The Saints’ offensive coordinator candidate list has now doubled. Their recent batch of meetings brings the list to six, with two 49ers staffers on the team’s docket.
Both Brian Griese and Klint Kubiak have met with the Saints about their OC position, according to NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill. Also in consideration to replace Pete Carmichael: Saints quarterbacks coach Ronald Curry, according to NOLA.com’s Luke Johnson.
A Carmichael-to-Griese switch would be fascinating. The Saints had employed one of the longest-tenured coordinators in modern NFL history in Carmichael, who managed to stay in his position — which involved full-time play-calling duties over the past two years and during Sean Payton‘s Bountygate suspension in 2012 — for 15 years.
Griese, conversely, was in the "Monday Night Football" booth as recently as 2021. This role as the 49ers’ QB coach is Griese’s first regular coaching role in the pro or college ranks.
Still, it is unsurprising teams want to talk to Kyle Shanahan‘s top two offensive assistants. Brock Purdy has quarterbacked the 49ers back to the NFC Championship Game, overcoming UCL surgery to build on his stunning 2022 work.
Purdy averaged an NFL-high 9.6 yards per attempt this season. That is tied for eighth all-time in a season. Kurt Warner (2000) is the only passer to have bettered that mark since the 1950s, and the Hall of Famer missed a chunk of that 2000 season due to injury. Purdy started every game this year, working with an elite armada of aerial options.
Kubiak, 36, was a teenager during Griese’s time playing under his father as OC in Denver (1998-02). The younger Kubiak has enjoyed multiple NFL play-calling stints, however, succeeding Gary as Vikings OC under Mike Zimmer (2021) and taking over during the Broncos’ befuddling 2022 season under Nathaniel Hackett.
Shanahan hired Kubiak as his passing game coordinator this past offseason, and the 49ers came close to becoming the rare team with three 1,000-yard pass catchers. Deebo Samuel, who missed two games, finished 108 yards away from joining Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle in reaching 1,000.
Curry, 44, has been with the Saints since 2016. With Johnson noting Curry is highly regarded within the organization, he has been in place as QB coach since 2021.
This timeline did not allow the former NFL wideout (and college QB) to work with Drew Brees, but Payton did interview Curry to be his OC in 2023 in Denver. Curry also met with the Buccaneers about their vacancy, making it unsurprising the Saints are considering him to replace Carmichael.
Courtesy of PFR’s Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker, here is how the Saints’ search stands:
- Ronald Curry, quarterbacks coach (Saints): Interviewed
- Brian Griese, quarterbacks coach (49ers): Interviewed
- Jerrod Johnson, quarterbacks coach (Texans): Interviewed 1/22
- Klint Kubiak, pass-game coordinator (49ers): Interviewed
- Dan Pitcher, quarterbacks coach (Bengals): Second interview on 1/24
- Zac Robinson, quarterbacks coach (Rams): Interviewed
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