Kellen Moore's first assistant coach hire has had success with the Saints before
Kellen Moore has hired his first assistant coach from outside the New Orleans Saints' staff directory, but it's someone who has had success here before. NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill and Mike Triplett report that Brendan Nugent is coming back to the Crescent City.
Nugent began working with the Saints as an assistant coach in 2015 before being assigned to the offensive line crew under Dan Roushar from 2017 to 2020. He was promoted to the full-time role in 2021 but was fired a year later. Dennis Allen thought Doug Marrone was better suited for the job but had to replace him with John Benton two years later. Benton followed Klint Kubiak to the Seattle Seahawks this offseason. Ironically, Nugent worked in Seattle himself in 2024.
And while Nugent has coached for the Saints before, he has also worked with Moore. He was on staff with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2022 and 2023, the same year Moore worked as L.A.'s offensive coordinator, and they're clearly comfortable working together.
It helps that Nugent did a great job in New Orleans. His offensive linemen earned a combined 10 Pro Bowl nods and typically ranked top-10 as a unit in Pro Football Focus protection metrics. The offense will go as far as their line can take them. Hopefully Nugent can get them back on track after a couple of up-and-down seasons.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
35 minutes ago
- USA Today
Countdown to Kickoff: Jack Stoll is the Saints Player of Day 88
Countdown to Kickoff: Jack Stoll is the Saints Player of Day 88 With 88 days between now and the 2025 regular season opener for the New Orleans Saints. The Saints will host the Arizona Cardinals to kick off their 59th NFL season. Wearing No. 88 for New Orleans at this time is tight end Jack Stoll. An offseason addition by the team, Stoll is our Saints Player of the Day. Let's have a closer look at his background. Name (age): Jack Stoll (27) Jack Stoll (27) Hometown: Aurora, Colo. Aurora, Colo. Position: Tight end Tight end Height, weight: 6-foot-4, 247 pounds 6-foot-4, 247 pounds College: Nebraska Cornhuskers Nebraska Cornhuskers Relative Athletic Score: 7.97 7.97 Drafted: Undrafted, 2021 (Philadelphia Eagles) Undrafted, 2021 (Philadelphia Eagles) NFL experience: 4 seasons 4 seasons 2025 salary cap hit: $1,362,500 An all-state selection as a senior at Regis Jesuit High School in Colorado, Stoll was the nation's 9th-rated tight end and decided on Nebraska as his collegiate choice. After a redshirt year, Stoll caught eight passes as a little-used reserve in 2017. Over the next three years, he'd be a regular starter despite missing some time with injuries as a senior. Between 2018 and 2019, he'd have 46 catches for 279 yards and scored 4 times while exhibiting standout blocking skills for the Cornhuskers. Philadelphia brought Stoll in as an undrafted rookie in 2021. He wouldn't contribute much as a receiver, just 4 catches and 22 yards, but still started five contests among 16 game appearances. Stoll's contributions as a blocker continued through 2022 and 2023. He caught 16 passes for 161 yards in those two seasons combined. However, he made 21 starts and played in all 34 games, appearing in around 45% of Philadelphia's offensive snaps. New Saints head coach Kellen Moore took over as Philadelphia's offensive coordinator last season. Stoll played the year's first seven games under Moore, making two starts, before being waived just before midseason. He was picked up by the Miami Dolphins, where he played four games but caught no passes. Over his four-year career, Stoll has played in 61 of a possible 68 games. He has 22 receptions for 193 yards and has yet to score a touchdown. Stoll will now have a chance to win a role as the blocking tight end for New Orleans. It's a role where he's performed well over his short career and where his best chance at a roster spot lies.
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
What new Colts principal owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon learned on the headset
INDIANAPOLIS — For a long time now, Carlie Irsay-Gordon's presence with the Colts has been easy to see. Every game, Irsay-Gordon could be seen walking up and down the sideline, wearing a headset, listening to the rapid-fire staccato of the coaching staff calling plays, adjusting the game plan, making key decisions. Irsay-Gordon, who is taking over as the team's principal owner and leading the football side in the wake of Jim Irsay's death while sharing ownership with her sisters, Casey Foyt and Kalen Jackson, first had the idea when Indianapolis hired Chuck Pagano as head coach in 2012. By that point, she'd spent more than a decade working in almost every piece of the organization. But Irsay-Gordon realized she needed to know more about the game to make the hiring decisions that often define an owner's tenure. 'That sort of accelerated my, 'I need to learn more about this. I need to be able to say, 'Is this person full of BS? Do they know what they're talking about?'' Irsay-Gordon said. Irsay-Gordon needed to learn more about the game. Colts news: 1-on-1 talks, quizzes, headsets: How Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Kalen Jackson have prepared to run Colts The headset was one of her classrooms, along with the practice field, positional meetings and conversations with players. Irsay-Gordon has spent a decade learning everything she can about the game from the Colts themselves. 'She's always in meetings, whether it's team meetings, d-unit meetings, in the d-line room, on the field almost every day at practice and obviously on the sidelines,' Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. 'She's always got her big notebook, always taking notes, always asking questions about the game. … And obviously, now it's her time to step up and take the lead, and we all have great confidence in her.' Irsay-Gordon's approach is unique. Not a lot of owners wear a headset on the sideline during games, and Colts players have been asked by opponents on the field about what Irsay-Gordon is doing. To the Colts, her presence felt natural. 'If I owned a football team, I would definitely want to know what's going on on those sidelines,' Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said a couple of weeks ago. As her knowledge grew, Irsay-Gordon's confidence in the game grew with it. 'She'll even come and give you a pop quiz sometimes, so you've got to make sure you're not asleep in those meetings,' receiver coach Reggie Wayne said. 'She's been a student of the game for many years.' The lessons Irsay-Gordon has learned have been invaluable to the Colts already. 'One of the things that being on the headset has really helped me learn is, to the question earlier, it's such a complex organism, a football team, and how it operates on game day,' Irsay-Gordon said. 'I think that's been very valuable, because it also helps us be able to know: Where do we need to make tweaks? What resources do we need? What do we need to fix? So much of it comes down to how we operate and how things work.' Irsay-Gordon has not been involved in play-calling or in-game decisions, although wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. joked that by now, she's probably ready to call a play or two. But Irsay-Gordon was preparing for this moment, a moment that has come far sooner than she or her sisters would have wanted. A franchise-altering decision could be on the horizon. Irsay-Gordon clearly stated her belief Tuesday in general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Shane Steichen in her first public comments since her father's death, but she also acknowledged that the Colts haven't met the standard, echoing her father's final decision on Ballard and Steichen at the end of a disappointing 2024 season. Irsay-Gordon is now the person, along with Foyt and Jackson, who will make the decisions on Ballard and Steichen in the future. After a decade on the headset, she feels much better prepared to make those choices. 'I would suggest it for anybody else who has to pay coaches and GMs millions and millions of dollars,' Irsay-Gordon said. 'It helps you make a less expensive mistake, potentially.'
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Baton Rouge program aids ex-prisoners in rebuilding lives
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — It's second chance Tuesday, and the Capitol area prisoner reentry program serves as Baton Rouge's place to provide former prisoners a second chance in society. 'We did it because we wanted to create a singular group and network of service providers that provided services for people reentering after prison or after jail, after incarceration,' said Program Director Christopher Sonka. Sonka said he loves it when people come back and explain how much second chance Tuesday has done for them, especially when they were once hopeless. 'We've had several people come to us after coming to the second chance Tuesday afterwards and tell us how helping them get an expungement done or helping them connected to resources that have helped them get housing or help them get to it cards, how that's helped their life so much,' said Sonka. Second chance Tuesday also helps people connect with local employers who will look past their criminal history to give them a steady stream of income. 'Many employers, we like to call them second chance employers, employers who are willing to look past a felony conviction and give a person a chance to come in and interview and actually see if they're a right fit for the job,' he said. Standout Student: Southern University track star heads to NCAA Outdoor Championship in Oregon Baton Rouge program aids ex-prisoners in rebuilding lives New Orleans Saints embrace new coaching era at hot minicamp session Proposal to ban DEI college courses, state policy dies in Louisiana Legislature Investigators believe they spotted Travis Decker hiking in Washington. Here's what to know Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
