Tag: staff

Saints head coach candidate Kellen Moore hints at potential staff addition

Saints head coach candidate Kellen Moore hinted at a potential staff addition. His Mizzou OC brother may ‘have a lot of really good opportunities’ very soon:

With Kellen Moore likely becoming the next head coach of the New Orleans Saints, many have wondered what a Moore-led staff would look like.

During yesterday’s media availability, Moore was asked about his younger brother Kirby who just finished his second season as the offensive coordinator for the Missouri Tigers. Kellen Moore had some high praise for his brother’s accomplishments while noting the potential for more opportunities in the near future.

If hired by New Orleans, Moore will be expected to put his coaching staff together immediately. Already behind schedule with hires being announced around the league by the day, it becomes increasingly likely that Moore will look to bring in more familiar faces. Potentially moreso than those with league experience and a strong resume. This is not to say that those options aren’t still out there, but as the last coach hired from this year’s cycle, those options become limited.

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Former Saints quarterback a no-brainer to join Kellen Moore’s staff

The New Orleans Saints have an easy choice for an open spot on Kellen Moore’s coaching staff, and it happens to be a former player.

The New Orleans Saints are seemingly getting close to bringing Kellen Moore in to be their next head coach, which means it is time to start thinking about who could join him on the staff.

One coach in particular makes perfect sense as someone that has experience with both parties. Doug Nussmeier is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, his first year with the team. He held the same role with the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers under Moore as well. It’s clear that there is some chemistry and trust between the two coaches.

The two actually opposed each other back when Moore was the star quarterback of the Boise State Broncos. That’s when Nussmeier was the offensive coordinator of the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Broncos won that game 61-10. Derek Carr came to Fresno State the next year but didn’t start until 2011.

Nussmeier is also familiar with the Saints, as he was a fourth-round selection by the team during the 1994 NFL draft. He spent four seasons in New Orleans, largely as a backup. The quarterback started two games, both losses, and only touched the field in a total of five games. He hopped around for a couple of years as backup, even for the BC Lions of the CFL in 2000.

His coaching career started the next year, still with the Lions. From there he mostly hopped around college, with stays at schools like the Alabama Crimson Tide and Michigan Wolverines, but he has followed Moore around the NFL since they joined forces on the Cowboys. Louisiana football fans will take notice of his more now for being the father of LSU Tigers star passer Garrett Nussmeier.

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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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Report: Wisconsin football has its new quarterbacks coach

Report: Wisconsin football hires new quarterbacks coach

Wisconsin football is moving wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton to quarterbacks coach, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Luke Fickell expressed his desire to hire a designated quarterbacks coach when meeting with the media after the 2024 season concluded. That move comes from within, leaving the team with a soon-to-be-filled vacancy at wide receivers coach.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin football’s transfer portal offers, visits and commitments

Guiton joined the Badgers for the 2024 season after three years as Arkansas’ wide receivers coach (2021-23). That followed previous stops at Colorado State (2020), Louisiana Tech (2019) and Houston (2017-18).

The rising assistant does not have any experience coaching quarterbacks.

Guiton played the position at Ohio State from 2009-13, however. He played in 22 games during his career with the Buckeyes, completing 66.4% of passes for 893 yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions. He appeared in eight games (two starts) as a senior in 2013, throwing for 749 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions, plus rushing for 330 yards and five touchdowns on 40 carries. Guiton’s time in Columbus overlapped with Fickell’s — the current Badgers head coach was Ohio State’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2005-16.

Guiton moves over to coach a quarterback room that enters 2025 with Billy Edwards Jr. (transfer, Maryland), Danny O’Neil (transfer, San Diego State) and Carter Smith (true freshman). The room saw a top-down turnover during the winter portal window, as Tyler Van Dyke, Braedyn Locke, Mabrey Mettauer and Cole LaCrue all transferred out.

Wisconsin is ushering in a new offensive system under coordinator Jeff Grimes. Guiton’s work with the quarterbacks will be among the most important factors in the team’s success both in 2025 and beyond.

Fickell will now search for a new wide receivers coach to round out his staff.

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Teddy Bridgewater shares unexpected connections with 2024 Saints team

Teddy Bridgewater, who plans to make an NFL return in the near future, shares some surprising connections with the Saints’ new-look coaching staff:

Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has announced that he plans to make an NFL return in the upcoming weeks, and while the Saints may not be the most likely landing spot, he does share some intriguing connections with their current offensive staff. Beyond his two-season stint from 2018-2019 with the Saints, there are some former faces he may recognize from around the league currently on the Saints coaching staff as well.

First up is current Saints quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, who worked with the Minnesota Vikings from 2015 to 2017, which overlaps with three of the four seasons Teddy Bridgewater played for the Vikings. While Janocko was not a quarterbacks coach at the time, he was an offensive quality control assistant for the first two of those seasons before moving to be an assistant offensive line coach, so they likely worked together in those first two seasons.

Another notable coaching overlap is current Saints senior offensive assistant Rick Dennison, who was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator in 2018 for the New York Jets, where Bridgewater spent his offseason before being traded to the Saints prior to the season.

Interim head coach Darren Rizzi and general manager Mickey Loomis would ultimately make the calls on any potential signing if one were in the works, and both of them were obviously here during the time frame Bridgewater was, and got to see how successful he was in the absence of Drew Brees during his thumb injury. We will see where Bridgewater ultimately ends up, but there are definitely a few notable ties between him and the current Saints staff (as well as the roster) worth noting.

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Report: Wisconsin unable to lure away top Notre Dame recruiting staffer

Report: Wisconsin unable to lure away top Notre Dame recruiting staffer

Wisconsin football was unable to hire away top Notre Dame recruiting assistant Carter Auman, according to a report from FootballScoop’s John Brice.

This news comes as a follow-up to Thursday’s report that the Badgers were in talks to lure Auman away from Notre Dame and hire him as their new director of player personnel.

Related: Big Ten football offensive coordinator rankings for 2024 season

The top young recruiting assistant will reportedly get promoted to assistant to the general manager on Notre Dame’s recruiting staff.

Auman is rising fast in the recruiting business after helping the Fighting Irish finish with 2023’s No. 12-ranked recruiting class and 2024’s No. 9-ranked group. He and the recruiting staff currently have the Fighting Irish ranked No. 2 in the class of 2025 cycle behind only Ohio State.

Wisconsin and head coach Luke Fickell reportedly tried to bring Auman in as the new director of player personnel while promoting current director of player personnel Max Stienecker and giving him a new title. That now appears to be off the table with Auman reportedly staying at Notre Dame.

Wisconsin’s class of 2025 currently ranks No. 12 in the nation with 20 players committed. The group is a strong follow-up to the Badgers’ No. 23-ranked class of 2024 — a group that finished with the program’s first-ever blue-chip ratio of 50%.

The Badgers’ recruiting department is in fantastic shape under Fickell, even with reportedly missing out on a potential top hire.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

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Notre Dame Football: Irish reportedly losing key staffer to Big Ten

More moves for Fighting Irish football…

According to FootballScoop, Notre Dame is losing a key member of their football staff.

Butler Benton joined the Notre Dame staff as Assistant Athletic Director for Player Personnel in April of 2023 after spending the two previous seasons as the General Manager at the University of Arkansas.

Accoring to the FootballScoop report:

Sources tell FootballScoop that Benton has left his post as the assistant athletic director to become the new GM for DeShaun Foster at UCLA.

The report goes on to mention that the deal could be announced as early as Monday.  Benton heading to UCLA sets him up to return to the Big Ten where he served as the player personnel coordinator at Michigan State under Mark Dantonio.