Canal Street Chronicles
As Super Bowl LIX has concluded in New Orleans, Moore prepares to assemble his defensive coaching staff as the presumptive Saints head coach.
It is almost a certainty that the New Orleans Saints are hiring Super Bowl LIX Champion Philadelphia Eagles Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore to become their new Head Coach this week. With that being the prevailing sentiment amongst fans, players, and NFL media, the next step becomes who Moore will turn to in order to fill out his coaching staff for the 2025 season.
Previously, we looked at what a potential Kellen Moore offensive coaching staff could look like, now here are some potential defensive candidates Kellen Moore could turn to. These are defensive coaches Moore and/or his potential defensive coordinator have had professional relationships with in the past.
As head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023, Staley hired Kellen Moore to be his offensive coordinator, following Moore’s mutual departure from Dallas. Brandon Staley most recently spent the 2024 season with the San Francisco 49ers as the assistant head coach to Kyle Shanahan. Following their dominance in Super Bowl LIX, Saints fans would certainly love to have Kellen Moore shrewdly persuade Philly’s defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to come along with him, and as welcome as that would be, it is highly unlikely to take place. What is far more likely, and something that almost feels certain, is that Moore has eyed Brandon Staley from the moment he began mentally putting a staff together. Having a former head coach, one he worked side-by-side with on his staff could be invaluable to a first-year head coach in Kellen Moore.
Staley, a member of the Fangio coaching tree, has seven years of NFL coaching experience, three years as a linebackers coach in Chicago & Denver under Fangio, one season as defensive coordinator for Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams, three seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, and one season as an assistant head coach with Shanahan and the Niners. Much like his his potential appointment of longtime coaching partner Doug Nussmeier as offensive coordinator, it almost feels like a sure thing that Staley will be Moore’s right-hand man on the defensive side of the ball. After a decade of Dennis Allen’s philosophies and vision on defense in New Orleans, it will be a breath of fresh air to have a new philosophy and a new, better, vision for the Saints defense.
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Henderson served as the defensive line coach on Brandon Staley’s staff with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020, when Staley was Sean McVay’s defensive coordinator. Eric Henderson is currently the co-defensive coordinator, defensive run game coordinator, and defensive line coach for the USC Trojans, a position he has held since the beginning of last season. Henderson is also a New Orleans native, having attended Edna Karr in his high school days. A call to come home while reuniting with...
