Tag: brendan nugent

4 things to know about new Chargers OL Will Clapp

Here are four quick things Chargers fans should know about Will Clapp.

The Chargers signed former Saints OL Will Clapp on Tuesday.

Here are four things to know about the newest Bolt.

First football foray outside Louisiana

Clapp is a New Orleans native who attended Brother Martin High School in Crescent City before accepting a scholarship at LSU, where he played his college ball. He was then drafted by the Saints in the seventh round in 2018, meaning that his first home game as a Charger will also be his first home game outside Louisiana.

Highly decorated college football player

After earning All-SEC first-team honors at guard in 2016 and center in 2017, Clapp became the first LSU offensive lineman in a decade to be named All-SEC twice in his career. He was also a finalist for the 2017 Rimington Award as the nation’s top center and was named a permanent team captain for the Tigers. He and his father Tommy are the only father-son duo to be named permanent team captains in the history of the LSU program.

Called the LSU passing game explosion under Joe Brady

Back in 2018, Brady was an offensive assistant with the Saints. After Brady was hired by LSU as their new passing game coordinator in January 2019, Clapp quote tweeted the news saying that Brady was about to take “this passing game to a new level”. What followed was LSU’s undefeated run to a national championship, as now-Bengals QB Joe Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns under Brady’s guidance.

Can play all five offensive line positions

Versatility is an important quality for depth offensive linemen, and Clapp has shown this throughout his NFL career. As a Saint under new Chargers offensive line coach Brendan Nugent, Clapp played center, tackle, and tight end in jumbo packages across 132 snaps in 2021. With experience at guard in previous seasons and in college, he figures to be a key depth piece in LA.

Chargers sign OL Will Clapp

The Chargers are adding a piece to their offensive line.

The Chargers are adding a piece to their offensive line.

Los Angeles has signed former Saints offensive lineman Will Clapp.

With New Orleans, Clapp, a seventh-round pick of the 2018 NFL draft out of LSU, appeared in 34 games, seven of those being starts.

Clapp joins the Bolts as Corey Linsley’s backup, recently held by Scott Quessenberry, who signed with the Texans this offseason.

Clapp also has the experience to play guard in a pinch.

Clapp is familiar with new offensive line coach Brendan Nugent, who served in the same role with the Saints dating back to 2015.

Chargers add 3 new coaches to staff

The Chargers added three new coaches to their staff, including one to oversee the offensive line.

The Chargers added three coaches to their staff on Saturday.

The team hired Brendan Nugent as their new offensive line coach, Chris Gould as the assistant special teams coach, and Mike Hiestand as an offensive assistant.

The move to bring in Nugent came after L.A. lost previous offensive line coach Frank Smith to the Dolphins, who now serves as their offensive coordinator.

Nugent recently served as the Saints’ offensive line coach since 2015. In addition, he assisted as the run game coordinator/tight ends coach alongside Dan Roushar.

During Nugent’s tenure with New Orleans, 10 Pro Bowl selections came from the team’s offensive line.

Gould, brother of 49ers kicker Chris, was recently assistant special teams coach for the Broncos.

Heistand formerly was Denver’s assistant to head coach/offensive quality control.

Report: Saints coaching staff shuffle continues, Dan Roushar moving to new role

The New Orleans Saints are expected to move offensive line coach Dan Roushar back to his role as tight ends coach and run game coordinator.

[sendtonews_embed video_id=”RifxNAHQIV-1158563-7498″]

The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan reports that the New Orleans Saints are continuing to tweak their coaching staff, with Saints offensive line coach Dan Roushar expected to move back to his position as tight ends coach while picking up the new responsibility of running game coordinator. His predecessor, Dan Campbell, left New Orleans to become the Detroit Lions head coach earlier this offseason.

This comes after former Saints right tackle Zach Strief shared the news that he was leaving his position with WWL Radio to join the team as an assistant offensive line coach. Duncan adds that the Saints are likely to promote assistant Brendan Nugent to the full-time role, meaning Strief would be working more closely with Nugent than Roushar.

That’s a lot of movement. So let’s break it down a little more clearly, point by point:

  • Tight ends coach Dan Campbell leaves for Detroit
  • Offensive line coach Dan Roushar moves to tight ends coach
  • Assistant O.L. coach Brendan Nugent moves to O.L. coach
  • Zach Strief hired as assistant O.L. coach

Roushar initially coached running backs for the Saints when he was hired back in 2013, having begun working with the New Orleans tight ends in 2015. He started coaching the offensive line in 2016 and helped build one of the NFL’s best fronts, helping scout and develop draft picks like Ryan Ramczyk and Erik McCoy along the way.

As running game coordinator, he’ll likely continue to play a part in the offensive line’s construction, though his focus may land on the development of promising second-year tight end Adam Trautman. He handled many different tasks at Michigan State before making the jump to the NFL, so none of this is new to him.

However, it’s worth noting that we’re in a very fluid situation as the Saints finish replenishing their coaching staff after the hits it took this offseason. Job titles will be tweaked as Sean Payton looks to get everyone into the best position to succeed, so stay tuned for official word from the team.

[vertical-gallery id=43125]

Report: Saints blocked Panthers’ interview request with assistant OL coach

The New Orleans Saints reportedly blocked a request from the Carolina Panthers to interview assistant offensive line coach Brendan Nugent.

[jwplayer nbwPQUiW-ThvAeFxT]

The Carolina Panthers reportedly hired former New Orleans Saints assistant Joe Brady, lately of the LSU Tigers, to be their new offensive coordinator beneath first-year head coach Matt Rhule, formerly of Baylor. And one report suggests Brady tried to bring one of his ex-Saints colleagues along with him to Carolina.

Per The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan, the Panthers submitted an interview request with Saints assistant offensive line coach Brendan Nugent. Nugent and Brady worked together at William & Mary earlier in their careers, and linked up again with the Saints. They evidently maintained a close friendship over the years, and Brady may have hoped to work with Nugent again in Carolina.

But because the Saints and Panthers are division rivals in the always-heated NFC South, this request for an interview was declined. It’s possible that other Saints coaches whose contracts are up join Brady in the future, but for now, this door is closed to him.

We’ll circle back to Nugent before we leave off. He’s been a longtime assistant of Saints offensive line coach Dan Roushar, and would make for a logical in-house promotion should Roushar ever leave for another opportunity. It’s not surprising in the least that the Saints weren’t eager to part ways with him regardless of their divisional rivalry with the Panthers.

[lawrence-related id=27083,27073]

[vertical-gallery id=27052]