New Saints Coach Considering Alabama Offensive Line Coach Doug Marrone For His Staff

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Dennis Allen is only on his second day on the job as the New Orleans Saints' head coach, and he may have a new offensive assistant or two soon.

Allen is considering Alabama offensive line coach Doug Marrone for his staff, possibly at offensive coordinator, according to various reports. Pete Carmichael, who has been the Saints' offensive coordinator since 2006, is remaining on staff but not with that title.

Former Saints head coach Sean Payton operated as offensive coordinator before stepping away from coaching after last season. He became the Saints' coach in 2006.

Marrone, 57, has never been a true offensive coordinator. He was listed as the Saints' offensive coordinator and offensive line coach from 2006-08, but Payton ran the offense, the game plans and called the plays. Marrone has been a head coach in the NFL though, at Jacksonville from 2017-20 and at Buffalo in 2013 and '14 as well as in college at Syracuse from 2009-12.

Marrone was on Payton's first staff with the Saints alongside Allen from 2006-08. Allen, who was introduced as the Saints' new coach on Tuesday, was a defensive assistant from 2006-10 with the Saints.

Marrone was the New York Jets' offensive line coach from 2002-05 before Payton hired him.

The Saints offensive line coach in the 2021 season was Brendan Nugent, who was in his first year in that role. Nugent, 40, had been an offensive assistant with New Orleans since 2015.

Allen, who was the Saints' defensive coordinator from late in the 2015 season through last season, is also considering former New York Jets offensive coordinator John Morton, 52, for his staff.

Morton was the Saints' wide receiver coach in 2015 and '16 before moving on to the Jets for one season. He was an offensive assistant with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders from 2019-21.

Morton was also on Payton's first staff with the Saints in 2006 as an offensive assistant. He was then USC's wide receivers coach in 2007 and '08 and its offensive coordinator in 2009 and '10. He was San Francisco's receivers coach from 2011-14.

The Saints' current wide receivers coach is Curtis Johnson, 60, and he has been with the Saints since 2017 and from 2006-11.

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Guilbeau joined OutKick as an SEC columnist in September of 2021 after covering LSU and the Saints for 17 years at USA TODAY Louisiana. He has been a national columnist/feature writer since the summer of 2022, covering college football, basketball and baseball with some NFL, NBA, MLB, TV and Movies and general assignment, including hot dog taste tests. A New Orleans native and Mizzou graduate, he has consistently won Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) awards since covering Alabama and Auburn at the Mobile Press-Register (1993-98) and LSU and the Saints at the Baton Rouge Advocate (1998-2004). In 2021, Guilbeau won an FWAA 1st for a game feature, placed in APSE Beat Writing, Breaking News and Explanatory, and won Beat Writer of the Year from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA). He won an FWAA columnist 1st in 2017 and was FWAA's top overall winner in 2016 with 1st in game story, 2nd in columns, and features honorable mention. Guilbeau completed a book in 2022 about LSU's five-time national champion coach - "Everything Matters In Baseball: The Skip Bertman Story" - that is available at www.acadianhouse.com, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble outlets. He lives in Baton Rouge with his wife, the former Michelle Millhollon of Thibodaux who previously covered politics for the Baton Rouge Advocate and is a communications director.