Kellen Moore has hired his first assistant coach from outside the New Orleans Saints’ staff directory, but it’s someone who has had success here before. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill and Mike Triplett report that Brendan Nugent is coming back to the Crescent City.
Nugent began working with the Saints as an assistant coach in 2015 before being assigned to the offensive line crew under Dan Roushar from 2017 to 2020. He was promoted to the full-time role in 2021 but was fired a year later. Dennis Allen thought Doug Marrone was better suited for the job but had to replace him with John Benton two years later. Benton followed Klint Kubiak to the Seattle Seahawks this offseason. Ironically, Nugent worked in Seattle himself in 2024.
And while Nugent has coached for the Saints before, he has also worked with Moore. He was on staff with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2022 and 2023, the same year Moore worked as L.A.’s offensive coordinator, and they’re clearly comfortable working together.
It helps that Nugent did a great job in New Orleans. His offensive linemen earned a combined 10 Pro Bowl nods and typically ranked top-10 as a unit in Pro Football Focus protection metrics. The offense will go as far as their line can take them. Hopefully Nugent can get them back on track after a couple of up-and-down seasons.