Acme Packing Company
The former Badger and Packer rejoins a former coworker.
Scott Tolzien is a bit of a legend in the state of Wisconsin. The Illinois native played quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers, starting in 2009 and 2010 and leading the Badgers to the Rose Bowl in his senior season. After bouncing around the NFL for two seasons, Tolzien landed with the Green Bay Packers, where he started a few games in place of an injured Aaron Rodgers during the 2013 season.
Tolzien played for then-head coach Mike McCarthy as a backup under Rodgers for two more years before moving on to the Indianapolis Colts. After his retirement from football, McCarthy gave Tolzien his start as an NFL coach in 2020, hiring the former quarterback as an offensive assistant after getting the Dallas Cowboys’ head coaching job. Tolzien spent three seasons in that role, then got promoted to quarterbacks coach, a role he has served in over the last two years.
Now, with McCarthy no longer in charge in Dallas, Tolzien has been on the market for a new job. He has now found one working for a former coworker, Kellen Moore. The New Orleans Saints have announced that Tolzien will be their quarterbacks coach in 2025, following the hiring of Moore as head coach.
Moore was the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator from 2019-22, first under Jason Garrett for one season and then working for McCarthy for three years. Moore then spent one season each as the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers and the Philadelphia Eagles — winning the Super Bowl in Philly just over a week ago — before taking the head job in New Orleans.
During Moore’s and Tolzien’s shared time in Dallas, Doug Nussmeier was the Cowboys’ quarterbacks coach, layering in between the two. Nussmeier followed Moore to both Los Angeles and Philadelphia, and he is currently the favorite to become Moore’s offensive coordinator. That would give the Saints the same layered power structure — Moore to Nussmeier to Tolzien — that the trio enjoyed for those three seasons in Dallas, but with all three men moved up a rung on the coaching ladder.
While never possessing an elite arm or athleticism — spin move aside — Tolzien’s strength as a quarterback was always between his ears. At Wisconsin, he led the Big Ten in yards per attempt and college passer rating in both seasons as a starter. It is no surprise that he has seamlessly moved into a coaching role, and it would be equally unsurprising if he ends up as an offensive coordinator at either the major college or NFL level in a few years.
