MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / February 9, 2000

Welcome to New Orleans, Mr. Haslett. Or should I say, welcome back.Jim Haslett is back for his second duty with the New Orleans Saints, but this time as the head coach after spending 1995-96 working with team’s defense. If his first week is any indication, he might be able to earnhazardous duty pay for this tour of duty.

Has there ever been this much air of negativity surrounding the hiring of a new coach? You would have thought the team brought Carl Smith back as offensive coordinator. Usually a new coach is greeted by an aura ofoptimism. But just listen to any talk show on the radio. Jim “Has Been” wasone reference used. General manager Randy Mueller decided to hire an oldbuddy rather than the best man available was another.

But my favorite was when one caller said the Saints had just hired another Jim Mora. God, I hope so. You see, many so-call fans seem to forget thatMora is the winningest coach in franchise history and the only one to lead them to a playoff spot. So what if he lost all four. That’s still better thanwhat the other 12 coaches in the franchise’s history have managed to do.

And all Mora did this year was lead Indianapolis to the AFC East title and the divisional playoffs. He must be doing something right.Of course, I seem to remember fans weren’t actually jumping for joy when Mora was named head coach in 1986, either. This despite the fact that hehad won two USFL championships. There was much more support for MikeDitka in 1997 and all he did in three years was go 6-10, 6-10, 3-13.

Fans are also asking why the Saints can never get an offensive-minded coach. But just look at the teams and the coaches that made thechampionship games in their respective conferences this season.

Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher was once a defensive coordinator. BothJacksonville’s Tom Coughlin and Tampa Bay’s Tony Dungy are defensive minded. Even Dick Vermeil, whose Rams were known for their offense thisseason, stressed defense and it was that defense that eventually won the Super Bowl.

The fans may have wanted an offensive guru like Gary Kubiak. Butremember, Kubiak did not call the plays at Denver, Mike Shanahan did. AndKubiak was a lot less productive without John Elway and Terrell Davis this season. Just look at the Saints’ roster. There is no Elway or Davis to befound on it.

That will be Mueller’s and Haslett’s first challenge – to improve the talent on the Saints. It will be more Mueller’s than Haslett’s and it will not be an easyone. It wasn’t easy for Jim Finks and More in 1986 but at least they had theplayers from the demise of the USFL to work with. No such luck this time. But as the Rams and Titans both showed, all it takes is a little digging and a little luck to find the right players. Tennessee lucked out when Eddie Georgefell to them in the draft of 1996 and lucked out again this year when the selection of Jevon Kearse proved to be better than anybody could have expected. Of course, the Rams pulled one out of the hat when Kurt Warnerwent from the Arena Football League to the MVP of the Super Bowl.

It’s now Mueller’s job to find such players. It’s Haslett’s job to coach them tothe best of their ability. If they both can accomplish those goals, and with alittle luck, maybe in the near future, the talk shows will be singing the praises of their hirings instead of bemoaning who the Saints could have had.

Return To Sports Stories

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

Internet services provided by NeoSoft.

Best viewed with 3.0 or higher