CONTRIBUTORS
DIRECTOR
ADDITIONAL
ASSOCIATE
ACCOUNT
SENIOR
DIGITAL
SENIOR
PRODUCTION
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER &
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Todd Matherne
Saints
To
(504) 828-1380 MyNewOrleans.com | BizNewOrleans.com
Copyright 2023 New Orleans Saints and Renaissance Publishing, LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher.
Tulane University
American Flag Unveiling – Saints Season Ticket Holders
Saints Flags Unveiling – Saints Season Ticketholders
Gumbo
Sir Saint
Storyville Jazz Band
Cheer Krewe
Legend of the Game
DE Charles Grant
Originally a first round draft pick of the Saints out of Georgia in 2002, Grant played eight seasons with New Orleans and played in 118 career games with 116 starts. He recorded 505 tackles (339 solo), 47 sacks, one interception, 24 passes defensed and five sacks. After recording seven sacks, four forced fumbles and one recovery as a rookie in 2002, Grant recorded double digit sack totals his next two seasons. In 2009, he started at left end in all 16 games and made 53 tackles. He ranked second on the team with 5.5 sacks with a forced fumble for the Super Bowl XLIV champions.
ENTERTAINMENT
Live Band – Rock Show Nola
DJ – DJ Arie Spins
Emcee – Sheba Songz
HALFTIME
Arkansas-Pine Bluff Marching Band
SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
People’s Health Champion
Entergy Lineman: Powering Saints Nation
Community Coffee Military Recognition
50% OF THE PROCEEDS OF TODAY'S 50/50 RAFFLE WILL BENEFIT SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK
Energetic Louisiana fiddler Amanda Shaw blazes trails with her clever songwriting and exciting performances. With over 20 years of experience, Shaw captivates audiences of all sizes – from intimate listening rooms to national television audiences. Shaw blends authentic Cajun culture with endearing local charm, delivering shows that burst with Louisiana flavor.
VICE PRESIDENT Nancy Gold
DIRECTOR Chryssi Flores
SR. COORDINATOR Hailey Williams
COORDINATORS Jessica Weinberg Anitra Christman
......................................................... Kinsey Hopkins-Campbell Ish Anany
GAME DAY STAFF Asia Jupiter Heaven Mullen Jamarqavian James Kelly Livaccari Jasmyne Bracy
.......................................................................... Josh Highnote Kadaro Thomas Kaegen Faulk Marissa Brown
........................................................................ Martin Mapp Jr Morgan Ledet Shaun Colledge Skylar Rupprecht
ASSOCIATES Alli Lichte Benjamin Grinsteiner
PA ANNOUNCER Mark Romig
ANNOUNCER David “Storm” Manning
HOST Theo Mitchell
MUSIC COORDINATOR Kyle Curley
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ................................... Josh Richardson
VIDEO PRODUCTION James Crosbie
Shota Hashimoto
......................................................................... Brianna Latino Forest Gaines Jr Blairre Perriatt
STORYVILLE JAZZ BAND Bruce Hirstius, Gregg Paretti
IN-STADIUM DJ DJ Raj Smoove
CHAMPIONS SQUARE DJ DJ Arie Spins
As the New Orleans Saints prepared to kick off the season against the Tennessee Titans, fans got to take the field ahead of the team as they finished the 11th annual Saints Kickoff Run presented by Hancock Whitney.
About 5,000 people participated in the event Saturday, Sept. 9, which included the 5K (3.1 miles) and a half-mile Kids Fun Run as well as festivities in Champions Square.
The men's winner was William Ellender, 21 years old and from Mer Rouge, Louisiana, who ran a 15:57 and took a handoff of a football in the Caesars Superdome to cross the finish line in first. Ellender had come in second in the race in 2022.
"I was coming back, shooting for first, and I got the revenge," he said.
The women's winner was Victoria Brignac, 37 years old and from New Orleans, Louisiana, who ran a 18:55.
"I love fun races like this, so to finish first in one is like icing on top," Brignac said.
Garrett Hartley, legendary Saints kicker and part of the 2009 Super Bowl XLIV championship team, was alongside Gumbo, Sir Saint and members of the Saints Cheer Krewe, cheering on the finishers as they crossed the finish at the 50-yard line in the Caesars Superdome, an experience Ellender described as "glorious."
"You are like hurting because you can see you are about to go in but once you are on grass you just lose all feeling and it's just like chills all over your body," he said.
Brignac said the first thing she noticed upon entering the Caesars Superdome was the air conditioning but also said it was cool to see the Superdome from the field as opposed to the stands.
Saints owner Gayle Benson saw everyone off at the starting line as did New Orleans City Council member Lesli Harris.
All runners received an official "Saints 5K" participant shirt and finisher's medal, as well as two free beers for those over 21.
Live entertainment was provided in Champions Square before and after the race.
There was complimentary Gatorade available for the runners as they crossed the finish line, as well as more hydration and snacks available in Champions Square.
There was also a virtual 5k event for those unable to make it in person, but who still wished to participate.
The full results of the race can be viewed at athlinks.com.
The Saints Kickoff Run supported the Louisiana National Guard Foundation (LANG). The Louisiana National Guard Foundation's mission is to exclusively support the Louisiana National Guard's mission, its members, veterans and families, as well as the educational programs and museums of the Louisiana National Guard.
Melanie Sheen, 39 years old and from New Orleans, Louisiana, finished the race in 26:22, but did so while pushing a stroller carrying a 4-year-old and a 5-year-old, finishing as the unofficial winner among those pushing a stroller, she said.
Sheen said this was her second year participating and she is a Saints season ticket holder since 2006. She said she was excited to be in the stadium for the home opener against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Sept. 10, when New Orleans defeated the Titans 16-15 to start off on the right foot.
"I think it really pumps everyone up," she said.
Gayle Benson provides leadership for the New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans. She succeeds her late husband, Tom Benson, who passed away on March 15, 2018, after serving as Owner of the Saints since 1985 and the Pelicans since 2012. The New Orleans native is an accomplished business professional and philanthropist with strong ties to the local community and is dedicated to contributing to the growth and enhancement of the Gulf South region.
Mr. and Mrs. Benson worked together to build championship-level NFL and NBA organizations, housed in state-of-the-art facilities at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center, Caesars Superdome and Smoothie King Center, while making a positive impact in the community away from the football field and basketball court as well.
With the Saints franchise under the guidance of Mr. and Mrs. Benson, the team has reached new heights since 2006, when they entrusted Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis to set the direction for the organization, responding by making important coaching hires and continually supplementing and upgrading the roster through the draft, free agency and trades. Since then, the franchise has reached its highest point of success, posting a 175-116 record from 2006-22, featuring 10 winning seasons, nine playoff berths, seven division titles, three NFC Championship appearances and the Super Bowl XLIV title.
Off the field, the Caesars Superdome is more than halfway through a five-year, multiple-phase enhancement, in addition to periodic renovations at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center to retain its status as one of the most cutting-edge practice facilities in the NFL. The Caesars Superdome has been sold out on a season-ticket basis for every campaign since 2006, with a waiting list of over
73,000 and 172 consecutive sellouts for contests played at the facility through 2022. The facility is currently undergoing a $475 million transformation, which will allow it to retain its standing as one of the world’s iconic multipurpose facilities. The club has also positioned itself as a leader in the community, assisting with the recovery from several natural disasters as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, while also working to enhance the region as a whole.
In Mrs. Benson’s first five seasons of ownership, New Orleans has posted four consecutive winning seasons (2018-21) and three consecutive NFC South division titles (2018-20), reaching the NFC Championship game in the 2018 campaign. No NFC team has matched the Saints’ 29 regular season road victories since 2018. Their 56 wins (regular season and postseason combined) are tied for first in the NFC during the five-season period. 14 Saints have received 30 Pro Bowl selections and eight players over the past four seasons have received Associated Press All-Pro honors.
Mr. Benson played a significant role in the city of New Orleans hosting five Super Bowls during his ownership and wielded extensive influence and respect among fellow NFL owners with a 25-year tenure as Chairman of the Finance Committee. Following in the footsteps of her late husband, Mrs. Benson has become instrumental with her influence and leadership in important league issues, serving on the Audit, Business Ventures and Hall of Fame committees and the Social Justice Working Group.
She helped the city land Super Bowl LIX to be played in February, 2025, which will mark the 11th time Louisiana and the Crescent City will serve as a host, tying with Miami for the most Super Bowls by a host city. The economic impact of Super Bowl XLVII, played in 2013, which Mr. Benson successfully campaigned for, was $480 million. Added to this is the value of the exposure and charitable contributions that the National Football League makes during Super Bowl week that extends for generations. Mrs. Benson is committed to continuing to bring Super Bowls to New Orleans.
Immediately upon Mr. and Mrs. Benson’s purchase of the former Hornets franchise from the NBA in 2012, construction began on a state-of-theart basketball practice facility to house the entire organization together. The franchise was rebranded as the Pelicans. Through agreements with the State of Louisiana upon the purchase of the Pelicans in
2012, the Smoothie King Center has undergone a complete renovation, featuring a new center-hung HD scoreboard, which debuted in 2015, along with several additional fan upgrades. Through this commitment, NBA All-Star Weekend was awarded to New Orleans in 2014 and 2017, making the city one of just seven current NBA markets to host the midseason event at least three times. Active in league affairs, Mrs. Benson serves as a member of the NBA’s Labor Relations Committee and was named to the NBA Foundation Board of Directors in 2020. As a board member, she is constantly an advocate for the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana. Since her 2020 addition, every distribution by the foundation has benefited New Orleans nonprofits.
On the court, she oversaw a significant overhaul of the Pelicans in 2019 when she hired Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin and committed to significant upgrades to the Ochsner Sports Performance Center’s basketball facilities. Through the support of these organizational improvements by Mrs. Benson, combined with the 2019 acquisition/2020 resigning of forward Brandon Ingram, a 2020 NBA All-Star and winner of the league’s Most Improved Player award, a trade for guard C.J. McCollum and the hiring of Head Coach Willie Green, the Pelicans have established a solid foundation.
Community investment and giving back have been hallmarks of Mr. and Mrs. Benson’s ownership of the Saints and Pelicans. This tradition continues under Mrs. Benson’s stewardship, sharing her late husband’s vision and passion for helping others. She has further enriched the New Orleans community through her support to causes in the health and wellness, cancer care, education, arts and faith-based sectors.
As dedicated corporate citizens, the Saints and Pelicans annually put millions of dollars back into the community in financial support, in-kind donations, charitable appearances and donations of goods and services. Mrs. Benson’s philanthropic leadership has been recognized far and wide since becoming Owner.
Mrs. Benson has always quickly responded and taken action to address conditions that adversely affect the local community. With the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ida providing multiple challenges to the New Orleans area and its citizens since 2020, Mrs. Benson has donated
over $2 million, partnering with the Greater New Orleans Foundation to assist local organizations and individuals in need to help the region and its residents recover from these circumstances. In 2020, utilizing the platform of the Saints and Pelicans to harness the unifying power of sport to advance race relations across both the Gulf South and the country, she formed the Social Justice Leadership Alliance. The alliance, with key front office executives and players from both franchises in leadership positions, advocates for issues of change in minority communities.
In 2014, Mrs. Benson was honored by the New Orleans Council for Community and Justice with its Weiss Award, recognizing achievement for exceptional civic and humanitarian contributions. In 2015, the couple was honored by the regional chapter of the Anti-Defamation League with the A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty Award. In 2018, she and Mr. Benson (posthumously) were honored by two of the city’s leading higher education institutions. They received a Dermot McGlinchey Lifetime Achievement Award from Tulane University, honoring those who have demonstrated service, volunteer involvement and commitment to Tulane and their hometown communities, and were inducted into the University of New Orleans’ Hall of Distinction.
In 2019, Mrs. Benson received several important honors. She was honored by Xavier University of Louisiana with the Sister Maris Stella “Women of Faith” Award and was recognized by the United Negro College Fund with the group’s MASKED Award for her support of educational opportunities for all. Mrs. Benson was honored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl Chapter of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame with its Distinguished American Award. The National World War II Museum selected her as an American Spirit Medallion recipient. The Greater New Orleans Foundation honored Mrs. Benson with the organization’s Spark Plug Award, given to an individual whose philanthropy in the greater New Orleans community has been exemplary.
In 2021, Mrs. Benson was presented by the University of Holy Cross with its Spes Unica Award, the educational institution’s highest honor, based on her support of the university’s mission to educate both the mind and heart. She was the Times-Picayune’s 2021 Loving Cup award winner, an honor which has been presented since 1901 to men and women who have performed exemplary service to the community without expecting material recognition. Mrs. Benson was recognized by the local charity, Clover, as a co-recipient of the 2022 Reverend Beverley Warner Ward, for her extensive work with the non-profit whose mission is to educate children, strengthen families and build community. Mrs. Benson was honored by the American Cancer Society’s Louisiana Chapter with their 2022
Heart & Soul Award for her constant support in the fight against cancer through the services provided to cancer patients, families and caregivers at Ochsner’s Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Center. She was recognized by the Southeast Louisiana Council, Boy Scouts of America with their 2022 “Distinguished Citizen” Award. In April, 2023, Mrs. Benson was honored as a “Louisiana Legend” by Louisiana Public Broadcasting for distinguishing herself in the sports field and through her philanthropy.
In addition to serving on the boards of several local educational institutions and the New Orleans Museum of Art, Mrs. Benson also is a member of the Audubon Commission, which oversees the Audubon Nature Institute.
Mrs. Benson has been a long-time trusted and valued member of the local Catholic community, reflecting her deep religious faith. She has worked tirelessly with the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ Catholic Charities organization and its umbrella agencies that feature almost 50 programs and three affiliated ministries. These organizations deliver health and human services to the poor and vulnerable in the eight Southeast Louisiana parishes which the Archdiocese serves, as well as food and nutrition services throughout the state. Mrs. Benson has worked closely with St. Louis Cathedral’s Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) program.
Her support of the Catholic Church has been recognized numerous times. In 2002, she received the Medal of the Order of St. Louis Award for dedication to the Catholic Church. In 2010, she became an Honorary Oblate of Mary Immaculate. In recognition of longstanding support of Catholic education, Mr. and Mrs. Benson received the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Awa rd from the National Catholic Educational Association. In 2012, Mr. and Mrs. Benson received from Pope Benedict XVI the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award, the highest Papal award granted to a lay person, for outstanding service to the Church and the Pontiff. She holds a leadership role after being inducted as Dame Commander with Star in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and is a member of the Order of St. Lazarus, a confraternity of Christian faithful who profess their commitment to Jesus Christ.
Mrs. Benson began her professional career in 1968 as a manager for a noted New York-based jeweler. She was responsible for overseeing and managing the daily operation of over 40 sales associates. She then branched out into real estate development, which allowed her to successfully integrate her passion for interior design with property management. Her first real estate transaction occurred in 1978 when she purchased a home in New Orleans’ Irish Channel and sold the property eight months later after extensive restoration. She would go on to purchase, manage and eventually sell numerous properties, primarily in the city’s Uptown district.
In 1975, Mrs. Benson began a 30-year design industry career and achieved tremendous success.
Throughout the course of her interior design career she was recognized with numerous professional awards and served as an inaugural member on the Louisiana State Board of Licensing for Interior Designers for four years. She directed numerous major design efforts with her clients, including the Caesars Superdome (formerly Louisiana and Mercedes-Benz Superdome), several of the city’s most prestigious hotels, local supermarket chains, automobile dealerships, yachts and many others.
In 2000, Mrs. Benson worked with the Superdome on renovations to the iconic New Orleans landmark’s third and fourth level public spaces, in addition to renovations on select suites. She also owned and developed a commercial real estate building on the corner of Laura and Octavia streets, a women’s clothing private enterprise called “Toujours la Ligne” and a designer’s showroom called “Designers Resource” which served as a wholesale location for designers and architects seeking to purchase fabric, wall coverings and accessories. The Men of Fashion Committee recognized Mrs. Benson as one of the “Ten Best Dressed Women in New Orleans” in 1983.
In addition to her ownership of the Saints and the Pelicans, Mrs. Benson established GMB Racing Stables in 2014 with an initial purchase of seven colts and the hiring of three veteran trainers, all with Louisiana ties. In 2016, two of the thoroughbreds, Mo Tom and Tom’s Ready, participated in the Kentucky Derby. Her Lone Sailor horse ran in the 2018 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. She owns Benson Farm in Paris, Ky., a 1,000-acre farm with nearly 50 horses. As part of her passion for horse racing, she is a member of the Jockey Club of New York. Mrs. Benson also serves as Owner of four automotive dealerships (Best Chevrolet, Cadillac of New Orleans, Mercedes-Benz of New Orleans and Mercedes-Benz Van Center); Benson Tower; Benson Capital Partners; Made By The Water; and Corporate Realty. She also owns the Hyatt Regency New Orleans as part of a partnership.
Mrs. Benson was born in New Orleans and grew up in Old Algiers. She began her education in Catholic schools and in 1966 graduated from Martin Behrman High School in Algiers. She received a Doctorate of Letters from Notre Dame Seminary in 2014.
Serving as keynote speaker at their respective commencement ceremonies, Mrs. Benson has been awarded honorary degrees from University of Holy Cross (2015), Southern University of New Orleans (2021), and Delgado Community College (2022). She also received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Loyola University New Orleans (2019).
Mr. and Mrs. Benson married on October 29, 2004, at the Immaculate Conception Memorial Chapel. Mr. Benson died on March 15, 2018.
Dennis Allen enters his second season as head coach of the New Orleans Saints in 2023 after being named the 17th head coach in franchise history on Feb. 8, 2022.
Now in his 28th year in coaching, 22nd in the NFL, including 13 with the Saints, Allen has played for, coached with and learned from some of the best coaches in all of football. He originally was recruited to play at Texas A&M by R.C. Slocum, where he also started his coaching career. In the NFL, he honed his skills serving on the staff of Super Bowl XLIV champion head coach Sean Payton for 12 seasons and for Super Bowl participants John Fox and Dan Reeves.
During his 22 years of coaching in the NFL, Allen has worked with ten players who have combined for 23 Pro Bowl selections and he has also coached two Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year winners and three members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Allen’s defenses have consistently been among the most productive in the NFL in a number of categories, including scoring defense, total yards allowed and sacks. The team’s defensive play-caller since the middle of the 2015 season, the Saints are the only team in the National Football League to rank in the top three in both opponent rushing yards per game and sacks cumulatively over the six-season period since 2017. Allen’s defenses have ranked in the top ten in yards per game and opponent points per game each of the past two seasons.
In his first year as head coach of the Saints, Allen guided New Orleans through the challenge of significant injuries at virtually every position to win three of their last four games after a Week 14 bye and gave up 20 or fewer points in the final eight contests of the season, ten points apiece in each of the final three contests.
Under Allen’s supervision, New Orleans ranked second in the National Football League in pass defense (184.4 ypg.) fifth in total defense (314.8
PLAYING CAREER: Texas A&M, 1992-95.
COACHING CAREER: Texas A&M, 1996-1999; Tulsa, 2000-01; Atlanta Falcons, 200205; New Orleans Saints, 2006-10, Denver Broncos, 2011, Oakland Raiders (Head Coach), 2012-14, New Orleans Saints 2015- (Head Coach since 2022).
ypg.), tied for fifth in sacks (48), ranked sixth in opponent red zone touchdown percentage (50.0) and ninth in scoring defense (20.3 ppg.). New Orleans posted shutouts in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 1991-92 campaigns. Linebacker Demario Davis and defensive end Cameron Jordan, who became the franchise’s all-time leader in sacks, were each named to the Pro Bowl while Davis earned AP (second-team) honors.
Offensively, New Orleans improved nine or more spots in league rankings in net yards per game and net passing yards per game. The team’s top draft selection, wide receiver Chris Olave, earned PFWA All-Rookie recognition, as he led the team in receiving with 72 receptions for 1,042 yards. Running back Alvin Kamara became the only player to currently have six consecutive seasons of at least 1,300 total yards from scrimmage. Taysom Hill ranked second on the team in rushing with a career-high 575 yards and team-leading seven rushing touchdowns, adding two receiving scores for a club-best nine total touchdowns, while adding two scoring throws. Tight end Juwan Johnson tied for third at the position in the league with a club-best seven touchdown grabs on 42 receptions for 508 yards.
In 2021, his final season as defensive coordinator, Allen’s unit boasted two Pro Bowl selections (Jordan and cornerback Marshon Lattimore) and one AP All-Pro selection (Davis), ranked first in the NFL in opponent red zone touchdown percentage (43.5), second in opponent first downs (304) and opponent rushing first downs (84), fourth in scoring defense (19.7 ppg.), opponent net yards per play (5.08) and run defense (93.5 ypg.), seventh in total defense (318.2 ypg.) and eighth in sacks (46). New Orleans’ streak of 22 regular season/postseason contests without allowing a 100-yard rusher at the end of the season was the longest in the NFL. With 25 takeaways and a plus-seven turnover ratio, Allen’s defense was instrumental in leading the Saints to their fifth consecutive winning season. Allen handled
Sean Payton’s head coaching duties in a December 19 9-0 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as Payton was sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols.
In 2020, the Saints defense boasted one of the league’s top units, finishing tied for first in interceptions (18), ranked fourth in opponent net yards per game (310.9) and opponent rushing yards per game (91.3), fifth in opponent net passing yards per game (217.0) and opponent points per game (21.1) and eighth in sacks (45). The 139 road points given up on the road by New Orleans were the fewest in the NFL and the third-lowest total by the club since the start of a 16-game regular season schedule in 1978. New Orleans did not allow a 100-yard rusher until Week 14 of the season, marking an NFL record of 55 games (regular season/postseason combined) of not giving up 100 yards to an individual.
The 2019 Saints ranked third in the league in sacks, recording 51 takedowns and finished fourth in run defense at 91.3 yards rushing per game. The sack total was the highest for the Saints since 2001. New Orleans also ranked sixth on third down (34.8 percent) and 11th in total defense (333.1 ypg.).
With two Pro Bowl starter selections on defense –Jordan and Lattimore and one AP first-team All-Pro – Davis – the Saints had two contests where they did not surrender a defensive touchdown for the first time since 2000. Jordan finished with a career-high 15.5 sacks, ranked third in the NFL and tied for the fourth-highest total in franchise history, also earning All-Pro honors. Davis filled up the stat sheet with a team-high 111 tackles, four sacks, one interception and a career-high 12 passes defensed.
In 2018, the Saints boasted the second-best run defense in the NFL, allowing just 80.2 rushing yards per game and 3.6 yards per carry. His defense also collared 49 sacks, which tied for fifth in the league. The New Orleans defense held its opponents to 20 points or less in ten games in 2018 and had a six-game streak of keeping opponents under 20 for the first time since 2000. Jordan was selected to the
Pro Bowl as an AP All-Pro in a season where he posted 12 sacks. On the interior, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins posted eight sacks in a breakout campaign, the most takedowns by a Saints interior defender since 2000. Davis, in his first season with the club, became only the fourth player in Saints history to record 110 tackles and five sacks in a season. Lattimore led the team with five regular season takeaways and added two more in the club’s postseason win over Philadelphia.
In 2017, Allen coordinated a Saints defense that finished third in the league in interceptions (20), tied for seventh in sacks (42) and ranked tenth in opponent points per game (20.4 ppg.) after ranking 31st in 2016. Away from home, New Orleans surrendered only 18.3 points per game, tied for sixth in the NFL, with their 146 road points given up tied for the fifth-lowest total by the club since the start of a 16-game schedule in 1978. Allen oversaw a defense that featured first-team All-Pro Jordan who posted 13 sacks and Lattimore, who led rookies with five interceptions and garnered AP Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, as both defenders earned Pro Bowl trips. Lattimore was the second rookie under Allen’s tutelage to capture league Rookie of the Year honors. Rookie safety Marcus Williams, the club’s second round draft pick, joined Lattimore as a PFWA All-Rookie selection, tying for second among league rookies with four picks.
In 2016, a young Saints defensive unit took several strides in the right direction, surrendering only 90.6 rushing yards per game over the final 13 weeks of the season, ranked sixth in the NFL over that period. In fact, New Orleans allowed under 100 yards rushing in eight games on the season, the fewest in a single season since they gave up seven in 2013. Jordan led the team with 7.5 sacks. Linebacker Craig Robertson started all 15 games he appeared in and filled up the stat sheet with a team-high and career-high 131 tackles, one sack, one interception, five passes defensed and two recoveries.
After starting the 2015 season as the club’s senior defensive assistant, Allen assumed coordinator duties in Week 11. As New Orleans rallied to win three of their final four contests, Allen’s unit contributed to finishing strong as the defense surrendered 35.1 total net yards per game below the overall season average, including 25.1 fewer yards per game in stopping the run. New Orleans also held opponents to a season-low 17 points in two of the final four contests. Jordan was selected to his second Pro Bowl, as he recorded double-digit sacks (10) for the second time in his career.
Allen served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 2012-14. In his second season, he guided a team that made significant improvement in several areas. Offensively, the Raiders ranked 12th in the NFL in rushing, improving 16 spots in league rankings from 2012 and sixth in yards per
rush (4.6), improving 21 places in league rankings despite starting an NFL-high eight offensive line combinations due to injury. The defense replaced nine starters, yet improved in several categories. The defense recorded 38 sacks, 13 more than 2012, and tied for second in the NFL with 15 different players getting to the quarterback. The rush defense improved five spots from 18th in the NFL in 2012 to 13th in 2013, as they limited opposing offenses to just five runs of 20-or-more yards, tied for the fewest in the league, and kept opponents to less than two yards per carry three times. On special teams, the Raiders moved from the NFL’s bottomthird to first overall in opponent gross punting (41.7), ranked third in opponent net punting (37.0) and fourth in opponent kickoff returns (20.4).
Allen coached the first four games of the 2014 season for the Raiders, during which he helped usher in a pair of rookies that went on to enjoy impressive first-year campaigns in quarterback Derek Carr, signed by New Orleans this offseason, and linebacker Khalil Mack. The club’s pass defense ranked fourth in the NFL.
In 2011, Allen served as defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. He led a defense that helped the Broncos win the AFC West division crown and advance to the AFC Divisional round with an AFC Wild Card game victory. The Broncos improved 12 spots over the previous year in overall defensive ranking and bettered their points allowed eight spots. The defense produced four Pro Bowl selections as rookie linebacker Von Miller joined cornerback Champ Bailey, safety Brian Dawkins and defensive end Elvis Dumervil on the AFC squad. Miller set what was the team’s rookie record with 11.5 sacks en route to AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and Dumervil also thrived under Allen, rebounding from injury to register 9.5 takedowns. The Broncos’ 41 sacks as a team marked the unit’s most since 2000.
During Allen’s previous five-year tenure in New Orleans, he first served as assistant defensive line coach (2006-07) before being promoted to secondary coach (2008-10).
He was a part of a defensive coaching staff that engineered significant improvement from 200910, when the club went 24-8 in the regular season, qualified for the playoffs both times and captured Super Bowl XLIV. Under Allen’s direction in 2010, the Saints allowed an NFL-low 13 touchdown passes, while New Orleans ranked fourth in both opponent net yards per game (306.3) and pass defense (193.9 ypg.) and fifth in opponent third down efficiency (34.5 percent). Safety Roman Harper was selected to his second consecutive Pro Bowl, posting 100 tackles and three sacks, and cornerback Jabari Greer recorded two interceptions with one brought back for a touchdown.
In 2009, Allen tutored a secondary that played
a key role in helping the Saints to the club’s first Super Bowl victory. A revamped unit accounted for an NFLhigh five interception returns for touchdowns and totaled 21 picks with two of the four starters being selected to the Pro Bowl. Opposing quarterbacks managed a meager 68.6 passer rating against the Saints, ranked third in the NFL. Greer returned one pick for a touchdown. Harper led the unit with a career-high 127 tackles and added 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles while being selected to his first Pro Bowl. Cornerback Tracy Porter picked off quarterback Brett Favre and Peyton Manning in the fourth quarter in consecutive postseason contests, with his famous Super Bowl XLIV interception being brought back for a touchdown.
While serving as assistant defensive line coach from 2006-07, Allen helped develop a unit that ranked as one of the defense’s strengths. During that stretch, the front four combined for 49.5 sacks, 10 forced fumbles and 10 recoveries. Defensive end Will Smith was voted to his first Pro Bowl in 2006, posting a club-best 10.5 sacks and three forced fumbles.
Allen joined the Saints after a four-year stint with the Atlanta Falcons, where he spent his final two years as defensive assistant/quality control with an emphasis on working with the defensive line. Over the previous two seasons, he was in charge of defensive quality control while helping tutor the secondary.
Over his last two years in Atlanta, the Falcons’ defense was paced by the play of the front four. In 2004, Atlanta led the NFL for the first time in club history with 48 sacks and the unit sent defensive end Patrick Kerney to the Pro Bowl. In 2005 defensive tackle Rod Coleman represented the club in the Pro Bowl and the Falcons notched 37 sacks.
In 2002, Allen’s first year with the Falcons, he assisted in coaching the defensive backfield. Atlanta improved to 16th against the pass after ranking 30th the year before, and tied for third in the NFL with 24 interceptions.
Allen worked as the secondary coach for the University of Tulsa (2000-01) before heading to the NFL. Prior to his stint at Tulsa, Allen was on the coaching staff for four years (1996-99) at his alma mater, Texas A&M, as a graduate assistant working primarily with the school’s secondary under Slocum.
A native of Hurst, Texas, Allen earned four letters for Texas A&M as a safety from 1992-95 and started the final 21 games of his career. A highlight was his fourthquarter interception that clinched an 18-9 victory over Texas in 1993, sending the Aggies to their third-straight Cotton Bowl. He collected Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors after intercepting two passes in a 36-14 win over Oklahoma in 1994.
Allen was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Buffalo Bills and competed in their training camp in 1996. Allen’s late father, Grady, played at Texas A&M and was a linebacker for the Falcons from 1968-72. Allen and his wife Alisson have a daughter, Layla and a son, Garrison.
Dennis Lauscha, a native New Orleanian, has been a fan of the Saints since he was a young boy. He attended Jesuit High School and received degrees in Business, first from the University of Alabama, followed by an M.B.A. from Loyola University. Starting out his career as a C.P.A,, Lauscha worked for a major global financial services firm before his decades-long career with the Saints. He first joined the Saints in 1998 as Treasurer, and as a result of his hard work, loyalty and business acumen, Lauscha rose through the executive ranks to serve as Vice President, Senior Vice President and Executive Vice President before reaching his now esteemed post as President since 2012. In his role, he oversees the club’s financial operations, government affairs, marketing, ticket and suite sales, legal, stadium, community affairs, human resources, business intelligence and information technology. He also serves as president of the Pelicans franchise and represents both clubs at National Football League and National Basketball Association Owners meetings.
In addition to his duties with the Saints and Pelicans, the New Orleans native maintains multiple roles within other holdings of Mrs. Benson, maintaining a role in the management of her four local automotive dealerships (Best Chevrolet, Cadillac of New Orleans, Mercedes-Benz of New Orleans and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter), Corporate Realty and other real estate holdings, GMB Racing, Benson Capital Partners, Made By The Water and other investments.
Lauscha’s collaborative style, financial acumen and long-term
view has played a key role as a member of a contingent that has negotiated agreements for both the Saints and Pelicans with the state of Louisiana. These have resulted in long-term lease agreements, continuous improvements to their playing and practice facilities, revitalization of the areas around them and generation of revenue for the state without any new taxes for citizens.
Lauscha’s dealings with the Saints and Pelicans, state officials and local organizations have provided an opportunity for community involvement. His professional and charitable work was recognized by New Orleans CityBusiness, when he was selected as one of the 40 Most Influential Members of the Community. The honor is bestowed on those who are laying the groundwork for a better city. In 2010, he was named the Alumnus of the Year by Loyola’s College of Business and was named to the 2010 Class of Role Models by the Young Leadership Council. He was honored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl Chapter of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame with its 2014 Distinguished American Award. In 2015, Lauscha gave the commencement address to the graduates of the University of New Orleans. In 2016, he was inducted into the Order of West Range for the Pi Kappa Alpha Foundation. He was honored as a 2019 Laureate of Junior Achievement’s Greater New Orleans chapter. Lauscha has also completed the National Football League Managers Program at Stanford University's Executive Education Graduate School of Business. Most recently, he was named Jesuit’s 2022-23 Alumnus of the Year.
Responsible for the club’s entire football operations, Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis enters his 22nd season in his current position and 24th with the Saints. He is a veteran of 37 years in the NFL and during his time in New Orleans has been honored with the most prestigious awards presented to a league executive. Yet the most satisfying achievement of Loomis’ career has come in helping mold a roster that has produced many of the franchise’s finest moments over the last 17 seasons, including the Super Bowl XLIV championship.
In 2006, after being the key figure in the hiring of Head Coach Sean Payton, the signing of QB Drew Brees and essentially rebuilding a team that would advance to the NFC Championship – Loomis was voted the NFL Executive of the Year by Pro Football Weekly/Pro Football Writers of America. He was also honored by The Sporting News as the George Young Executive of the Year, an award voted on annually by NFL front-office executives and owners.
Loomis has continued to build on the success of 2006, highlighted by 10 winning seasons, nine postseason appearances, seven division titles, three NFC Championship game berths and
the Super Bowl victory. Over the past 17 years, he’s brought aboard a group of players who have played a key role in New Orleans posting a 175-116 overall record through a combination of the draft, free agency and trades. He’s also presided over the club’s ability to retain their core players, re-signing significant contributors to long-term contracts. In 2022, Loomis conducted an extensive coaching search on behalf of the organization to lead the Saints into the future. Following the search, Dennis Allen was promoted from defensive coordinator and hired as the Saints’ 17th head coach in franchise history.
Prior to arriving in New Orleans, Loomis spent 15 years with the Seattle Seahawks, including as executive vice president from 1992-98. He joined the Seahawks in October, 1983, was promoted to vice president/finance in 1990 and to Executive Vice President in 1992.A native of Eugene, Ore., Loomis has a degree in accounting from the University of Oregon and a Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from Wichita State University.
Married to Melanie, Loomis has four children: Alex, Katherine, Sam and Lucy.
Greg Rouchell Senior Vice President of Human Resources
Clancy Barone enters his first season as tight ends coach of the New Orleans Saints. Barone has 34 years of coaching experience, his first 17 at the collegiate level and his last 17 in the NFL. New Orleans is the sixth NFL stop for Barone, who most recently served as tight ends coach for the Chicago Bears from 2020-21.
Prior to his Bears tenure, Barone coached either tight ends or offensive line with the Falcons (2004-06), Chargers (2007-08), Broncos (2009-16), and Vikings (2017-18). As a tight ends coach, Barone has had four players voted to the Pro Bowl with four different teams: the Falcons’ Alge Crumpler, the Chargers’ Antonio Gates, the Broncos’ Julius Thomas and the Vikings’ Kyle Rudolph.
In Chicago, Barone oversaw high-level performances from veterans, as well as developing younger players. In 2021, Cole Kmet posted a career-high 60 receptions for a career-best 612 yards in his second
Bicknell enters his second season as a senior offensive assistant in New Orleans. He has 13 years of National Football League experience in the coaching ranks and 28 years of college and professional experience overall. The Holliston, Mass., native possesses extensive coaching experience on both the offensive line and at the skill positions.
Bicknell has coached several positions in the NFL, including coaching the Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers from 2018-2020, helping develop Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins. He coached receivers for Baylor University in 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles from 2013-15 and the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. He coached tight ends for the Buffalo Bills in 2010-11 and wide receivers in 2012. He got his NFL start in 2007 with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he was an assistant offensive line coach in 2007 and took over as the offensive line coach in 2008.
Prior to the NFL ranks, Bicknell coached the offensive line at
Burns enters his second season as New Orleans’ wide receivers coach after originally joining the team in 2022, coaching at the collegiate level for 10 seasons prior to joining the Black and Gold. In 2022, Burns played a role in developing rookie wide receiver Chris Olave, who became only the third rookie in franchise history to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards.
Burns coached wide receivers at the University of Tennessee in 2021 after spending six seasons coaching at Auburn, where he started out as a graduate assistant with the Tigers in 2013 before coaching running backs at Samford in 2014 and wide receivers at Middle Tennessee in 2015. When he returned to Auburn, he served as co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach from 2016-20 and added the role of passing game coordinator in
Carberry enters his first season as the Saints’ assistant offensive line coach. He brings to New Orleans six years of experience in the NFL coaching ranks, with 14 years of experience at the college and professional levels.
During his six years coaching in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Rams, Carberry tutored multiple Pro Bowlers and the Rams 2021 Super Bowl Championship team, who finished tied for sixth in the NFL with least amount of sacks allowed (31). He guided the Washington offensive line that protected the third-ranked offense and allowed the fourth least amount of sacks in the NFL (23). In his first pro coaching gig in 2014-15 with the Cowboys, Carberry assisted Bill Callahan with the offensive line in 2014 when the team finished second in the NFL in rushing and RB DeMarco Murray led the league in rushing while setting a franchise record with 1,845 yards.
Carberry also has extensive experience at the collegiate coaching ranks,
season. In 2020, the Bears returned to the postseason after a oneyear absence as Jimmy Graham led the team with eight touchdown catches, the second-most among NFC tight ends and his most since 2017-on 50 receptions, adding one more scoring grab in the playoffs. Barone played on the offensive line at the University of Nevada and Sacramento State University, and holds a place in the Hornets Athletics Hall of Fame.
PLAYING CAREER: Nevada, 1983-84; Sacramento State, 1985-86. COACHING CAREER: American River College, 1983-84; Sacramento State, 1991-92; Texas A&M, 1993; Eastern Illinois, 1994-96; University of Wyoming, 1997-99; University of Houston, 2000-02; Texas State, 2003; Atlanta Falcons, 2004-06; San Diego Chargers, 2007-08; Denver Broncos, 2009-16; Minnesota Vikings, 2017-18; Chicago Bears, 2020-21; New Orleans Saints 2023–.
Temple in 2006 and spent eight seasons in NFL Europe. He began his coaching career at Boston University, coaching safeties, running backs and linebackers from 1993-97.
Bicknell played tight end for three seasons at Boston College from 1989-91. Bicknell’s father, Jack Sr., coached at BC and spent 13 seasons as a head coach in NFL Europe. Meanwhile, Bicknell’s brother, Jack Jr., is currently offensive line coach at the University of North Carolina.
PLAYING CAREER: Boston College, 1989-91.
COACHING CAREER: Boston University, 1993-97; Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), 1998-99; Berlin Thunder (NFLE), 2000-03; Cologne Centurions (NFLE), 2004-05; Temple, 2006; Kansas City Chiefs, 2007-09; Buffalo Bills, 2010-12; Philadelphia Eagles, 2013-15; San Francisco 49ers, 2016; Baylor, 2017; Cincinnati Bengals, 2018-20; New Orleans Saints, 2022–.
2019-20. Over his time at Auburn, nine offensive players were drafted to the NFL, including two receivers in 2021: Anthony Schwartz (third round by the Browns) and Seth Williams (sixth round by the Broncos).
Burns played four seasons at Auburn from 2007-10. He began as a quarterback his first two seasons, becoming the first Tiger to start as a true freshman since 1998. He shifted to receiver as a junior, tallying 2,300 receiving yards and 22 career touchdowns. He won a National Championship in 2010 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science in 2011.
PLAYING CAREER: Auburn 2007-10. COACHING CAREER: Arkansas State, 2012; Auburn, 2013, Auburn, 2016-20; Samford, 2014; Middle Tennessee, 2015; Tennessee, 2021; New Orleans Saints, 2022–.
as a graduate assistant at Kansas from 2009-11, defensive ends coach at Stephen F. Austin (2012-13) and run game coordinator/offensive line coach at Stanford (2018-20). Prior to coaching at the collegiate level, he was a four-year letterman at Ohio before spending his rookie season on the practice squad of the Detroit Lions (2005). He later played for the Berlin Thunder (NFL Europe - 2006), New York Dragons (Arena Football League2007) and Philadelphia Soul (AFL - 2008).
PLAYING CAREER: Ohio University, 2002-05; Detroit Lions, 2006; Berlin Thunder (NFL Europe), 2006; New York Dragons (Arena Football League), 2007; Philadelphia Soul (AFL), 2008. COACHING CAREER: St. Rita High School (Chicago), 2006; St. Ignatius (Chicago) College Prep, 2007-08; Kansas, 2009-11; Stephen F. Austin, 2012-13; Dallas Cowboys, 2014-15; Washington Commanders, 2016-17; Stanford, 2018-20; Los Angeles Rams, 2021-22; New Orleans Saints, 2023–.
Carmichael’s in his 15th season as New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator after tutoring quarterbacks his first three years with the club. He has been a key figure in the planning and preparations of an offensive attack that has been ranked first in the NFL in yardage in six seasons and in the top 10 each campaign from 2006-19. During Carmichael’s tenure on the Saints coaching staff, the club’s 14-year streak of finishing in the top 10 in offense was the third-longest since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Retired quarterback Drew Brees, who retired following the 2020 season, was named to the Pro Bowl 12 times while becoming the league’s all-time leader in completions and passing yardage.
Despite limitations to the New Orleans offense due to injuries at multiple positions, New Orleans improved from being ranked 32nd in the NFL in 2021 to 16th in 2022 in net passing yards per game, while developing rookie wide receiver tandem Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed to step in for veterans Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry. Olave, the 11th overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, became only the second Saints rookie to lead the team in receptions (72), receiving yardage (1,042) and yards per catch (14.5)
Ronald Curry, who is in his 18th season overall in the National Football League and his seventh as an assistant coach with the Saints, is one of the top offensive minds on New Orleans’ coaching staff. After working primarily with the wide receivers his first five seasons with the club, the former college signal-caller will serve as quarterbacks coach for the third season, while adding the role of passing game coordinator in 2022.
In 2022, under Curry’s collaboration with Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael and the offensive staff, the Saints improved from 32nd in the NFL to 16th in net passing yards per game, while he tutored Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston. Winston led the team to a dramatic season-opening, come-from-behind victory at Atlanta, while Dalton set a career-high in completion percentage (66.7%), as he
a training camp intern in 2022, Evans begins his fulltime coaching career in 2023 as an offensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints.
Evans was drafted by the Saints in the fourth round (108th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft and spent the first 11 seasons of his 12-year playing career with the Saints. He was a six time Pro Bowl selection, five time AP All-Pro and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2010’S All-Decade Team, as New Orleans finished in the Top Ten in total offense each of the 11 seasons he lined up for the Saints, while the 196 sacks surrendered by the offensive line over that period
Galiano enters his fifth season with the New Orleans Saints as assistant special teams coach. Galiano is a veteran in the coaching ranks with 23 years of experience, including seven seasons in the NFL.
Over his Saints career, Galiano’s work with special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi has made the kicking an integral part of New Orleans’ success. On coverage units, J.T. Gray’s 84 tackles rank second in the NFL. Galiano helped guide K Wil Lutz into second place on the club’s all-time list for scoring (781), field goals (165) and PATs (286). The punting game produced the top three seasons in club history for inside-20s. Since 2019, the Saints have excelled in the return game. Over the four-season period, the team has been ranked sixth in the NFL in both punt return average (9.6) and kickoff return average
while becoming only the third Saint in franchise history to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in a rookie campaign. Third-year tight end Juwan Johnson had career-highs in all major receiving categories, as he caught 42 passes for 508 yards with a team-leading seven touchdowns, tied for third in the position in the league. Taysom Hill contributed to the running game with a career-high 575 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, and the passing game, where he caught two scores for a team-high nine total touchdowns and threw for two more. Running back Alvin Kamara had his sixth consecutive season with 1,300 total yards from scrimmage (team-high 1,387) despite missing two games with injuries.
Born Oct. 6, 1971 in Framingham, Mass., Carmichael attended Medway High School where he played football and baseball. He was a four-year letterman in baseball at Boston College, where he graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1984.
COACHING CAREER: New Hampshire, 1994; Louisiana Tech, 1995-99; Cleveland Browns, 2000; Washington, 2001; San Diego Chargers, 2002-05; New Orleans Saints, 2006–.
completed 252-of-378 passes for 2,870 yards with 18 touchdowns, only nine interceptions and a 95.2 passer rating.
Curry was originally selected in the seventh round (235th overall) by the Oakland Raiders out of North Carolina in the 2002 NFL Draft. He played in 76 career games with 32 starts and registered 193 receptions for 2,347 yards and 13 touchdowns from 2002-08. The Hampton, Va., native was an All-American in football and basketball in high school and played both quarterback and point guard for the Tar Heels.
PLAYING CAREER: North Carolina, 1998-2001; Oakland Raiders, 200208. COACHING CAREER: Mooresville Christian Academy (Head Coach), 2010-12; San Francisco 49ers, 2013-15; New Orleans Saints, 2016–.
were lowest in the NFC and second-lowest in the NFL. He has been inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame (2020), Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (2022) and was a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2023.
Prior to being selected in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft by New Orleans, Evans was a three-year starter at Bloomsburg, anchoring the left tackle position. He was a finalist for the Division II Gene Upshaw Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2004 and 2005.
PLAYING CAREER: Bloomsburg, 2001-05; New Orleans Saints, 2006-16; Green Bay Packers, 2017. COACHING CAREER: New Orleans Saints, 2023–.
(23.5). In 2022, Galiano helped develop rookie WR/RS Rashid Shaheed, as he averaged 9.7 yards on 20 punt returns.
A three-year starter at safety for Shippensburg, Galiano served as a tri-captain as a senior, helping lead the Raiders to three consecutive winning seasons from 1997-99. The Norristown, Pennsylvania native graduated in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
PLAYING CAREER: Shippensburg, 1996-99. COACHING CAREER: Dickinson College, 2000; New Haven, 2001; Villanova, 2002; Rutgers 2003-06; Florida International, 2007-09; Rutgers, 2010-11; Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2012-13; Rutgers, 2014-15; Miami Dolphins, 2016l Penn State, 2017-18; New Orleans Saints, 2019–.
Matt Giordano, a nine-year NFL veteran safety in the playing ranks and Super Bowl champion, enters his first season as a defensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints. This will be his second stint in New Orleans after contributing on defense and special teams in 2010.
The Fresno, Calif., native was a fourth-round draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2005 and enjoyed a nine-year NFL career with the Colts (2005-08), Green Bay Packers (2009), Saints (2010), Oakland Raiders (2011-12) and St. Louis Rams (2013), starting 30-of-116 career games, while accumulating 202 tackles, one sack, 11 interceptions (including two returned for touchdowns), 16 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, 52 special teams tackles and one coverage fumble recovery. He also appeared in seven postseason games for the Colts and Packers, and was a member of Indianapolis’ Super Bowl XLI championship team.
Following his playing career, Giordano served as head coach at
Peter Giunta (pronounced GEN-ta) enters his eighth season as a Saints senior defensive assistant in 2022. He’s a 44-year coaching veteran, including 32 years of experience in the NFL with three Super Bowl Championships.
In 2022, Giunta worked with a Saints secondary that contributed to the New Orleans defense being ranked fifth in the NFL in net yards per game, with a stingy back end responsible for being ranked second in the league in opponent net passing yards per game and being tied for giving up the third-fewest touchdown passes (17) in the league. Giunta worked with veterans, such as S Tyrann Mathieu, while overseeing the development of second-round pick CB Alontae
Todd Grantham, a 33-year coaching veteran is in his first season as the Saints’ defensive line coach. Grantham, who has extensive college and NFL experience along the front seven and as a coordinator, spent the 2022 season as an analyst at the University of Alabama after serving as a defensive coordinator in the college ranks from 2010-2021.
From 2018-21, Grantham served as defensive coordinator at the University of Florida. From 2018-20, the Gators defense registered 65 takeaways, tied for 11th-most in the nation over that span. With a turnover margin of plus-12 in 2018 and plus-five in 2019, UF also finished with a turnover margin of at least plus-five in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2014 and 2015. The Gators also ranked in the topten in the nation in sacks in both 2019 (49-fifth) and 2020 (35-tied for seventh), leading the Southeastern Conference each season.
Grantham came to Gainesville after serving in the same position at Mississippi State in 2017 and at Louisville from 2014-16, where he tu-
his high school alma mater, Buchanan High School in Clovis, Calif., where he amassed a record of 51-16.
Giordano played two years at the University of California after transferring from Fresno City College. He started 14-of-25 games at safety for Cal and posted 111 career tackles, four stops for a loss, one sack, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, six passes defensed and two interceptions. He was an honorable-mention All-America selection and first-team All-Pac-10 honoree in 2004, when he totaled 61 tackles, 1.5 stops for loss, one sack, two forced fumbles, six passes defensed and one interception. Giordano was inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
PLAYING CAREER: Fresno City College, 2001-02; California, 2003-04; Indianapolis Colts, 2005-08; Green Bay Packers, 2009; New Orleans Saints, 2010, Oakland Raiders, 2011-12; St. Louis Rams, 2013.
COACHING CAREER: Buchanan (Clovis, Calif.) High School (Head Coach), 2016-21; New Orleans Saints, 2023-
Taylor. Mathieu started every game, posted a career-high 91 tackles and led the Black and Gold with four takeaways. Taylor played in 13 games with nine starts and led the Saints with 11 passes defensed, fourth among National Football League rookies.
The Salem, Mass., native had a four-year playing career as a defensive back and running back at Northeastern (1974-44).
PLAYING CAREER: Northeastern, 1974-77. COACHING CAREER: Swampscott (Mass.) High School, 1978-80; Penn State, 1981-83; Brown, 1984-87; Lehigh, 1988-90; Philadelphia Eagles, 1991-94; New York Jets, 1995-96; St. Louis Rams, 1997-2000; Kansas City Chiefs, 2001-05; New York Giants, 2006-14; New Orleans Saints, 2016–.
tored former Saints first round pick Sheldon Rankins. He first entered the college coordinator ranks in 2010 at the University of Georgia, where he enjoyed a four-year stint, first as defensive coordinator/outside linebackers coach from 2010-11, and adding the title of associate head coach from 2012-13.
Grantham played guard and tackle for Virginia Tech from 1984-88, where he also started his coaching career (1990-95). He earned secondteam All-South and honorable mention All-America honors as a senior, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in sports management in 1989.
Grantham and his wife, Paige, have a son, Corbin, and a daughter, Olivia. PLAYING CAREER: Virginia Tech, 1984-88. COACHING CAREER: ; Virginia Tech, 1990-95; Michigan State, 1996-98; Indianapolis Colts, 1999-2001; Houston Texans, 2002-04; Cleveland Browns, 2005-07; Dallas Cowboys, 2008-09; Georgia, 2010-13; Louisville, 2014-16; Mississippi State, 2017; Florida, 2018-21; Alabama, 2022; New Orleans Saints, 2023-.
Adam Gristick enters his first NFL season as a defensive assistant with the Saints. He brings to New Orleans seven years of experience coaching at the college ranks.
Prior to joining the Saints, Gristick served on the coaching staff at Eastern Illinois University from 2018-22. During his tenure in Charleston, he coached linebackers, adding the title of defensive game run coordinator in 2020 and defensive coordinator in 2022. He went to Eastern Illinois from Syracuse, where he served three seasons as an assistant after start-
ing his coaching career in quality control at Missouri State in 2015. The Orefield, Pa., native played linebacker at Eastern Illinois from 2010-14, where as a three-year starter from 2013-14, he helped EIU capture back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference championships and FCS playoff appearances from 2012-13.
PLAYING CAREER: Eastern Illinois, 2010-14. COACHING CAREER: Missouri State, 2015; Syracuse, 2016-17; Eastern Illinois, 2018-22; New Orleans Saints, 2023-.
The Saints hired Hodges in 2017 to serve as a defensive assistant. He was promoted to assistant linebackers coach in 2019 and enters his fourth season in the position.
Under Hodges’ guidance in 2022, Demario Davis was again one of the Saints’ most productive defensive players, leading the team for the fifth consecutive season in tackles. He also set a career-high with 6.5 sacks, leading all inside linebackers in the NFL, earning AP second-team All-Pro and a selection to his first Pro Bowl Games. Pete Werner finished with 79 tackles and two forced fumbles. Hodges
also supervised fourth-year linebacker Kaden Elliss through his breakthrough campaign, posting 74 tackles to go with seven sacks, to lead the position group and rank second on the team, along with two forced fumbles.
Hodges played linebacker at Texas A&M where he earned second team All-Big 12 honors as a senior when he led the Aggies in tackles and honorable mention as a junior after beginning his career as a walk-on.
PLAYING CAREER: Texas A&M, 2008-11. COACHING CAREER: Fresno State, 2013-13; Eastern Illinois, 2014-16; New Orleans Saints 2017-.
Now in his second coaching stint with the Saints, Doug Marrone returned to New Orleans in 2022 after originally spending three seasons on the club’s coaching staff from 2006-08 as offensive coordinator/offensive line.
Marrone possesses 31 years of coaching experience, including 10 as a head coach, six in the NFL. This will be his 17th season coaching in the NFL.
In his first season back with the Saints in 2022, Marrone navigated an offensive line group that featured nine different starting combinations throughout the season and still produced three 100yard rushing performances by Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara. Kamara led the team in rushing with 897 yards, while Hill ran for a careerhigh 575 yards and a team-best seven touchdowns. With the Saints offensive line group having only one lineup change over the first eight weeks of the season, New Orleans was fifth in the NFL in total offense (394.4 ypg.) and eighth in rushing yards per game (141.3).
Marrone returned to New Orleans after serving as the offensive line coach at the University of Alabama in 2021. Marrone joined Alabama after four-plus seasons as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars (2016-20). He guided the Jaguars to the 2017 AFC Championship game after finishing with a 10-6 regular season
Mike Martinez enters his first campaign on the New Orleans Saints coaching staff as assistant to the head coach after serving as a football operations/scouting assistant from 2020-22. In his role, he is responsible for assisting Head Coach Dennis Allen in organizing the club’s football operations. Martinez is responsible for coordinating the Saints’ meeting and practice schedules, the team’s daily football calendar and orchestration of team and staff events, as well as providing administrative assistance to the coaching and operations staff.
Kevin Petry enters his seventh season as a member of the New Orleans Saints coaching staff.
In his fifth season as an offensive assistant, Petry will continue to assist offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and the rest of the Saints offensive staff. After working with the quarterbacks in 2022, Petry will tutor the Saints' wideouts with Wide Receivers Coach Kodi Burns in 2023.
Petry was responsible for coordinating the Saints’ meeting and practice schedules, daily football calendar and orchestration of team and staff events, as well as providing administrative assis -
record in his first full season as head coach after going 1-1 in interim duties in 2016. His 2017 team was tied for the NFL’s biggest win/ loss improvement (plus-seven) among first-year head coaches and earned him AFC Coach of the Year recognition from the prestigious Kansas City Committee of 101. He also spent time as head coach for the Buffalo Bills (2013-14) and Syracuse (2009-12).
Marrone’s first seven NFL seasons as an assistant coach (2002-08) culminated with his hiring at Syracuse based on his success in New Orleans from 2006-08. During Marrone’s first Saints tenure, the Saints led the NFL in total offense twice (391.5 avg. in 2006; 410.7 avg. in 2008) and passing yards per game two times (281.4 avg. in 2006; 311.1 in 2008).
PLAYING CAREER: Syracuse, 1982-85; Miami Dolphins, 1987; New Orleans Saints, 1989; London Monarchs (NFL Europe), 1991-92. COACHING CAREER: Cortland (N.Y.) State, 1992; U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 1993; Northeastern, 1994; Georgia Tech, 1995-99; Georgia, 2000; Tennessee, 2001; New York Jets, 2002-05; New Orleans Saints, 2006-08; Syracuse (Head Coach), 2009-12; Buffalo Bills (Head Coach), 2013-14; Jacksonville Jaguars (interim head coach last two games of 2016 and head coach 2017-20), 2015-20; Alabama, 2021; New Orleans Saints, 2022-.
tance to the coaching and operations staff from 2017-22.
This will be Petry’s 11th year as a member of the Saints organization. During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, he served as a video assistant. From 2012-14, Petry was a member of the team’s equipment staff.
The Covington, La., native who prepped at St. Paul’s High School, graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in sports administration in 2013. Petry and his wife, Kelsey, have one son, Louis Michael.
COACHING CAREER: New Orleans Saints, 2017-.
Rizzi brings 30 years of coaching experience to his fifth year with the New Orleans Saints, including a ten-season stint with the Miami Dolphins from 2009-18. In 2022, Rizzi added Assistant Head Coach duties.
Since entering the NFL in 2009, he has coached six special teams players who have been named to seven Pro Bowls. He has also coached six players to the NFL All-Rookie team in the past nine years.
Rizzi’s units have served in the top half of NFL writer Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings in 11 of the 12 years he has served as a coordinator, including first in 2019 and fifth in both 2020 and 2021. In 2022, the Saints special team units delivered another pro -
Marcus Robertson, a 15-year NFL coaching veteran, is in his first year as the New Orleans Saints’ secondary coach. He spent the previous four years as the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive backs coach. In total, Robertson has spent the last 32 seasons in the NFL as a player, coach and administrator, and has coached defensive backs with Tennessee (2007-11), Detroit (2012-13), Oakland (2014-16), Denver (2017-18) and Arizona (2019-22).
Under Robertson’s tutelage in Arizona, Budda Baker has been the only safety in the NFL named to the Pro Bowl each of the last four seasons. Robertson also developed S Jalen Thompson, who in 2021 was one of just five NFL players with 100+ tackles (club-best 120), 3+ interceptions and 5+
Joel Thomas enters his ninth season as the Saints running backs coach after 16 years of coaching in the college ranks. Since arriving in 2015, the club has led the National Football League with 148 rushing touchdowns. In total, Thomas’ running backs have registered 25 individual 100-yard performances since 2015. Under Thomas’ tutelage, Alvin Kamara has earned five Pro Bowl selections as the only player in the NFL to have at least 1,300 total yards from scrimmage in each of the last six seasons. In his eighth season in New Orleans, Thomas tutored Kamara to his sixth straight season with at least 1,300 yards from scrimmage (1,387). He became the first Saint to lead the team in rushing five consecutive seasons, carrying 223 times for 897 yards, while ranking second on the team in receiving with 57 grabs for 490 yards. Kamara moved into a tie for first place in club record books in total touchdowns (72) and rushing touch-
Jordan Traylor enters his fifth season with the Saints, his third on the coaching staff. After two seasons as a defensive assistant, Traylor will work on the offensive side of the ball in 2023. During his first two seasons with the Saints, Traylor served as a scouting assistant.
Prior to coming to New Orleans, he served as an offensive analyst, working with quarterbacks at the University of Arkansas in 2018 until first joining the Saints prior to 2019 training camp. In the 2016 and 2017 seasons, he served as an offensive graduate assistant working with quarterbacks and receivers at the University of Texas.
ductive season. Rookie WR/RS Rashid Shaheed finished with a 9.7 punt return average. Despite missing three contests, DB J.T. Gray led the Saints with 12 coverage stops.
The Hillsdale, N.J. native played tight end at the University of Rhode Island. He went on to tally 160 receptions for 2,426 yards (15.2 avg.) and 15 touchdowns in his collegiate career and was a consensus All-American in 1992.
PLAYING CAREER: Rhode Island, 1989-92. COACHING CAREER: Colgate, 1993; New Haven, 1994-97; Northeastern, 1998; New Haven (head coach), 1991-2001; Rutgers, 2002-07; Rhode Island (head coach), 2008; Miami Dolphins, 2009-18; New Orleans Saints, 2019-.
D.J. Williams, a former college quarterback, enters his fifth season with the New Orleans Saints as an offensive assistant, after helping the coaching staff during 2017 training camp and both the club’s coaches and football operations in 2018. Williams graduated from Grambling State in 2015, where he played quarterback for the Tigers from 20112014, starting contests all four seasons and earning tryouts with several NFL teams following the conclusion of his college career.
D.J. Williams is the son of Washington Commanders executive Doug
passes defensed. In 2022, Thompson finished second on the team with 109 stops and added two takeaways and a club-best eight passes defensed.
Prior to beginning his coaching career, Robertson played four seasons at Iowa State and 12 years in the NFL for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (1991-00) and the Seattle Seahawks (2001-02) after being drafted by Houston as a fourth-round selection (102nd overall) in the 1991 NFL Draft.
PLAYING CAREER: Iowa State, 1987-90; Houston Oilers/Tennessee, 1991-2000; Seattle Seahawks, 2001-02. COACHING CAREER: Tennessee Titans, 2007-11; Detroit Lions, 2012-13; Oakland Raiders, 2014-16; Denver Broncos, 201718; Arizona Cardinals, 2019-22; New Orleans Saints, 2023-.
downs (49). Kamara also moved into second place in club record books in total yards from scrimmage (8,888), third place with 5,135 career rushing yards and fifth place with 430 receptions. Mark Ingram II added to his totals as the franchise’s all-time rushing leader (6,500) and is only the third player in club records with 8,300 yards from scrimmage (8,304).
Thomas lettered at Idaho from 1993-98, where he was a two-time, first-team All-Big West selection, including Conference Player of the Year as a senior. He holds Vandals career records with 3,929 rushing yards and 51 rushing touchdowns. He was inducted into the University of Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame in 2008 and earned his degree in public communications in 1998.
PLAYING CAREER: Idaho, 1993-98. COACHING CAREER: Purdue, 2000-01; Louisville, 2002-03; Idaho, 2004-05; Purdue, 2006-08; Washington, 200912; Arkansas, 2013-14; New Orleans Saints, 2015-.
The Gilmer, Texas, native, who played quarterback and wide receiver in high school, started his collegiate playing career at Mississippi College from 2012-13, before transferring to play quarterback at Texas A&M from 2014-15, where he was a Southeastern Conference All-Academic selection. Traylor is the son of UTSA Head Coach Jeff Traylor.
PLAYING CAREER: Mississippi College, 2012-13; Texas A&M, 2014-15.
COACHING CAREER: Texas, 2016-17; Arkansas, 2018; New Orleans Saints, 2021-.
Williams, who won Super Bowl XXII as their starting quarterback, the pinnacle of his 12-year storied pro playing career, followed by a long tenure in NFL front offices.
From 2019-21 and in 2023, Williams has participated in the NFL/Black College Football Hall of Fame Quarterback Coaching Summit. He served as the National Team quarterbacks coach at the 2023 Senior Bowl.
PLAYING CAREER: Grambling State, 2011-14. COACHING CAREER: New Orleans Saints, 2019-.
JORDAN TRAYLOR - OFFENSIVE ASSISTANT
JOEL THOMAS - RUNNING BACKS
D.J. WILLIAMS - OFFENSIVE ASSISTANT
Joe Woods is in his first season as the Saints’ defensive coordinator. A 31-year coaching veteran, including the last 19 in the NFL, Woods will enter his sixth season as a defensive coordinator after spending the last three coordinating the Cleveland Browns defense.
In 2022, Woods led a Browns defense that had an evolving cast of personnel due to injuries. Despite the changes, the Browns tied for fourth in the NFL in passes defensed, ranked fifth in pass defense and helped Cleveland with four of its last seven games after a 3-7 start, surrendering 17 points or fewer in five of the contests. In 2020, Woods helped the Browns reach the playoffs for the first time since 2002, as they led the NFL with six red zone takeaways and tied for second in the league with 17 forced fumbles. Over his 19-year career among the
Brian Young enters his eighth season as the club’s pass rush specialist. In his 15th season as a valued member of the New Orleans Saints coaching staff, Young has worked with all of the club’s front seven position groups after breaking into the ranks as a coaching assistant from 2009-11 following the conclusion of a nine-year playing career and 124 games along the defensive line in the National Football League.
Since 2017, New Orleans’ 281 sacks rank first in the NFC and second in the league, nine different defensive linemen have produced multi-sack games and the New Orleans defense went an NFL-record 55 regular season and postseason games without allowing a 100-yard rusher between the 2017-20 campaigns. The Saints have ranked in the top ten in sacks five of the last six seasons and have finished in the top five in run defense in four of the last five campaigns. During the 2022
NFL coaching ranks, Woods has tutored 15 Pro Bowl selections and two members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Before the start of his coaching career, Woods lettered four years as a cornerback and safety at Illinois State, where he served as a team captain during his senior year in 1991 and went on to earn first-team All-Gateway Conference following his final season.
PLAYING CAREER: Illinois State, 1988-91. COACHING CAREER: Muskigum College, 1992; Eastern Michigan, 1993; Northwestern State, 1994; Grand Valley State, 1994-96; Kent State, 1997; Hofstra, 1998-2000; Western Michigan, 2001-03; Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2004-05; Minnesota Vikings, 2006-13; Oakland Raiders, 2014; Denver Broncos, 2015-18; San Francisco 49ers, 2019; Cleveland Browns, 2020-22; New Orleans Saints, 2023-.
season, Young helped the Saints produce 48 sacks to finish the year tied for fifth in the NFL. He also coached defensive end Cameron Jordan to a season where he led the team with 8.5 sacks and reached his seventh consecutive Pro Bowl and eighth overall, becoming the franchise’s alltime takedown leader.
Young first joined the Saints coaching staff in 2009, after concluding a nine-year NFL playing career, during which he posted 22.5 sacks and eight fumble recoveries. From 2004-08, he served as a valuable member of the Saints interior defensive line rotation, starting 58-of-64 contests. Young played at Texas-El Paso from 1996-99 and is a member of the El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame and the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame.
PLAYING CAREER: Texas El-Paso, 1996-99; St. Louis Rams, 2000-03; New Orleans Saints, 2004-08. COACHING CAREER: New Orleans Saints, 2009-.
EXECUTIVE
Gayle Benson Owner & Chief Executive Officer
Melissa Manwaring Senior Executive Assistant to the Owner
Melissa Hoang Executive Personal Assistant to the Owner
Eldric Washington Personal Assistant to the Owner
FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
Mickey Loomis Executive Vice President/General Manager
Khai Harley Assistant General Manager/Vice President of Football Operations
Scott Kuhn Director of Football Administration
Derek Stamnos Director of Operations
Grant Matthews Manager of Team Operations
Debbie Gallagher Executive Asst. to EVP/General Manager
Zach Stuart Director of Analytics
PLAYER PERSONNEL
Jeff Ireland Vice President/Assistant General Manager-College Personnel
Michael Parenton Director of Pro Personnel
Ryan Powell Pro Scout
Justin Matthews Pro Scout
Tosan Eyetsemitan Pro Scout
Cody Rager Assistant College Scouting Director
Mike Baugh National Scout
Terry Wooden National Scout
Mike DiJulio Area Scout
Jon Sandusky Area Scout
Casey Talley Area Scout
Joey Vitt Jr. Area Scout
Paul Zimmer Area Scout
C.J. Leak Area Scout
Scott Campbell Senior College Scouting Analyst
Matt Phillips Combine Scout
Ryan Herman Football Research & Strategy
Will Martinez Scouting Coordinator
Ziad Qubti College Scouting Coordinator
Chad Vincent Director of Football Applications
Ben Autin Senior Software Developer
Abby Wingo Software Developer
Alex Santana Associate Software Developer
Harry Piper Scouting Assistant
Rishi Desai Scouting Assistant
COACHING
Dennis Allen Head Coach
Clancy Barone Tight Ends
Bob Bicknell Senior Offensive Assistant
Kodi Burns Wide Receivers
Pete Carmichael Offensive Coordinator
Kevin Carberry Assistant Offensive Line
Ronald Curry Passing Game Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Jahri Evans Offensive Assistant
Phil Galiano Assistant Special Teams
Matt Giordano Defensive Assistant
Peter Giunta Senior Defensive Assistant
Adam Gristick Defensive Assistant
Michael Hodges Linebackers
Doug Marrone Offensive Line
Mike Martinez Assistant to the Head Coach
Todd Grantham Defensive Line
Kevin Petry Offensive Assistant
Marcus Robertson Secondary
Darren Rizzi Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator
Joel Thomas Running Backs
Jordan Traylor Offensive Assistant
D.J. WIlliams Offensive Assistant
Joe Woods Defensive Coordinator
Brian Young Pass Rush Specialist
EQUIPMENT
John Baumgartner Head Equipment Manager
Corey Gaudet Assistant Equipment Manager
Richard Killian Assistant Equipment Manager
Ben Steib Equipment Assistant
COMMUNICATIONS
Doug Miller Executive Director of Football Communications
Justin Macione Director of Football Communications
Sam Shannon Corporate Communications Manager
Davis Friend Football Communications Coordinator
Dan Simmons Alumni/Legends Development Coordinator
Grant Segar Communications and Government Relations Associate
PLAYER ENGAGEMENT
Fred McAfee Vice President of Player Engagement
Danny Lawless Director of Security
Evan Meyers Assistant Player Engagement/Legends & Alumni Manager
ATHLETIC TRAINING
Ben Stollberg Director of Sports Medicine
Shone Gipson Head Athletic Trainer
Jonathan Gress Director of Rehabilitation
Kevin Mangum Assistant Athletic Trainer
Bobby Feeback Assistant Athletic Trainer
Jamie Meeks Director of Sports Nutrition
MEDICAL STAFF
Dr. John Amoss Chief of Internal Medicine
Dr. Karim Meijer Team Orthopedist
Dr. W. Stephen Choate
VIDEO Dave Desposito
Joe Alley Assistant
Tim Youngblood
Chris McNeice
ADMINISTRATION
Team Orthopedist
Dr. Hazem Eissa Team Physician
SPORTS SCIENCE/STRENGTH & CONDITIONING
Matt Rhea Director of Sports Science
Matt Clapp Strength & Conditioning
Charles Byrd Strength & Conditioning
Rob Wenning Strength & Conditioning
Video Director
Video Director
Video Assistant
Video Assistant
Dennis Lauscha President
Greg Bensel Senior Vice President of Communications, Broadcast, Community and Governmental Relations
Ben Hales Senior Vice President of Marketing and Operations
Ed Lang Senior Vice President of Finance/CFO
Vicky Neumeyer Senior Vice President/General Counsel
Greg Rouchell Senior Vice President of Human Resources
Michael Stanfield Senior Vice President of Sales
Jeanne Brown Executive Assistant to the President
BUSINESS OPERATIONS
Stephen Pate Vice President of Business Operations
Ian Tigchelaar Senior Director of Business/Marketing Operations
Katie Krajcer Director of Event Policies and Fan Engagement
Morgan Parmer Senior Manager, Initiatives
Megan Bourg Manager of Event Policy and Fan Engagement
Courtney Kennedy Operations Manager
Giancarlo Hernandez Operations and Fan Engagement Coordinator
Brady Johnson Operations and Fan Engagement Associate
SOCIAL UNIFICATION/YOUTH SPORTS
Elicia Broussard Sheridan Senior Director of Social Unification/Youth Sports
Austin Pasco Manager, Youth Programs
Jason Lapouble Community Relations Manager
Adam Fournier Senior Coordinator, Community Engagement
DIGITAL MEDIA
Doug Tatum Vice President, Digital Media
Alex Restrepo Senior Director of Social Media
Beth Blackburn Director of Digital Media
Andy Weilbaecher Digital Developer
Megan Kottemann Social Media Manager
Justin Vlosich
Madison Leavelle
Media Coordinator
Media Illustrator
Christian Verde Social Media Coordinator
Tatiana Lubanko
Jean Marie Jenkins
Hannah McCreight
Andrew Lang
Michael C. Hebert
PRODUCTION
Media Coordinator
Media Associate
Social Media Associate
Digital Media Associate
Director of Photography
Shaneika Dabney-Henderson Vice President of Production
James Crosbie
Layne Murdoch Jr.
Jon Lavengetto
Senior Director of Production
Director of Photography
Senior Content Manager
Brendan Hassett Livestream Manager
Jon Mahody
John Sebag
Brianna Latino
Shota Hashimoto
Blairre Perriatt
Ryan Micklin
Chrys Sims
BROADCAST
Producer/Editor
Videographer/Content Creator
Director of Production
Senior Motion Graphics Manager
Motion Graphics Senior Coordinator
Junior Editor
Producer/Editor
John DeShazier Senior Writer/Digital Media Contributor
Todd Graffagnin
Erin Summers
Digital Media Contributor
Broadcast Coordinator
Josh Richardson Gameday Producer
MARKETING STRATEGY, CREATIVE SERVICES, EVENTS & GAME PRESENTATION
Nancy Gold
Mariana Jerez
Andy Antunez
Luke Halverson
Vice President, Brand Strategy
Special Events Manger
Marketing Manager
Graphic Designer
Christopher Grim Graphic Designer
Tiana Watts
Graphic Designer
Dan Askin Director of Digital Marketing
Sara Anderson Director, Entertainment Teams
Jenny Craig Assistant Manager, Entertainment Teams
Chryssi Flores Director, Game Experience
Hailey Williams Senior Game Experience Coordinator
Jessica Weinberg Live Entertainment Coordinator
Charity Mackey Brand and Events Coordinator
Anitra Christman Game Experience Coordinator
Kinsey Hopkins-Campbell Game Experience Coordinator
Issmeal Anany Game Experience Coordinator
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Rich Barbier Vice President, Consumer Insights & Analytics
Basem Elkhatib Senior Business Intelligence Analyst
Sarah Lassman Senior Business Intelligence Analyst
Luis Carlos Villaseñor
Business Intelligence Analyst
Victoria Boldis Consumer Insights Analyst
CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP
Matt Webb Vice President, Corporate Partnerships
Erica Bernadas Director, Partnership Marketing, Sales & Innovation
Victoria Leahy Partnership Sales, Account Manager
Johnny Pizzo Sales Director, Corporate Partnerships
Andrew Boylan Partnership Sales, Account Manager
Erik Naranjo
Created by Law - November 8, 1966 Construction Began - August 11, 1971
Opened - August 3, 1975
• New Orleans Saints (NFL Football)
• Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic (NCAA Division I Football)
• State Farm Bayou Classic (Southern U. vs. Grambling State Football)
• R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (NCAA Division I Football)
• LHSAA/State Farm Prep Classic (State High School Football Championships)
• Super Bowls XII (1978), XV (1981), XX (1986), XXIV (1990), XXXI (1997), XXXVI (2002), XLVII (2013)
• NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four 1982, 1987, 1993, 2003, 2012
• Saints played first professional football game inside the Superdome when they hosted the Houston Oilers on August 9, 1975
• Alabama beat Penn State 13-6 in first Sugar Bowl game in the Superdome in 1976
• “Pistol Pete” Maravich & New Orleans Jazz set NBA crowd mark of 35,077 in 1977
• Muhammad Ali defeated Leon Spinks before 65,000 in 1978
• LSU-Notre Dame basketball game in 1980 set the NCAA record attendance of 68,112
• Sugar Ray Leonard defeated Roberto Duran in “No Mas” fight in 1980
• Pope John Paul II addressed 80,000 school children in 1987
• George Bush nominated for election at 1988 Republican National Convention
• Grambling’s Eddie Robinson coached his final game in 1997 Bayou Classic
• Tulane rolled out a perfect 12-0 season in 1998
• #2 LSU defeated #1 Oklahoma 21-14 to win college football national title in 2004
• Saints defeated Falcons 23-3 in first game after Hurricane Katrina on Sept. 25, 2006
• Saints beat the Eagles 27-24 to advance to NFC championship game for the first time in team history on Jan. 13, 2007
• LSU beat Ohio State 38-24 to win BCS Championship before record crowd of 79,651
• Saints defeated the Vikings 31-28 in overtime in first NFC Championship game they hosted to advance to Super Bowl XLIV, before 71,276 on Jan. 24, 2010.
• In the midst of a comprehensive multi-season transformation that started in 2020, which will result in one of the most state-of-the art facilities in the world, the club has reached a 20-year naming rights agreement with Caesars Entertainment to rename the stadium the Caesars Superdome.
Saints 26, Buccaneers 20 at Raymond
In the first NFC South Division matchup for both clubs following realignment, the Saints held a 20-10 third quarter lead following a 41-yard touchdown connection between QB Aaron Brooks and rookie WR Donte’ Stallworth. The Saints had their sights set on winning, but the Buccaneers tied the score in the fourth quarter with a 11-yard touchdown pass from QB Brad Johnson to WR Joe Jurevicius and a 40-yard field goal as time expired. Each team had a pair of possessions in overtime that resulted in punts, New Orleans’ final punt by Dirk Johnson pinning Tampa Bay back at their six yard line following a tackle for a four-yard loss by S Mel Mitchell. Tampa Bay gained only one yard on their first three plays of their final possession. Buccaneers P Tom Tupa was unable to get a punt off from his end zone after being harassed by special teams ace Fred McAfee, and trying to avoid a safety, threw an errant pass into the hands of LB James Allen in the end zone to give the Saints the 26-20 walk-off win. RB Deuce McAllister carried 31 times for 109 yards in his debut as New Orleans’ feature back. WR Joe Horn led the Saints in receiving with eight grabs for 108 yards. S Sammy Knight tied for the team lead with 11 tackles, a sack and pass defense.
Saints 9, Buccaneers 3 at Superdome
The Saints improved to 4-4 with standout perfor mances on defense and special teams. Winning the battle of field position and coming up with three takeaways helped keep the Buccaneers out of the end zone. The defense surrendered only 238 net yards, just 58 rushing. After an unsuccessful first offensive drive for New Orleans, Tampa Bay WR Jacquez Green returned a punt 55 yards to the New Orleans 25 yard line. At the Saints three-yard line, S Sammy Knight recovered a fumble to help extinguish a scoring drive. On the first play of the second quarter, Knight intercepted Tampa Bay QB Trent Dilfer for a 26-yard return and Saints K Doug Brien would kick a 46-yard field goal for the game’s first points. At the start of the third quarter, both teams traded field goals and Tampa Bay saw opportunity following a New Orleans fumble at their 20-yard line. But a 32-yard field goal attempt by Buccaneers K Michael Husted went wide left, as well as a subsequent 48-yard attempt at the start of the fourth quarter. Brien managed a third field goal in the contest and S Chad Cota recorded a key pick inside the twominute warning as the Saints held on.
An undrafted free agent out of Weber State in 2022, Rashid Shaheed quickly made a name for himself once getting called up from the practice squad in Week Six of 2022. After a dynamic rookie campaign that started as a return specialist and evolved within offensive gameplans, Shaheed has blossomed into one of the most explosive weapons in both phases for the Black and Gold. His extensive offseason work at wideout was evidenced in the Week One win over the Titans, as he racked up five catches for 89 yards and the team’s only touchdown score, including a 41-yard grab to help seal the victory. He also contributed 11 yards rushing and 116 yards in the return game to accumulate a career-high 216 all-purpose yards. In Sunday’s loss at Green Bay, Shaheed was a sparkplug with a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown. Both Offensive Coordinator Pete Carmichael and Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi are happy to have Shaheed on their side today.
Lavonte David has been a staple of the Tampa Bay defense for more than a decade. In his 11 previous years in the NFL, David has posted 100-plus tackles nine times, while also contributing 30 sacks and 27 forced fumbles. His play on the field has produced three all pro selections (one first-team and two second-team) and a Super Bowl LV victory over the Chiefs. 2023 marks the 10th straight season David has been selected as a team captain. He and the physical Buccaneers defense will have their hands full trying to contain a dangerous Saints offense that adds star running back Alvin Kamara back to the lineup this afternoon.
A group of high school-aged youth sat in an auditorium this past winter and looked up to a brightly lit stage donned with some of New Orleans’ most prominent figures. In just six months they would again be sitting there, as graduates of the first class of the Devoted Dreamers Academy.
What started in 2013 as a one-week camp has blossomed into a year-round tutoring program and elite 7v7 football team. The Davises have even bigger plans to turn it into a fully operating school aimed to serve as a place for young men and women to develop not just physically, but also mentally and academically, in order to thrive in any environment.
The program has already seen many successes since its beginnings, with the past four years seeing a 100% rate of matriculation to college with more than 50 young men on scholarship and over 25 on a Division I football team. It’s a program founded on a decade of research done by Saints linebacker Demario Davis and his wife, Tamela, but also built on a dream.
“I feel like in my story I didn’t make the right decisions; that’s not why I made it. Devoted Dreamers was actually birthed out of my story and wanting to do something different for kids, to reach kids that were like myself,” Demario Davis said. Davis’ story begins in his hometown of Brandon, Mississippi.
He attributes his love of football to his athletic family, with cousins who were the best on their teams, like former NFL standout quarterback Steve McNair. As soon as Davis stepped on the field for his first competitive game in organized football, he knew he too had something special inside of him.
“I was playing running back and the first game I might’ve scored four touchdowns and by the end of the season I had scored 43, 44-some touchdowns,” he said. He recalls thinking to himself, “You know what? I think I’m pretty good at this.”
Of course, Davis isn’t just pretty good at football. He was an Associated Press first-team All-Pro in 2019, a three-time second-team All-Pro, and in 2022, he was selected to the Pro Bowl as the only linebacker in the NFL to play every single defensive snap. Davis is one of the greats at the most elite level of football.
He knows his career could have not ended up this way – that it could’ve easily never taken off.
There is one night in particular that sticks in his mind. The sky was dark as Davis and his friends were running around exploring abandoned buildings. All of a sudden, a sharp shard of glass pierced his skin in the forearm just above his wrist and he started bleeding. Nearly blacking out as he ran home, he began to wash the wound with water but the water cut straight to the bone. That night ended with Davis in the hospital and he was lucky that the
injury didn’t happen only inches away or the story would have ended much differently.
That’s when he heard The Voice for the first time. “That was strike two,” it said.
Davis knew at that moment that the voice was God intervening. For the rest of high school, he focused on school and football, making straight A’s his junior and senior years while graduating with an athletic scholarship to play football at Arkansas State.
But during his freshman year of college, he found himself falling back into old habits and ended up spending the night in a jail after shoplifting snacks from a Wal-Mart. As he looked around, he saw his teammates doing a lot of the same things. That’s when he knew he had to change for good this time to make it to where he wanted to be, not just for himself, but for his teammates and community.
“Your test just becomes your testimony. So everything I went through prepared me for how I lead now,” said Davis. “I needed to go through what I went through for my own life and my own journey, but also to be able to help others.”
Since entering the NFL as a third round pick of the New York Jets in 2012, Devoted Dreamers has become Davis’ outlet to help others, especially the youth in communities like his hometown.
“Football is what I do but it’s not who I am,” Davis says. “I think who I am on top of being a servant of God and what he’s given me the ability to do is lead young men and women to be the future leaders of the world and that’s where I derive
a lot of passion from is pouring into them.”
On that Saturday in late July, as the first class of Devoted Dreamers graduated, Davis felt pride. He said that as he looks at them, he sees in each young man and woman in his Academy a future leader, whether it be on their athletic team or in their community.
At the same time, football can’t be forgotten for a minute. Six-time defensive team captain, four-time All-Pro, 1,234 career tackles, 37 sacks, three interceptions, 51 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and seven recoveries. In 2022, leading his team in tackles for the fifth consecutive season and adding a career-high 6.5 sacks earned him his first Pro Bowl berth. This is some of the past.
The present was victoriously on display on Sunday, Sept. 10, at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans’ 16-15 season-opening win over the Tennessee Titans. It started in pregame with a rousing sermon to his teammates pregame, telling his teammates to “Think About The Now.”
It continued for three hours and 17 minutes throughout the contest, when Davis and his teammates only allowed Titans RB Derrick Henry to gain 63 yards rushing, Davis leading the charge with a team-leading 10 tackles, often bottling up the three-time Pro Bowler.
After the game, Davis, who places an emphasis on faith, family and football, met with the media, but to discuss the first two. He clearly connected the concepts of faith in God
and family, recounting in detail how his daughter, Carly-Faith, had an epileptic seizure at the family’s house during a children’s gathering over the weekend. Davis went in-depth about he and Tamela, having to bring Carly-Faith to the hospital, relied on a combination of the medical professionals, care and prayer.
Prayers were answered with a full recovery in process, as was explained by Davis at the podium, not saying a word about football, yet painting a picture of his weekend and his priorities. He was still able to concentrate and provide inspiration and production to his teammates and team once his daughter’s condition improved, none of them knowing about his family’s crisis.
“He’s a great leader for our team and honestly, we didn’t know that he was going through that with his daughter this week,” Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis said on his radio show two days later. “And so for him to come out and focus and play great football, it’s a testament to just his character, the kind of person he is. We’re so proud of him, not just on the field but off the field. Just praying for him and his daughter and his family … He’s a spectacular individual and a spectacular representative of the New Orleans Saints.”
Exemplary leadership and production are what has come to be expected from Davis and that will continue to be the standard in 2023.
The 2-1 New Orleans Saints return to the Caesars Superdome after a two-game road trip to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1). The NFC South rivals have faced off 62 times in the regular season, with New Orleans holding a 39-23 series lead.
After three seasons with Tom Brady, the Buccaneers turned to a new signal caller this offseason with the legendary quarterback’s retirement, signing unrestricted free agent Baker Mayfield. Despite that and several other changes at various positions and on the coaching staff, they have started off fast in 2023 with wins over NFC North teams Minnesota and Chicago. Mayfield has been helped offensively with their wideout duo of standout veterans Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. On the other side of the ball, they remain the stingy unit of recent years that is led by head coach Todd Bowles, who has earned his chops in the league engineering top level defenses and their linebacking corps of Devin White, Lavonte David and Shaquil Barrett- all of whom have been selected to at least one All-Pro team.
The Saints have gotten off to a 2-1 start in 2023, looking to rebound from a road bump of an 18-17 loss last Sunday at Green Bay. With Derek Carr being forced to leave Sunday’s contest with a shoulder injury, a week of practice and health evaluation will decide if the Black and Gold go with Carr or Jameis Winston. Whichever signalcaller leads the passing game will have the opportunity to work with the wide receiver trio of Michael Thomas, Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, a group that possesses attributes of consistency with the ability to make big plays. The Saints will also get back one of their biggest weapons today, as running back Alvin Kamara will make his season debut.
Defensively, Dennis Allen’s unit has been among the most dominant in the league once again to start the year. All three levels have contributed to the Saints being ranked in the top ten in the NFL in both total defense and opponent points per game. Defensive end Carl Granderson, who signed a four-year contract extension last Saturday, has been a game wrecker for opposing quarterbacks, leading the team with 2.5 sacks, while linebacker Demario Davis with 20 tackles and one sack and lockdown corner Marshon Lattimore continue to be among the NFL’s best at their positions. A pair of draft picks in linebacker Pete Werner (2021), who leads the team with 26 tackles, and cornerback Alontae Taylor (2022), who had a career-high five passes defensed on Sunday, the NFL’s highest single-game total this season, show promise.
Meetings between the Saints and Buccaneers have been ultra-competitive battles, especially in recent years. Both defenses have been the story in the last three meetings between the clubs, with the winning team’s average score being just 15 points and New Orleans shutting out Tampa Bay en route to a 9-0 victory back in 2021. Expect a physical game this afternoon between elite defenses with special teams units playing a major role.
City Champ is 65. He bears some of the signs that Father Time stamps to everyone – gray hair, a few extra pounds, a tick or two slower on the reflexes.
But City Champ still is City Champ. The smile is as devilish as it was during a Pro Football Hall of Fame career in which he punished opponents with a ferocity that was the foundation to the Dome Patrol, the most dominant linebacking unit in NFL history. This will forever ensure his beloved status as a New Orleans Saints legend. He’s as engaged
as he’s ever been – when he’s not in New Orleans and other cities checking on his current business interests or exploring new ones, he’s playing golf with fellow Hall of Famers like Lawrence Taylor and Eric Dickerson. Rickey Anderson Jackson, the Saints’ second-round draft choice (No. 51 overall) in 1981 and arguably the best defensive player in franchise history, appears to have no plan to slow down. Even today, he’s in the process of completing unfinished business.
Jackson recently finished the coursework to earn his history degree from the University of Pittsburgh. On April 30, he walked across the stage to complete the process he started when he entered Pitt in 1977 as a freshman from Pahokee, Fla., who’d go on to become an Associated Press second-team All-American in 1980.
One of the reasons he chose to earn the degree was because it was a requirement for him to be able to join the local graduate chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., which now can be completed.
“I was so close, I was like a couple of hours away from getting it, it didn’t make sense not to go back and get it,” Jackson said of the degree. “And then, I wanted to pledge Kappa. You have to have your degree to pledge (graduate chapter). That really kicked it off for me to go back,” he explained.
“I started out pledging (as an undergraduate) in ‘78. I was (participating in the pledging process) for four weeks. Guys were hazing, so (the chapter) got suspended. It was something that I always still wanted. It was something that I didn’t complete – I didn’t complete the degree and I didn’t complete that. Those two things were always in the back of my mind of going back to do,” he said.
Those tasks completed, it seems a perfect time for City Champ – a nickname that has been with him since childhood, he said – to reflect on turning 65 in the spring and a relationship with a city that has watched him grow from a rambunctious youngster to elder statesman.
“I’ve had a great life here,” said Jackson, who also spends time in West Palm Beach, Fla. “Coming here in ‘81 as a young man and getting a chance to grow all these years here, everybody kind of embraced me. It’s like a new home for me, that’s why I’ve never left here, because the people are like family. It’s like I made a new family,” he said, adding, “I always tried to have business in the city, and it worked out for me. I still have a lot of business that I do in the city, so I have to be here.”
Even when he isn’t here, he’s here, especially during football season. The No. 57 jersey remains a fan favorite, and rightfully so.
Jackson was the Saints’ all-time leader in sacks, with 115 in 195 games, from 1993 until last season, when defensive end Cam Jordan topped the mark. He remains the franchise leader with 38 forced fumbles – he led the league in forced fumbles four times – and is first in defensive fumble recoveries, with 27.
He was a five-time AP All-Pro, a seventime Pro Bowler and is a member of the Saints Hall of Fame and the Louisiana
Sports Hall of Fame, and is one of the initial inductees into the Saints Ring of Honor.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Even when I go downtown, you see ‘57’ and you see ‘Jackson,’ it means they appreciate some of the things you did while you were here on the field.”
Now, long off the field, Jackson has the opportunity to reflect and take stock of what he sees in today’s NFL. The starkest difference, of course, is financial.
“There’s so much money out there now,” he said. “When I was coming along, it was about trying to make some Pro Bowls and trying to see how far you can go with football. It’s not like that now, he said.
“They’re giving guys $10 million, $15 million and they don’t have to do nothing. I don’t blame them, though. We didn’t have money like that and guys before us didn’t have money like that,” Jackson said. “Now, you look at a defensive guy getting $20 or $30 million. Imagine if L.T. and Reggie White could have made that kind of money. It wasn’t there for us. It’s there for the young boys, I’m happy for them. Some of them are stealing, but I’m still happy for them,” he said.
Here, he smiles.
That devilish grin.
City Champ is still City Champ.
Defensive end Cameron Jordan will play in his 196th regular season game today, moving him into a tie for second place with Pro Football Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen on the team’s games played list
With 544 career receptions, wide receiver Michael Thomas has surpassed former Black and Gold wideout Eric Martin to move into second place on the club’s catches list.
Safety Tyrann Mathieu will play in his 150th career regular season game today when he suits up against the Buccaneers.
29 Adebo, Paulson CB 6-1/192 7/3/99 3
0 Amadi, Ugo S 5-9/201 5/16/97 5
53 Baun, Zack LB 6-3/225 12/30/96 4
5 Bowden Jr., Lynn WR 6-1/204 10/14/97 3
Mansfield, Texas
Tenn.
Brown Deer, Wis.
Warren, Ohio 90 Bresee, Bryan DT 6-5/305 10/6/01 R Clemson Damascus, Md.
4 Carr, Derek QB 6-3/215 3/28/91 10 Fresno State Bakersfield, Calif.
56 Davis, Demario LB 6-2/248 1/11/89 12 Arkansas State Brandon, Miss.
55 Foskey, Isaiah DE 6-5/265 10/30/00 R Notre Dame Concord, Calif.
73 Garcia, Max G 6-4/309 11/9/91 9 Florida Norcross, Ga.
80 Graham, Jimmy TE 6-7/265 10/24/86 13 Miami (Fla.) Goldsboro, N.C. 96 Granderson, Carl DE 6-5/261 12/18/96 5 Wyoming Sacramento, Calif.
48 Gray, J.T. DB 6-0/202 1/18/96 6 Mississippi State Clarksdale, Miss.
19 Grupe, Blake K 5-7/156 11/5/98 R Notre Dame Sedalia, Mo. 39 Hedley, Lou P 6-4/220 6/27/93 R Miami (Fla.) Mandurah, Au.
Hill, Taysom
Howden, Jordan
Hurst, James
Jackson, D’Marco
Idaho
S.C.
Kamara, Alvin RB 5-10/215 7/25/95 7
Atlanta, Ga. 18 Kirkwood, Keith WR 6-3/210 12/26/94 4
Neptune Township, N.J. 92 Kpassagnon, Tanoh DE 6-7/289 6/14/94 7 Villanova Ambler, Pa. 23 Lattimore, Marshon CB 6-0/192 5/20/96 7 Ohio State Cleveland, Ohio
32 Mathieu, Tyrann S 5-9/190 5/13/92 11 LSU New Orleans, La.
78 McCoy, Erik C/G 6-4/303 8/27/97 5 Texas A&M Lufkin, Texas
25 Miller, Kendre RB 6-0/220 6/11/02 R TCU Mount Enterprise, Texas 87 Moreau, Foster TE 6-4/250 5/6/97 5 LSU New Orleans, La. 12 Olave, Chris WR 6-0/187 6/27/00 2 Ohio State San Marcos, Calif.
75 Peat, Andrus G/T 6-7/316 11/4/93 9 Stanford Tempe, Ariz 70 Penning, Trevor T 6-7/325 5/15/99 2 Northern Iowa Mason City, Iowa 17 Perry, A.T. WR 6-5/205
Clovis, Calif.
Ramczyk, Ryan T 6-6/314 4/22/94 7 Wisconsin Stevens Point, Wis. 97 Roach, Malcolm DL 6-3/290 6/9/98 4
Baton Rouge, La. 51 Ruiz, Cesar C/G 6-4/316 6/14/99
Todd Bowles was hired as the 13th head coach in Buccaneers history on March 30, 2022. He enters his second season as head coach and 28th in the National Football League. In his first campaign in 2022, he led the Buccaneers to an 8-9 record and NFC South Division title.
Prior to his promotion, he spent the previous three seasons as defensive coordinator and was instrumental in helping Tampa Bay win Super Bowl LV against the Kansas City Chiefs, holding them to just nine points. Under his command, from 2019-2021 the defensive unit was third in the league in both takeaways (82) and sacks (142) as one of only two teams in the league to be top five in both categories. In addition, the Buccaneers defense led the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game, yards per attempt, fumble recoveries, and passes defensed. In six postseason games as DC during that span, his unit tallied 16 takeaways, seven more than any other club.
Bowles spent 2015-2018 as head coach of the New York Jets, where he led them to 10 wins in his first season. In the 2013-2014 seasons, he served as defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals. During that span, Arizona’s defense
ranked top five in rushing touchdowns allowed, points per game, rushing yards per game and interceptions. In 2014, he was honored as AP and PFWA Assistant Coach of the Year.
Earlier in his career, Bowles served as Defensive Backs Coach/ Interim Defensive Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles (2012), Assistant Head Coach/Secondary Coach for the Miami Dolphins (2008-2011), Secondary Coach of the Dallas Cowboys (2005-2007), Secondary Coach for the Cleveland Browns (2004), Defensive Nickel Package Coach for the Browns (2001-2003) and Secondary Coach for the New York Jets (2000) after receiving NFL front office experience with the Green Bay Packers Player Personnel Staff (1995-1996).
Bowles got his start coaching in 1997 as defensive coordinator for Morehouse College and went on to serve the same role for Grambling State (1998-99).
He enjoyed an eight-year NFL career at the safety position after going undrafted in 1986 out of Temple. He was a member of the Washington Redskins (1986-90, 1992-93), starting on the 1987 team that won Super Bowl XXII, while also playing for the San Francisco 49ers (1991).
A native of Elizabeth, N.J., Bowles was born on Nov. 18, 1963.
9/10/2023 W 16 - 15 Tennessee Titans
9/18/2023 W 20 - 17 at Carolina Panthers
9/24/2023 L 17 - 18 at Green Bay Packers
4th
4th
2-Pt. Conversions: Team 0/0, Opponents: 2/2
Sacks: C.Granderson 2.5, A.Taylor 1.0, N.Shepherd 1.0, D.Davis 1.0, M.Maye 1.0, B.Bresee 0.5, P.Werner 0.5, C.Jordan 0.5
Team: 8.0, Opponents: 12.0
Fumbles Lost: R.Shaheed 1 Total: 1
Opponent Fumble Recoveries: P.Adebo 1 Total: 1
9/10/2023 W 20 - 17 at Minnesota Vikings
9/17/2023 W 27 - 17 Chicago Bears
9/25/2023 L 11 - 25 Philadelphia Eagles
In the New Orleans Saints’ 16-15 season-opening victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sept. 10, cornerback Marshon Lattimore was at the top of his game. Lattimore finished with four passes defensed, the third time in his seven-year career. He had at least four in a contest and tied for the second-highest total of his professional tenure. Midway through the second quarter, Lattimore picked off Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill for his 15th career interception, moving into a tie for 8th all-time in team record books
