Tag: search

Saints coach search: Do they meet Ben Johnson’s requirements?

It’s been reported that Lions OC Ben Johnson has two requirements for any head coaching vacancy he’ll consider. Do the Saints qualify?

Ben Johnson is projected to be the leading candidate in the head coaching cycle this year. He’s been a name thrown around for a couple of years, and Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer has reported Johnson’s approach to head coaching vacancies this year.

If Johnson is interviewing, he fully plans on taking the job. This means any team sits down with Johnson has a good chance to land him. In the past, coaches have interviewed just to gather information on the job.

Johnson also a pair of criteria for any vacancy. Do the New Orleans Saints meet those requirements?

Breer reports Johnson is looking for “Organizational alignment — in particular between the GM and the head coach. And then he’ll be looking for recognition from the organization of the things that have gone wrong, and a willingness to fix them.”

Organizational alignment won’t be determined until he gets in the room, and it’s difficult from the outside looking in. As for the second criteria, will New Orleans recognize what went wrong.

There are a couple of ways to look at this. Mickey Loomis has made comments to make you wonder if he actually sees the downfall of the Dennis Allen era or if firing Allen was just something that had to happen.

On the other hand, the Saints fired their head coach in the middle of the year and let go of Pete Carmichael. The last year has been filled with making the necessary moves. This could be a sign to Johnson of the Saints’ ability to recognize and course correct.

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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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Texans QB coach Jerrod Johnson schedules second interview with Saints

Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson scheduled a second interview with the Saints, meeting team brass in person on Saturday:

This could be big: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the New Orleans Saints are meeting Jerrod Johnson for a second interview on Saturday, this time speaking with him in person following a virtual interview earlier this week. He’s a candidate for their open offensive coordinator position.

Johnson, 35, has been a hot candidate as teams work to look for their new play caller. He’s also interviewed with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles.

A highly productive quarterback at Texas A&M, Johnson has risen quickly through the coaching ranks as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers (under Kyle Shanahan) and Indianapolis Colts (under Frank Reich). Before joining DeMeco Ryans’ staff on the Texans, he was an assistant quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings under Kevin O’Connell. He’s worked closely with some of the most successful head coaches in the league and could be a good fit with the Saints.

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Dan Pitcher passes on Saints to accept Bengals promotion

Dan Pitcher passed on the Saints to accept Bengals promotion, taking an offensive coordinator candidate off the table for New Orleans:

This seemed to be the way the wind was blowing: Dan Pitcher will be staying with the Cincinnati Bengals to succeed Brian Callahan as offensive coordinator under head coach Zac Taylor, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Pitcher previously interviewed with the New Orleans Saints for their offensive coordinator opening and was scheduled to travel to New Orleans for a second meeting on Thursday. But they’ll never get that opportunity to speak with him now that he’s staying put and taking a promotion in Cincinnati.

It’s disappointing to miss out on one of their first choices for the job, but the Saints aren’t lacking for qualified candidates. Hopefully they can pivot to another option quickly. Coordinator jobs are being filled around the league and Saints decision-makers Dennis Allen and Mickey Loomis have a lot to prove by recruiting a good one. If they fall short of that aspiration, well: it would justify much of the criticism they have faced over the last two years in life without Sean Payton.

Saints schedule interview with Steelers play caller Mike Sullivan

Saints schedule interview with Steelers quarterbacks coach and play caller Mike Sullivan, who replaced Matt Canada at midseason:

Here’s another name for the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator search: Mike Sullivan. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Saints have scheduled an interview with the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach to discuss the vacancy. Sullivan took over play-calling duties when the Steelers fired Matt Canada midseason.

Sullivan, 56, has been around a long time. He helped prepare Derek Carr for the NFL draft when he was coming out of school and coached his older brother David Carr on the New York Giants. He’s previously worked as an offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in 2012 and 2013) and Giants, though he only occasionally called plays while working under offensive-minded head coaches like Ben McAdoo. He’s been in the NFL since 2002 and spent eight years coaching at the college level.

Hopefully the Saints are just being thorough. The Steelers offense was more inept than theirs last season and Kenny Pickett has not developed well under Sullivan’s tutelage; Pickett threw has thrown the same number of interceptions as touchdowns (13) through his first 25 games, ranking 31st and 27th in adjusted net yards per attempt in his first two seasons. Sullivan has drawn attention from other teams like the Las Vegas Raiders so his services are in demand, but he’s far from the most appealing candidate on New Orleans’ radar.

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Ronald Curry interviewed for the Saints’ offensive coordinator vacancy

Ronald Curry interviewed for the Saints’ offensive coordinator vacancy last week. The longtime assistant coach is in the mix:

This was expected: New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Ronald Curry interviewed for the team’s open offensive coordinator job, as first reported by the Times-Picayune’s Luke Johnson, with CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson adding that Curry met with Saints brass to discuss the opening a week ago.

It makes sense to consider an internal candidate as respected as Curry. He’s been with the Saints for eight years and has climbed the ladder from working with the wide receivers to quarterbacks to playing a key role in the overall structure of the offense. He’s highly-regarded outside the building, too; Sean Payton tried to take Curry with him to Denver last year. He also interviewed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their offensive coordinator job in the last hiring cycle.

Does that make him a favorite to get the job? Not so fast. The Saints have interviewed half a dozen candidates from the Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan coaching trees, all of whom would bring something new to the table. We’ll have to wait and see who ultimately lands the job, but Curry doesn’t have an inside track just because of familiarity. The Saints have expressed a desire to go in a new direction offensively. They must follow through with it.

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