Tag: former Saints

Zack Baun says playing Super Bowl in New Orleans will feel ‘poetic’

Former Saints backup Zack Baun opened up about returning to New Orleans now that he is starring in the Super Bowl for the Eagles:

The New Orleans Saints will be sitting at home on Sunday while a former draft pick leads his team’s defense during Super Bowl LIX. It’s one of the top things on that former players mind.

Zack Baun spent four years as a rotational player with the Saints only to break out into a first team All-Pro linebacker in his first campaign with the Philadelphia Eagles. Baun has not been quiet about his struggles, both on the field and mentally, during his time in New Orleans. Local Eagles writer Michael Greger asked the linebacker what it feels like going back to the city.

“I think it’s poetic. It’s a really cool thing to think about, but it’s not really special until we win,” Baun said about his return. “You know what, you have to soak it in for a little but, then at the end of the day it’s eyes on the prize on the next one. The next game is the most important game because it’s out next game.”

Baun had 151 tackles with 11 going for a loss with four passes broken up and five forced fumbles in his first starring season. He has followed that up with a stellar stretch of play in the postseason.

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Cameron Jordan, Mark Ingram, Connor Payton and a crazy 2011 draft story

Sean Payton shared a funny story about his son’s connection to the draft picks of Mark Ingram II and Cameron Jordan, two of the best players in Saints history.

Former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton peeled back the curtain to give a look into the mindset of the New Orleans Saints going into the 2011 NFL draft. That year the Saints walked away with Mark Ingram II and Cameron Jordan in the first round.

Payton crashed Ingram and Jordan’s interview with Kay Adams and immediately relayed this story of drafting both players in a story involving Payton’s son Connor, who was in fifth grade at the time.

New Orleans always had their eyes set on Mark Ingram. Payton was so confident that he told his son they were targeting Ingram days before the draft.

In true kid fashion, Connor was telling all his friends the Saints were taking the Heisman Trophy-winning running back. However, Jordan unexpectedly dropped to the 24th pick. Plans changed.

When the Saints picked Jordan instead, Connor called Payton, and Payton had to tell his son these things happen sometimes. That was probably hard to understand at that age, but luckily for Connor, Bill Belichick called the Saints about a trade for the 28th pick.

New Orleans accepts the trade and selects Ingram. Payton called Connor back and said “there’s Mark Ingram.” It’s 14 years later, but Ingram thanked Connor for his persistence. It was delayed, but Connor still got to go

In 2011, the Saints drafted Ingram and Jordan in the span of four picks. They would go on to reach the peak of most rushing yards and sacks in team history.

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Steve Spagnuolo says he ‘took a lot of lessons’ from lone season with the Saints

Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo is one of the most respected defensive minds in football. So respected, it’s almost easy to forget his disastrous year with the Saints:

Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is renowned as one of the best defensive coordinators in the league, and a critical part of the team’s dynasty. He’s proven to be the perfect compliment to an offense built by Andy Reid and powered by Patrick Mahomes.

It would be easy to forget he was the New Orleans Saints’ defensive coordinator for one season a little over decade ago. The history books won’t forget. In that season, New Orleans allowed 7,042 yards, the most in NFL history.

This was the season Sean Payton was suspended for the entire year. Upon his return, Payton fired Spagnuolo, who bounced around the league for a few years until he ended up in Kansas City. Reid doesn’t hold that season against his defensive coordinator, not just because it was a long time ago.

Speaking with reporters this week from the Caesars Superdome turf, Reid  said he believes Spagnuolo, “Didn’t have enough time here necessarily to really get the whole thing going, but he’s a good coach.” It’s hard to disagree seeing the success he’s having. Spagnuolo has won three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and is closing in on his fourth. Few defensive play callers have sustained success like this in NFL history.

For Spagnuolo, 2012 was a hard season, of course. “That particular year, I took a lot of lessons,” Spagnuolo told NOLA.com’s Luke Johnson during his own media availability. If those lessons allowed him to craft this defense, we can chalk 2012 up to being a necessary evil.

As his career has continued, that 2012 season has become a small footnote in his career. He was a successful, Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator prior to joining the Saints, and became a pillar of a dynasty after leaving the Saints.

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Zack Baun on turbulent time in New Orleans: ‘I didn’t know what I was’

Zack Baun will end his monster debut season with the Eagles in New Orleans. He took time to reflect on a lack of clarity during his first four seasons as a pro:

This Sunday, Zack Baun returns to the Caesars Superdome for the second time as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. The first matchup was to face his former team, the New Orleans Saints. This go-around, the stakes are much higher.

As Baun prepares for Super Bowl LIX, he reminisced on his time in New Orleans. It’s hard not to when he’s stepping on a field he called home where “even the smells have brought me back to certain periods of time.”

It wasn’t all good in New Orleans. His first year in Philadelphia has been surprising because of his lack of production through four years with New Orleans. Baun was stuck on the bench with the Saints but has earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro attention with the Eagles. He just might be the Defensive Player of the Year, too.

The Saints have earned a lot of criticism for their mishandling of Baun. He spent most of his time on special teams or being placed at the seldom-used SAM linebacker. They clearly didn’t know how to use him, and Baun was equally as lost.

“I think when I was here, I didn’t know what I was. I didn’t know if I was an off-ball linebacker, on-ball backer,” Baun said in hindsight. The only thing he was truly sure of was that, “it didn’t necessarily feel right.”

His move to the Eagles was clearly the right decision and showed he is an off-ball linebacker. Being able to work with Vic Fangio, has paid dividends.

Baun nearly doubled his career totals in tackles, sacks and tackles for a loss. Now he’ll have a chance to be an integral part of a Super Bowl winning team.

When he played the Saints in New Orleans in Week 3, Baun had 13 tackles in a victory. He’ll be looking for similar output and outcome on Sunday.

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Ben Johnson’s Bears staff filling up with former Saints coaches

The New Orleans Saints will have another former coach of theirs joining the Chicago Bears, this time an offensive line coach:

The New Orleans Saints will have another former member of their staff heading off to a new team this offseason, as their prior offensive line coach among other positions Dan Roushar is heading to the Chicago Bears for the same role. Roushar was with the Saints from 2013 to 2022 and filled a variety of roles as the running backs coach, offensive line coach, tight ends coach and run game coordinator at various points throughout his tenure.

Roushar will join a Bears staff under Ben Johnson that has already added former Saints in Dennis Allen, Declan Doyle, and Bill Johnson in recent weeks, and has built a respectable group to bring the team back from some tough seasons. The Saints continue their search for a new head coach with Kellen Moore being the current favorite, who will have to flesh out a new assistant coaching staff of his own.

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Former Saints safety set to join New York Jets as special teams coordinator

Former Saints safety Chris Banjo is set to become the New York Jets special teams coordinator, reuniting him with Aaron Glenn:

The New Orleans Saints have another former player moving to a new coaching staff this offseason. One of their old defensive backs Chris Banjo has joined Aaron Glenn’s New York Jets to be their special teams coordinator. This comes after former Saints quarterback J.T. Barrett moved on from the Detroit Lions to the Chicago Bears to become their quarterbacks coach as well.

Banjo played for the Saints from 2016 to 2018, and decided to pursue a coaching career with the Denver Broncos under Sean Payton in 2023, staying there through last season as an assistant special teams coach. He performed well and has now received a promotion elsewhere, joining a former Saints coach in Glenn on the Jets, who was just hired as their head coach. Glenn worked closely with Banjo when he was the team’s defensive backs coach from 2016 to 2020.

The Saints connections seem to always find a way to get jobs together and find new teams to build out the Payton tree, and that has continued immensely this offseason.

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Dennis Allen credits new job to ‘a product of the same connections’

Ben Johnson began recruiting Dennis Allen late last year. Their shared connections to Aaron Glenn and Dan Campbell may have played a big part in getting Allen to Chicago

Dennis Allen recently told Jay Glazer he felt worse for the young coaches under his leadership than himself after the New Orleans Saints fired him. Allen was confident his connections through his decade plus career would allow him to land on his feet.

It didn’t take long for Allen to land on his feet. He interviewed with the Indianapolis Colts earlier this offseason and was named the Chicago Bears defensive coordinator this week.

Allen credited landing in Chicago as “a product of the same connections.”

Ben Johnson came from the Detroit Lions alongside Aaron Glenn and Dan Campbell. It wouldn’t be surprising to hear Glenn and Campbell gave Allen a strong endorsement. They worked with each other for years in New Orleans.

Beyond just New Orleans, all he, Glenn and Campbell all been attended Texas A&M. As you look back to Allen’s comments to Glazer, you can assume these were the connections he was referencing.

Johnson felt so strongly about Allen as his potential defensive coordinator that he reached out to Allen before the regular season ended. Allen said, “At some point as we got later in the season, he reached out to me to see if I’d be interested.”

Allen’s comments to Glazer happened after Allen’s conversation with Johnson. With what we know now, it’s clear Allen was foreshadowing his next move. It was just too early to say too much.

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Drew Brees gave the Saints some advice during their coaching search

Drew Brees says he’s given the New Orleans Saints some advice during their coaching search: ‘I lend my expertise or recommendations when asked’

Drew Brees may not play for the New Orleans Saints any longer, but he is still deeply invested in the success of the team. ESPN’s Adam Schefter asked if Brees would join the Saints again in an official capacity.

Brees responded, “I don’t know, we’ll see,” as a smile began to grace his face. “It’s in my blood, it always will be. And so whether it’s direct or indirect, yes I will always say ‘we,’ that’s my team, our team, I just take so much pride in what we built and what we accomplished.”

Here’s the thing, though. Brees still has relationships with people in the building, so his opinion is still being heard. It just may not be in an official capacity.

Brees was on record saying he wanted Aaron Glenn in New Orleans before Glenn joined the New York Jets. Those thoughts were put into the public, but also vocalized privately.

“Feedback? Look I always have conversations, I have conversations with everybody in that organization about any number of topics. Hey what are we looking for? Yes. I lend my expertise or recommendations when asked,” Brees said, putting plainly. You have to wonder what his thoughts are on Kellen Moore.

Brees is currently focused on getting back into broadcasting. Joining the franchises as a part of the front office isn’t a part of his mission and he doesn’t need to be. His opinion is clearly valued enough to give input without an official title.

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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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