Forgive me, this analysis will take a few posts. And I know I’m late on it, but there are more than ten new Saints coaches and staff members to analyze, so I’ve had to separate it into several posts. Let’s start with the Big Two on offense.

Only two days after walking out of the Superdome a Philadelphia hero, Kellen Moore walked right back in as a potential savior in his new hometown of New Orleans. The majority of Saints fans have embraced him with open arms – possibly because we were riding the high of a coach with a fresh new Lombardi, or possibly because we’ve been through three seasons of Paper Bags 2.0 and just really needed the hug. Unfortunately, opinions on his coaching staff have been a little more…varied (at least if social media is the true arbiter of the pulse of Who Dat Nation).

You can’t really blame the fan base for circling these guys suspiciously like a pack of tweaked-out coyotes with an interloper on their turf. In the past three seasons alone, we’ve been told that Dennis Allen was the answer, that Pete Carmichael was doing just fine as offensive coordinator, that Derek Carr was the best option under center, and that we needed to “look beyond the results” (Mickey Loomis, you’ve really outdone yourself recently). The Saints’ front office’s wild universe of Alternative Facts has left us feeling gaslit and shook. And the name Brandon Staley doesn’t leave the best taste in the mouths of many NFL fans in general.

That’s why we’re here to help. Let’s break down the Geauxvengers, hire by hire.

Doug Nussmeier, Offensive Coordinator: This one seems like a no-brainer. A Saints fan since childhood, he was drafted by them as a quarterback in 1994, and spent four years in the building – the largest chunk of his playing career. Although he was a reserve during that time, he was there long enough to absorb the culture and meet his future wife (then a Saints cheerleader). Besides the baked-in love for the team, he has history as a quarterbacks coach alongside Moore going back to the Cowboys, through the 2023 Chargers and then getting their rings with the 2024 Eagles.

(Bring over the entire 2024 Eagles staff, Kellen. Inject it directly into my veins. And Nuss, give us the full Adam Sandler feel-good sports-movie arc. I want to be able to make a custom Beware of Doug t-shirt by the end of the season.)

He also has a son who might be interesting in 2026. If you’re am LSU fan, you may have heard of a young man named Garrett…

Brandon Staley, Defensive Coordinator: This is the most contentious hire so far, and another of Moore’s trusted comrades. People are already on the ledge because Staley was pretty much the worst as the head coach of the Chargers. However, as a defensive coordinator for the 2020 Rams, he led arguably the best defense in the league, which earned him enough buzz for the Chargers to grab him.

There are Saints fans complaining about the Staley hire who – with zero irony – had previously said “I wish we could have just kept Dennis Allen and put him back at DC.” I mean… congratulations? That’s literally what we just got: a guy who is an excellent defensive mind but is pretty much buns at HC. And, he’s not our HC, so, problem solved.

To be continued…