Offensive Coordinator – Page 3

Do the Saints have the least-desirable offensive coordinator opening in 2024?

Do the Saints have the least-desirable offensive coordinator opening in 2024? Let’s look at the remaining vacancies and compare:

Teams in the NFL tell you a lot of things by how they spends their money, but that’s also true of the hiring pool. The best candidates for, say, an open offensive coordinator job are going to quickly cut a deal with the best opportunities for success. If a team doesn’t look like a good landing spot, it won’t attract good candidates.

So, no: it’s clear by now that the New Orleans Saints are not seen as one of the best opportunities for coaches looking to call plays as an offensive coordinator. If that were the case they would have landed one of the best candidates like Shane Waldron (who picked the Chicago Bears instead) or Zac Robinson (who preferred his fit with the Atlanta Falcons).

Every situation is different. Some coaches may feel differently about some teams than others. How they would rank the remaining openings — including the Saints — differs from one candidate to the next. It’s possible that some coaches look at New Orleans and decide they have a better chance of success somewhere else. But the difference can’t be that great. Let’s take a look at what each of the remaining vacancies has to offer:

Jerrod Johnson pulls out of Saints OC search, will return to Houston

Breaking: Jerrod Johnson pulls out of Saints offensive coordinator search, will return to Texans

The New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator search has lost another candidate, but this time it wasn’t someone getting hired by a different team. Top candidate Jerrod Johnson has told teams that he will be returning to the Houston Texans as their quarterbacks coach for another season, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. He’ll have an opportunity to gain experience and improve his standing after another year working with C.J. Stroud and Bobby Slowik.

New Orleans wasn’t the only team in pursuit of Johnson, but they made him a priority. The Saints had interviewed Johnson twice, with him being near the top of their list as well as multiple other teams. They have a second interview planned with former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on Wednesday, who will be the only other candidate to meet with the Saints twice.

As for the rest of their list (that are still available), it is as follows: Greg Lewis, Klint Kubiak, Brian Griese, Ronald Curry, Mike Sullivan and Brian Johnson. Others may have met with the team but not been reported, as was the case for Getsy, so stay tuned.

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Saints offensive coordinator search: Who’s interviewed twice, who’s off the board

New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator search: Who has interviewed twice, who is off the board, and who is still available?

There isn’t a more important question for the New Orleans Saints to answer right now than this: “Who is calling plays in 2024?”

For the first time in more than a decade, the Saints are searching for a new offensive coordinator — and one who will be calling plays, not just helping Sean Payton design the game plan each week. Getting the most out of cornerstone players like Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, and Taysom Hill while curing what ails the offensive line is critical.

It’s no exaggeration to say this is the most important hire that Dennis Allen will make as head coach. If he gets this wrong and the Saints offense starts out on a cripplingly slow pace again, it’ll be curtains for him. He needs to find the right coach who can carry Carr’s positive momentum over into 2024 while reviving one of the NFL’s least-creative rushing attacks. That’s no small task.

And names keep getting added to the search as the Saints interview more and more candidates. We’ll keep this list updated and check in on who is still available, who has gotten a second interview with New Orleans, and who has been taken off the board by other teams:

Saints to host ex-Bears OC Luke Getsy for second interview

Ex-Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy’s first interview with the Saints flew under the radar. They’re meeting with him for a second time on Wednesday:

This is big news: the New Orleans Saints will be interviewing former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy for a second time after his first meeting was not reported, having flown under the radar. The MMQB’s Albert Breer reports that Getsy will speak with Saints brass in New Orleans on Wednesday.

That’s a benefit to speaking with candidates virtually at first; fewer people are involved, leading to fewer leaks. The Saints have probably interviewed other candidates whose names have not been made public.

But back to Getsy. He’ll turn 40 in February having worked in the NFL since 2014, with a college coaching career dating back to 2007. Before arriving in Chicago in 2022 he coached quarterbacks for the division-rival Green Bay Packers from 2019 to 2021. He also worked with wide receivers in Green Bay prior to that.

He has play calling experience, but the Bears weren’t exactly a model of success during Getsy’s two-year run. Chicago ranked 18th in points and 20th in yards per game in 2023, which was a gradual improvement over their ranks in 2022 (23rd and 28th, respectively). But between Justin Fields’ slow progress and the opportunity to reboot with the first overall draft pick and their choice of rookie quarterbacks, the Bears chose to go in a new direction this offseason.

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Saints to interview a tenth OC candidate in Ravens WR coach Greg Lewis

The Saints will interview a tenth offensive coordinator candidate in Ravens wide receivers coach Greg Lewis, formerly of the Chiefs:

The New Orleans Saints are still combing through their list of offensive coordinator candidates before hiring a new play caller for the 2024 season, and they’re interviewing a tenth option for the job, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero: Baltimore Ravens wide receivers coach Greg Lewis.

Lewis, 43, started his NFL coaching career with the Saints as an offensive assistant in 2015, but he’s worked with some very successful coaches in the years since: he coached wide receivers on the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016 (under Doug Pederson) and the Kansas City Chiefs from 2017 to 2022 (under Andy Reid) before joining Todd Monken’s staff on the Ravens this season. Before that, he enjoyed an eight-year playing career with the Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, and New England Patriots.

So while he hasn’t called plays before, Lewis has been around the NFL a long time and he’s earned valuable experience in some successful systems. The Saints are considering all options before naming their new offensive coordinator to replace Pete Carmichael. We’ll just have to wait and see who emerges out in front.

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Pros and cons of every OC candidate Saints have interviewed

Breaking down the pros and cons of every offensive coordinator candidate the New Orleans Saints have interviewed:

The writing was on the wall for Pete Carmichael following the New Orleans Saints’ 2023 season. He was let go after 14 years as the team’s offensive coordinator and the Saints will need to replace him. They’ve already done a number of interviews, but a few coaches have already been hired away.

Carmichael was a nice coach under Payton, but really lacked the ability to run the offense without him. As Dennis Allen is a defensive head coach, whoever the Saints hire will have to carry the load of the offense.

Here are the pros and cons to every offensive coordinator candidate the Saints have interviewed so far (that is still available):

6 moves the Saints should make to get back into the playoffs in 2024

The New Orleans Saints should do these six things if they want to get back into the NFL playoffs for 2024

If the New Orleans Saints want to break a three-year playoff draught, some changes are going to have to be made. The Saints are getting older and need to get younger while also simultaneously improving at a few position groups. The biggest area of weakness for the team on both sides of the ball is the trenches.

The Saints’ biggest issues on offense can be traced back to the struggles along the offensive line. The offense fell apart when protection weakened around Derek Carr. Defensively, the Saints struggled to rush the passer or stop the run. Here’s what they need to do to correct those problems and get back to the playoffs in 2024:

12 offensive coordinator options for the Falcons in 2024

Looking at 12 offensive coordinator options for Falcons head coach Raheem Morris’ coaching staff

The Atlanta Falcons have a new head coach in Raheem Morris, but the rest of the coaching staff still needs to be filled out. After a 2023 season that was plagued by an inconsistent offense, Falcons fans are eager to find out who the team will hire as the offensive coordinator.

We’ve seen a few names linked to the team thus far, but here’s a quick look at 12 potential offensive coordinator candidates for Raheem Morris’ staff in Atlanta.

5 biggest questions facing the Saints in 2024

The future of Dennis Allen will be the biggest ongoing storyline for the Saints in 2024. What other questions are we looking to be answered?

2023 was a frustrating season for the New Orleans Saints. Luckily, it’s over and now focus can be placed on the 2024. This campaign clearly left much more to be desired. There are reasons to be hopeful those desires will be achieved. Will the Saints be able to deliver on some of the promise?

Think of the NFL as a TV show. The end of each season in a series typically builds into the next one. If you’re a fan, you’ll immediately start guessing what will happen with individual characters and the show in general. That’s what we take a look at today. With where the Saints left off in 2023, what are the biggest questions headed into the next season.