals, his best work was transforming Arizona into one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL. They averaged 144.2 yards per game, which ranked seventh in the league, with a second-best 5.3 yards per carry. During his first season, their rushing attack was the fourth-best. The year prior to him becoming the coach, it was all the way down at the 11th worst.

It is safe to assume that the run game will be the heavy focus of the start of Moore’s tenure, as the Saints figure out what to do about their quarterback situation.

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Report: Kellen Moore is already recruiting for his Saints coaching staff

The Times-Picayune reports that Kellen Moore is already making calls to potential assistants who could fill out his Saints coaching staff:

All signs point to Kellen Moore becoming the next head coach of the New Orleans Saints — most critically, the fact general manager Mickey Loomis told other candidates in the race he’s waiting until after Super Bowl LIX to make a decision on who he’ll hire. That’s the soonest Moore could meet with the Saints again and agree to take the job, per NFL rules. So it’s increasingly looking more like a question of when, not if, he’ll be introduced to the Black and Gold.

And it may not take long for Moore to hire assistants. The Times-Picayune’s Matthew Paras reports that Moore “has been in contact with potential members of his staff.”

Now who could that be? There are some obvious names out there like Doug Nussmeier, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach who previously worked with Moore on the Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys. There’s also Brandon Staley who hired them both to the Chargers and spent the year since as the San Francisco 49ers’ assistant coach. We highlighted both of them as well as several other potential hires Moore could bring with him.

This could all blow up, but that doesn’t feel likely. We’ll guessing we’ll have to wait and see whether Moore wins a Super Bowl for the Eagles on his way out.

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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:

Nate Oats and Alabama basketball not in a rush to hire their third assistant

Nate Oats doing his due diligence on Alabama basketball’s third assistant.

The Alabama basketball program just completed its most successful season in program history, and the bill has hit hard. The Tide were the champions of the SEC in the regular season as well as the post-season tournament and went on to become the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 March Madness tournament. The Tide was led by Nate Oats, who is obviously a great coach, but also Brandon Miller and three great assistant coaches.

As a top 10 player in the country, it was always likely that Brandon Miller was going to be a one-and-done player, so the departure didn’t shock anyone, but it will still hurt. He was the SEC Player of the Year, SEC Rookie of the Year, and a consensus second-team All-American. Miller is now on his way to being a top-three pick in the 2023 NBA draft.

The unsung heroes of the season were Alabama’s three assistants who were massive pieces of the puzzle. All three were excellent on the recruiting trail and very good situationally, so much so that they were each hired for head coaching jobs after the season. Bryan Hodgson went to Arkansas State, Charlie Henry to Georgia Southern, and Antoine Pettway to Kennesaw State.

Since then, Nate Oats has filled two of those three vacancies. The first hire was Austin Claunch who is only 33 years old but led Nicholls to back-to-back Southland regular season titles in 2021 and 2022 and was named the conference’s coach of the year as well in ’21. They also added Ryan Pannone, previously with the New Orleans Pelicans.

As of right now, Nate Oats is still taking his time on the third hire. He knows how important it is to have good assistants on your staff and there is still plenty of time until the season starts. I think the first two hires were absolute home runs, so the Tide are sitting pretty well as is.

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