Saints To Sign Joe Woods as DC

The New Orleans Saints are expected to hire former Cleveland browns defensive coordinator Joe Woods to be their new defensive coordinator, according to a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.  

The hire comes after New Orleans moved on from both of their co-defensive coordinators in 2022. Ryan Neilsen was hired as the Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator; Kris Richard will not be returning to New Orleans in 2023. 

Additional reporting from NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill notes that while Saints head coach Dennis Allen will dictate scheme and ultimately be responsible for the defense, Woods will be Allen’s top assistant and help out defensive backs.  

Woods was the defensive coordinator under head coach Kevin Stefanski for three years in Cleveland. He also previously served as a defensive coordinator with the Broncos from 2017 to 2018 and has held position coaching roles with the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders, and Minnesota Vikings.

In three years with the Browns, Cleveland’s defense saw up-and-down performance by defensive DVOA. The Browns finished with an 11th-best -2.5% defensive DVOA in 2021. However, they finished 25th in 2020 and 23rd in 2022 by the same metric. Wood produced 11th- and 6th-place defensive DVOA finishes in two seasons as the Broncos defensive coordinator. 

Woods joins a New Orleans Saints defense that fell from third-best by defensive DVOA in 2021 to eighth-best in 2022. The Saints’ biggest dropoff came in their rushing defense, which fell from the league’s best to 17th year-over-year.