Saints make a giant mistake with latest coaching hire

The New Orleans Saints have picked their next defensive coordinator and it’s a questionable hire at best: former Cleveland Browns coach Joe Woods.

A year after losing Sean Payton, the New Orleans Saints’ coaching staff is due for even more turmoil given the franchise’s most recent hire. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Saints are expected to bring on Joe Woods as their defensive coordinator for 2023.

Woods previously worked with head coach Dennis Allen back in 2014 when both coached for the Oakland Raiders. Woods served as the defensive backs coach that year before joining the Denver Broncos in 2016 and working his way up to defensive coordinator; in total, he has five years of defensive coordinator experience.

Yet Woods is coming off a pitiful 2022 campaign in which he was fired by the Cleveland Browns after three seasons of serving as the defensive coordinator.

The biggest and perhaps the only advantage of Woods’ hire is his familiarity with Dennis Allen — but during their brief time spent together on the Raiders, Allen started the season 0-4 and was subsequently let go. Do the Saints really want this duo leading their defense for years to come?

Saints swing and miss on defensive coordinator by bringing on Joe Woods

With his first year as head coach in the books, Dennis Allen will likely remain the team’s primary defensive play-caller this upcoming season as he carries plenty of experience in that category from the Sean Payton era.

After the Saints finished with a 7-10 record and missed the playoffs in 2023, however, some fans are already clamoring for Allen’s head. The Saints’ latest hire does little to inspire confidence in Allen’s continued reign and has many pondering the same question: Why Joe Woods?

So far this offseason, the Saints have seen former co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen leave for an NFC South rival, and they decided to part ways with their other DC, Kris Richard.

Saints’ assistant Cory Robinson, who ran the defensive backs room last season, let his contract expire and has become a mildly hot free agent in recent weeks having just coached in the Senior Bowl.

With several Saints’ coaches appearing to jump ship, NOLA turned around and hired Joe Woods to take over defensive coordinator duties despite Woods’ shaky record in 2022.

Woods, who has a solid foundation in coaching the secondary, has historically struggled to defend the run. This past season, the Browns defense gave up 153 average rushing yards per game in the last five weeks and ended up ranking 25th overall. Cleveland’s 2,295 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns allowed rank in the bottom third of the league, a considerable regression compared to 2021.

Prior to his stint in Cleveland, Woods was defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos for two years: in his first year, Denver’s run defense ranked fifth in the league. In his second, the run defense ranked 21st.

Woods’ glaring lack of consistency in the run defense overshadows his ability to defend against the pass, and the Saints, who have fielded a top-10 defensive unit for many years, could start to decline in 2023.

As for a paper-thin silver lining: now that there are two former Raiders coaches on the Saints’ coaching staff, maybe New Orleans will make a bold move for Derek Carr this offseason.