Tag: Coaches

Legendary Saints DL La’Roi Glover to join the team’s coaching staff for training camp

Legendary New Orleans Saints defensive lineman La’Roi Glover to join the team’s coaching staff for training camp and preseason:

Now this is cool: Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan reports that the New Orleans Saints are bringing La’Roi Glover onto their coaching staff for training camp and the team’s preseason games. Glover is this year’s Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching fellow, a program the NFL describes as an opportunity “to give talented coaches the opportunity to observe, participate, gain experience, and ultimately gain a full-time NFL coaching position.”

Glover bagged 50 sacks in just five years (and 79 games) with New Orleans, earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro recognition in his final two seasons with the team. He went on to star for the Dallas Cowboys and closed out his career with the Rams, ending his run in the NFL with 83.5 sacks and six Pro Bowl appearances. He was selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-2000s Team as well as the Saints’ team Hall of Fame. Glover recently coached the XFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks defensive line.

He’s one of several former Saints players on the team’s coaching staff this season. Jahri Evans was hired as an offensive assistant after he worked with the team as a coaching intern last summer, taking the job once filled by his old teammate Zach Strief. Having the kind of experience Evans and Glover bring is highly valuable. Hopefully it pays off well in the fall.

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Here are the new staff members joining the Florida Gators in 2023

A few major changes to the Florida coaching staff went down over the offseason, but don’t forget about the smaller positions that were filled as well!

Most Gators fans know that Florida will have a new man running the defense this season in Austin Armstrong, but Billy Napier has made eight more additions to his staff over the offseason, according to Gators Online.

Armstrong was already transitioning to the SEC as a new member of Alabama’s defensive staff when Napier came knocking. He couldn’t turn down an SEC coordinator gig under a head coach he’s familiar with — Armstrong and Napier worked together in Louisana.

Napier didn’t bring in any newcomers to fill the three position coaching spots that opened following staff departures to the NFL. He promoted cornerbacks coach Corey Raymond to defensive backs coach, elevated Russ Callaway to the tight ends coach spot and rehired former Florida wide receivers coach Billy Gonzelez.

The bulk of the eight first-year staff members are in quality control roles and are assigned to a position group. Eric Kiesau oversees the offense while Blake Shrader covers the defense. As far as position-specific assignments, Allen Brown has defensive backs, Kaleb Johnson has offensive linemen, Chad Lucas has wide receivers and Justin Posthuma has tight ends.

Napier also brought in Tyler Miles as the new director of player athletic development and John Donovan as a senior offensive analyst. Donovan did the same job for the Green Bay Packers a season ago, while Miles was an assistant director of sports performance at Duke.

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The top 10 winningest active college football coaches

These coaches have the most wins of any college football coach still on the sidelines today.

Everyone sees the fame and money that comes with being a college football head coach, but nobody sees the countless hours and dedication that goes into it. From building the right staff around you, recruiting the right players, and then actually winning the games it is much easier said than done. Even with all of the work, there is no promise that you will build a winning program or have a successful career.

In a profession that is filled with constant turnover and new hires, very few coaches can ever achieve that level of winning, let alone sustain it. This is what makes all of the guys who have made this list so impressive is that they’ve never dropped the intensity and never settled for mediocrity. The SEC is as strong as it has ever been in terms of coaching, and in 2023, there will be two new faces.

Below are the 10 college football coaches with the most active wins.

Reports: Saints part ways with longtime analytics chief in mutual split

Reports: Saints part ways with longtime analytics chief Ryan Herman in ‘cordial, mutual’ split

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Here’s a change to the New Orleans Saints’ front office, as first reported by Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan and confirmed by NewOrleans.Football’s Mike Triplett: analytics chief Ryan Herman is not returning after a six-year run with the team. Triplett adds that it was a “cordial, mutual” decision to go in a different direction once Herman’s contract ended, giving him an opportunity to devote more time to his family.

Herman worked in the player personnel department in football research and strategy, primarily focusing on weekly in-season studies on developing trends around the league as well as advanced scouting on future opponents. He wore a couple of different hats, also assisting Khai Harley in managing the salary cap, and the Saints will need to replace him and his contributions to the team.

Maybe they’ll more fully embrace the analytical side of the game and build a more robust advanced-stats team, as has become more popular around the league. Ex-Saints head coach Sean Payton talked up the resources available to him now with the Denver Broncos compared to those in New Orleans, and it’s an area the team could improve upon. They left a lot of meat on the bone last year with conservative in-game decisions on fourth down, and Dennis Allen could benefit from stronger information to help him out in that phase.

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Watch: Travis Kelce can’t ID nametag-wearing Dennis Allen while trying to name NFL coaches

Watch: Travis Kelce can’t ID nametag-wearing Dennis Allen while trying to name NFL coaches

Ouch. Dennis Allen can do everything right and still catch a stray. Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce attempted to name every head coach in the NFL during an episode of his “New Heights” podcast, but the New Orleans Saints head coach was one of a dozen or so coaches he couldn’t identify from the lineup of an annual group photo at NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.

He could identify former Saints coach Sean Payton at first glance, of course — quipping a wry “Broncos country, let’s ride,” in passing — but was stumped when it came to Dennis Allen.

“And then,” Kelce said, pausing in thought, “No clue.”

It sure doesn’t help that Allen is one of the only coaches in the photo wearing his event credentials lanyard for the league meetings. That’s probably hard to read in a grainy, zoomed-in photograph, but still: ouch. Hopefully Allen can lead the Saints back to the playoffs this year and put himself on more peoples’ radar.

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ACC basketball: Josh Pastner out after 7 years at Georgia Tech

Make that three coaching changes in the ACC this off-season.

Seven seasons and only one NCAA Tournament appearance was enough for Georgia Tech to decide to move on from head basketball coach Josh Pastner.  It’s a move that CBS Sports reports was expected for weeks and one that is hardly surprising.

In seven seasons at Georgia Tech, Pastner and the Yellow Jackets went just 109-113.  Five of those seven seasons saw them finish 10th or worse in the ACC.

Since appearing in the 2004 national championship game, Georgia Tech has made the NCAA Tournament just four times, winning just two total tournament games in that time and never getting past the second round.

Georgia Tech becomes the third ACC team to have a coaching change this off-season, joining Notre Dame and Syracuse.

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How Saints players graded the team’s travel strategy, training staff, and more

How Saints players graded the team’s travel strategy, training staff, and more from the NFLPA team report card:

We’ve already gone over the strangely-low grade that New Orleans Saints players gave their team for its cafeteria and nutrition options, but that’s just one area they were surveyed about on the first-ever NFL Players Association team report cards.

Ultimately, the Saints have built a great place to work, with players rating them 10th-best out of the league’s 32 teams — putting an emphasis on quality travel arrangements for road games, an intelligent and resourceful training staff, and good facilities at the team headquarters in Metairie.

But let’s go under the hood on each of the eight categories and where Saints players ranked their workplace around the NFL:

Saints announce 5 additions to Dennis Allen’s coaching staff

The Saints made it official, confirming five additions to Dennis Allen’s coaching staff that had been previously reported:

It’s official: the New Orleans Saints confirmed five new additions to Dennis Allen’s coaching staff on Wednesday, each of whom had been previously reported. There are still some vacancies to deal with run-game coordinator, a general offensive assistant, and maybe an assistant secondary coach on defense, but the coaching staff is pretty much set.

That’s assuming quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Ronald Curry doesn’t leave for a new opportunity after interviewing for offensive coordinator gigs, or that Sean Payton doesn’t poach anyone else as he rebuilds the Denver Broncos. For now, here are each of the five new assistants settling in with the Saints:

Ravens give Seahawks QB coach Dave Canales second interview for open offensive coordinator spot

According to reports, the #Ravens will have Dave Canales in for his second interview for their open offensive coordinator spot this week

The Baltimore Ravens will conduct their second interview with Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Dave Canales for their open offensive coordinator position this week.

After mutually agreeing to part ways with Greg Roman shortly after their playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals earlier in January, Baltimore was one of the first teams to seek a fresh face for the position. Given the organization’s stability and roster talent, this position should be considered a top landing spot for any coach seeking a low-risk-high-reward place on John Harbaugh’s already-established coaching staff.

Canales found success this year under Pete Carroll in Seattle and was an integral part of journeyman quarterback Geno Smith’s rise to stardom as a Seahawk. Under Canales, Smith passed for over 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2022, managing to get Seattle a spot in the NFC playoffs while he was at it.

The Ravens are in desperate need of a coordinator who can make the most of quarterback Lamar Jackson’s talents in 2023, and Canales seems to fit the bill after what he accomplished this season with the Seahawks.

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Get to know the QB prospects the Saints will be coaching at the Senior Bowl

Several Saints coaches will work closely with QB prospects Malik Cunningham, Jaren Hall, and Jake Haener at Senior Bowl practices. Get to know them better:

The New Orleans Saints will have several coaches on the ground at the upcoming Senior Bowl, with passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry and offensive assistant D.J. Williams both tabbed to join the National Team coaching staff; Curry is the offensive coordinator, and Williams is the quarterback coach. That’s going to put them in close proximity with several quarterback prospects in the 2023 NFL draft for a week of practices and classroom work, giving the Saints an early look at each of these promising passers.

And it’s an interesting group. All three National Team quarterbacks are listed at similar heights and weights in the 6-foot-1 and 200-pound range, though we’ll get a better idea of their athletic profiles once the Senior Bowl announces weigh-in results next week. Either way, unless something drastic appears they should pass the bar for New Orleans. The Saints have their prototypes but they aren’t about to pass on good players just because they’re a few pounds underweight. Let’s get to know each of them better: