It didn't take long for the New Orleans Saints to settle on its next defensive coordinator.
That pick will be former Browns DC Joe Woods, according to the reports, who was also the only name identified publicly for the role. The news was first reported by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
It's an important step in the Saints' offseason plans, and comes less than a week removed from the news that the team would be parting ways with co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach Kris Richard. Fellow co-DC and defensive line coach has also departed to take the full defensive coordinator role with the Atlanta Falcons.
Woods is a 26-year coaching veteran and has worked his way around a good chunk of the NFL, serving in assistant roles with the Browns, 49ers, Broncos, Raiders, Vikings and Bucs. He spent the past three seasons on the Browns staff under Kevin Stefanski, but was fired after the 2022 season which saw middling results from a talented defensive group and a major dropoff from an impressive 2021 campaign. Woods served as defensive backs coach on Allen's Raiders staff in 2014 and has also served as a defensive coordinator with the Broncos from 2017-'18.
The Saints are also reportedly set to hire longtime college and NFL coach Todd Grantham in an assistant role, though it has not been specified exactly what his focus will be. If the Saints opt to have Woods serve solely as DC, they'd have to hire new coaches for the secondary and DL. With a significant history of work with defensive lines, it's possible that would be Grantham's role, leaving just a secondary coach to either hire from the outside or promote from within. Defensive assistant Corey Robinson served as the safeties coach at the Senior Bowl this week and could be a candidate if the Saints choose to go that route.
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Regardless of how the position coaches shape up around him, the Saints defense will still largely be a Dennis Allen-led show, assuming the operations run similarly to 2022. Allen, who served five seasons as the defensive coordinator, called the plays on gameday and has not indicated any plans to relinquish those duties.
The 2022 Saints finished 7-10, but closed out the campaign strong with a three-game winning streak against the Falcons, Browns and Eagles before a season-ending loss to the Panthers. That stretch was largely fueled by the defense, which allowed an average of just under 12 points per game over the final eight weeks of the season. That did help paper over what was a frustratingly slow start to the season by a defense that was supposed to carry this group throughout the year, and likely spurred some changes on that side of the ball.
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