The New Orleans Saints' activity at the Senior Bowl will be even more significant than usual in 2023.
New Orleans QBs coach and passing game coordinator Ronald Curry has been named offensive coordinator for the National Team. He'll join Steelers defensive backs coach Grady Brown as defensive coordinator on the "staff" of Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
The American team will be led by Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, with Falcons QBs coach Charles London leading the offense and Patriots DL coach DeMarcus Covington coaching the defense.
In past events, entire staffs from NFL clubs led each group of prospects throughout the week of practices and the game, which is scheduled for Feb. 4 this year. A major change this year has been to choose assistants from an amalgamation of clubs to lead the prospects in one of the first major scouting events of the offseason. It's an opportunity for coaches and others to step into an expanded role from what they currently serve, with the coaching group selected from a group of nominations by a group comprised of league office executives, representatives from the General Managers Advisory Committee and Senior Bowl leadership.
“Everyone at the Senior Bowl is excited about this new coaching format since it connects our players to half the league’s teams behind the scenes during the week," Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy said in a release. "Both Luke Getsy and Patrick Graham have tremendous reputations around the league and the young men in our game will undoubtedly leave Mobile as better football players after spending the week with these excellent staffs.”
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Curry, 43, served as the backup play-caller for the Saints this season, as OC Pete Carmichael had in the past on Sean Payton's staff. The former QB has been on the Saints' staff since 2016 and served as the WRs coach from 2018-'20 before shifting to QBs coach the past two seasons. Three other Saints coaches will also be on the coaching staff but were not named in Wednesday's release. New Orleans was one of six teams with multiple coaches appointed. At least one coach from each of the 16 non-playoff teams was selected.
The Senior Bowl has been a key cog in the draft process, with 106 players who attended being selected in the NFL draft over the past two seasons. The Saints have traditionally been a team that values that scouting process, and has frequently selected players it scouted at the event held annually in Mobile, Alabama. During the 2022 draft alone, three of the Saints' five selections (Trevor Penning, 1st; Alontae Taylor 2nd, D'Marco Jackson 5th) were at the Senior Bowl.
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