Tag: changes

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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Chicago Bears set to pair Dennis Allen with former Saints defensive line coach

The Chicago Bears are set to add a former New Orleans Saints defensive line coach to the staff on Dennis Allen’s side of the ball:

The New Orleans Saints have another one of their former coaches joining a new NFL team, as defensive line coach Bill Johnson will be added to the Chicago Bears staff along with Dennis Allen. Johnson was a former Saints coach from 2009 to 2016, working with the defensive line, and ended up moving on to the Los Angeles Rams for 2017. He’s spent the time since coaching college football and working in the rebooted XFL.

Johnson had a tough time as the defensive line coach for the Saints, as the front four struggled immensely at times to contain opposing offenses. He was initially brought in under Gregg Williams and was retained as part of the staff that won Super Bowl XLIV for the Saints in the 2009 season. When it came down to it, his influence as a coach was less than stellar in the years to follow, but he did what he needed to do effectively to get a championship which is all that matters in the end.

Chicago will add him to a defensive staff that already brought in Allen, the former Saints head coach, this offseason as well. There are many Saints connections getting new jobs around the league this offseason, and Johnson just adds to that growing list.

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Former Saints offensive line coach joins Mike Vrabel on the Patriots

Former Saints offensive line coach Doug Marrone is set to join Mike Vrabel and the New England Patriots ahead of the 2025 season:

The New Orleans Saints will have another former coach of theirs heading elsewhere this offseason, this time it was Doug Marrone, who will join Mike Vrabel with the New England Patriots. Marrone was with the Saints from 2022 to 2023 as their offensive line coach before he was dismissed from his position in Feb. 2024. He spent the time since working at Boston College, so he was already in the area.

Marrone will join the new look Patriots staff that has been pretty much gutted and started from scratch under Vrabel in recent weeks, with many assistants and positional coaches being hired. He will work under returning offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was recently brought back to the Patriots after a two season stint as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders before his firing.

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Bengals just hired away longtime Saints assistant coach in another lateral move

The Cincinnati Bengals announced they hired Michael Hodges away from the New Orleans Saints. The longtime linebackers coach made a lateral move:

Last one out, turn off the lights. The New Orleans Saints have lost a few coaches to lateral moves around the league as they continue to search for a new head coach, who will want to build their own staff — most notably losing offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to the Seattle Seahawks, where he’ll have the same position.

But here’s another departure. The Cincinnati Bengals announced Monday that they have hired longtime Saints linebackers coach Michael Hodges for the same role on Zac Taylor’s staff. Hodges had been on staff with New Orleans since 2017, and he’s highly regarded around the league. It’s just a shame most of the linebackers he developed went on to play their best football somewhere else; guys like Alex Anzalone, Kaden Elliss, and of course Zack Baun.

Maybe the Bengals will do a better job retaining talent after Hodges has developed it. Whoever the Saints pick as head coach, he’ll now need to replace the offensive coordinator and the linebackers coach, but that was probably going to be the case anyway. These are just the first of many losses we should expect in the weeks ahead.

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Darren Rizzi is changing the Saints locker room layout

The Saints locker room used to be grouped by position groups until 2020 shook it up. Darren Rizzi is bringing it back as interim head coach:

Darren Rizzi’s first public move as New Orleans Saints interim head coach is to change the setup of the locker room back to how things used to be. Instead of being grouped by positions, players were just randomly placed at lockers throughout the locker room. You could have an offensive lineman next to a safety and wide receiver.

This began in 2020 due to the league’s COVID protocol. The thought process behind the alteration was logical. They didn’t want one player to pass it to the entire position group. Dennis Allen kept this going when he became head coach.

As time passed, this became the standard locker room layout and just never changed back until this week. The Saints locker room is once again sectioned by position groups in hopes of building more togetherness. We’ll see if it makes a difference.

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Saints will add a new coach to their staff after promoting Darren Rizzi

Darren Rizzi announced the Saints are bringing in a new assistant coach. With his attention divided, Marwan Maalouf will assist with special teams operations:

New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi announced the team is bringing in a new assistant coach. Marwan Maalouf will assist Phil Galiano in their special teams operations. Rizzi spoke on WWL Radio Monday afternoon to announce the hiring, which came mere hours after his promotion.

Galiano will likely take on many of the duties on special teams coordinating for the Saints, as he has been the assistant coach for them since 2019. However, adding in an additional coach to help out and let Rizzi build out his own staff a little bit is not a bad idea. Rizzi and Maalouf worked together in multiple instances including from 2013 to 2018 with the Miami Dolphins, and 2002 to 2003 at Rutgers.

They are now reunited after a few years away with Rizzi moving on to New Orleans, while Maalouf went on to be the special teams coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 2019 to 2020.

Ultimately, who knows if the Saints keep Rizzi or not after the season, but letting him make additions of his own and give himself a chance to prove himself is definitely a good choice. We will see how the special teams units look with Rizzi taking on a much larger role now at interim head coach.

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Saints announce their initial practice squad, with more changes ahead

The Saints announce their initial practice squad on Wednesday, but it’s still a work in progress with more changes ahead:

Some of the dust is beginning to settle after a busy week of roster moves for the New Orleans Saints and every other NFL team, but the work isn’t finished just yet. The Saints announced their initial practice squad on Wednesday but there are some big differences between their list and what’s been reported to be in the works.

Let’s start with what’s official. Here are the 16 players currently signed to the practice squad as of Wednesday’s update to the daily NFL transactions wire:

  1. S Johnathan Abram (vested veteran)
  2. S Ugo Amadi (vested veteran)
  3. LB Khaleke Hudson (vested veteran)
  4. G/C Shane Lemieux (vested veteran)
  5. WR Equanimeous St. Brown (vested veteran)
  6. DT Kendal Vickers
  7. DE Niko Lalos
  8. TE Michael Jacobson
  9. WR Kevin Austin Jr.
  10. S Millard Bradford
  11. OT Josiah Ezirim
  12. TE Mason Fairchild
  13. OG Kyle Hergel
  14. RB Jacob Kibodi
  15. LB Isaiah Stalbird
  16. K Charlie Smyth (International Pathway Program)

Now, what’s different? Let’s focus on who’s missing. Cornerback Shemar Jean-Charles was expected to sign with the Saints practice squad, but he hasn’t yet, and it might be because of how the squad is built. NFL rules cap teams at six vested veterans (players with four or more years’ experience) and ten younger pros who have three or fewer accrued seasons. Jean-Charles falls in the latter group which is at capacity. There’s a roster exemption for Charlie Smyth so he doesn’t factor into that.

Of course it’s possible the Saints’ agreement with Jean-Charles fell through and he found a better offer somewhere else. But this would be the easiest explanation. Players are moving around often this time of the year as teams work to assemble their 53-man rosters and practice squads, so this may only be a procedural issue. We’ll find out soon.

What else is different from what we expected? Tight end Treyton Welsh is nowhere to be seen after it was reported by multiple outlets that the Saints were signing him to the practice squad. But Mason Fairchild was brought back which was not previously reported. Again, maybe Welsh’s deal collapsed, but it’s also possible that the team needs another day or two to get everyone to sign on the dotted line. At the same time, they now have five tight ends between the roster and practice squad. How many do they need?

One other difference? Defensive tackle Kendal Vickers was bumped down to the practice squad after initially making the cut for the 53-man roster. This was a corresponding move to claim running back Kene Nwangwu off of waivers from the Minnesota Vikings. The Saints have also arranged a trade with the Washington Commanders to add John Ridgeway III, another defensive tackle, so another corresponding move is coming (which means more changes for the 53-man roster and practice squad).

Got all that? It’s a busy week for everyone, and it isn’t over yet. Keep an eye out for more updates.

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Saints will take advantage of new injured reserve rules with Kendre Miller

The Saints will take advantage of new injured reserve rules with Kendre Miller. He can return as soon as Week 5’s prime-time game with the Chiefs:

It’s disappointing to see Kendre Miller opening his second season with the New Orleans Saints on injured reserve, but it does mean the team can take advantage of new rules changes to navigate this situation.

First off, Miller can return as soon as Week 5’s prime-time game with the  Kansas City Chiefs, and he won’t count against the 53-man roster limit during that time. In past years teams had to keep injured players on their roster for a full day before putting them on injured reserve while planning to later activate them. Now, teams are allowed to put two injured players on I.R. right out of the gate.

Secondly, the Saints can activate up to eight players from injured reserve during the regular season, and two more can be brought back if they reach the playoffs. Additionally, players can be activated twice from I.R. if they suffer a setback. So there are plenty of options here for Miller. It’s not like the team is shutting him down for the season.

That doesn’t mean this isn’t frustrating for everyone involved. The coaches want to see Miller out there, and he probably wants to back up all that talking he did last summer about replacing Alvin Kamara. Players want to play. We’ll just have to monitor Miller’s progress. It’s unusual that a hamstring injury has kept him out this long without requiring surgery, but these things can be difficult. At this point all he can do is keep his head down and work on his rehab until he’s able to help the team.

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