Latest / AFR Saints / Saints Run Game Problems: Is Kellen Moore the Right Head Coach for New Orleans? | Sean Salisbury

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Saints Run Game Problems: Is Kellen Moore the Right Head Coach for New Orleans? | Sean Salisbury · AFR Saints

• 0:00
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• 0:26
  Speaker 1: rolling along here. Sean Salisbury is with us. All right, Sean.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: The Saints go to Paris and they stink and they
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  Speaker 1: rush 17 times for 18 yards. But I want to
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  Speaker 1: ask a very specific question about the running game. So far,
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  Speaker 1: through seven weeks, New Orleans has run the football 171
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  Speaker 1: times and they've thrown it 273 times. Against Pittsburgh, 38 passes,
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  Speaker 1: 18 rushes. My.
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  Speaker 1: Summation here is it's hard to run the ball if
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  Speaker 1: you don't try to run the ball. Is this a
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  Speaker 1: scheme problem, a personnel problem, or a commitment to running
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  Speaker 1: the ball problem?
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  Speaker 3: All three.
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  Speaker 2: I would say scheme's the last that I would worry
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  Speaker 2: most about. I would like to think, Matt. Now, I'm
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  Speaker 2: not in those meeting rooms. This isn't a cop-out. I'm
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  Speaker 2: not in those meeting rooms to comment on what they're
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  Speaker 2: teaching in there as far as in a run game scheme.
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  Speaker 3: Now, I can watch on tape. And if you and
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  Speaker 3: I were sitting in a.
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  Speaker 2: Film room or we're sitting in a room watching for
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  Speaker 2: an hour on tape about scheme and how they're running
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  Speaker 2: RPO and getting to the second level.
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  Speaker 3: And are they, what are their, what their teacher, if
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  Speaker 3: we could, you know.
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  Speaker 2: Take that meeting and then take it into our own,
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  Speaker 2: maybe one thing I'd like to think, and maybe I'm
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  Speaker 2: naive because not everybody's an expert in the business, meaning coaches,
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  Speaker 2: they miss out too.
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  Speaker 3: They need some teaching themselves. You got to coach the coaches.
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  Speaker 2: But I'd like to hope at this level, the teaching
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  Speaker 2: scheme is, is now how they accept the schemes, one thing,
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  Speaker 2: but how you're teaching it. I'd like to hope that
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  Speaker 2: they know how to teach to get a guard up
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  Speaker 2: to the second level and pull and, you know, you know,
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  Speaker 2: pin and pull and do all those things and inside
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  Speaker 2: and outside zone.
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  Speaker 3: So I'm going to give them credit or at least.
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  Speaker 2: Respect the fact that coaches at an NFL level better
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  Speaker 2: be teaching scheme, right? If they're not, or which concerns
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  Speaker 2: me more with that third level is, is it getting
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  Speaker 2: across to the run game people and the guys up
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  Speaker 2: front that they're teaching?
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  Speaker 3: That's one.
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  Speaker 2: To me, it's the other two. It's commitment and, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the personnel are doing it. But I also like to
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  Speaker 2: think when it comes to personnel at this level and
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  Speaker 2: we see it, and I'm not going to poo-poo it
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  Speaker 2: away thinking, oh, anybody can run the football if you got,
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  Speaker 2: you know, if the quarterback can complete a few passes.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody can do what Mike Shanahan's done in the past
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  Speaker 2: with different running backs. I don't think that's necessarily true.
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  Speaker 2: Some guys run with their eyes closed. Some guys miss
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  Speaker 2: a hole. We always want to blame it on the
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  Speaker 2: guys up front. when there's not execution. But I've seen
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  Speaker 2: it plenty of times. A guy first is an impatient runner,
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  Speaker 2: so he hops to the next hole, and that's not
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  Speaker 2: where the.
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  Speaker 3: Ball is supposed to be.
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  Speaker 2: And I know a lot of folks, we all do
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  Speaker 2: at times, think just run the daylight. That's not the
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  Speaker 2: way offensive line schemes are designed in a run game
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  Speaker 2: in certain specifics. Sometimes you've got to go Barry Sanders
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  Speaker 2: on them and just make crap happen, you know, make
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  Speaker 2: chicken salad out of chicken crap. But for me, it
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  Speaker 2: goes– I think that it starts with the commitment, Maddie, Now,
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  Speaker 2: I'm just going to tell you, and this isn't a
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  Speaker 2: dog on Kellen Moore.
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  Speaker 3: You know I think he's a really smart, good football coach.
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  Speaker 2: But there's this part, and it's happening to USC on
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  Speaker 2: the defensive side with Lincoln Riley, offense, offense, offense, that
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  Speaker 2: we're going to score. And then when you score seven
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  Speaker 2: points at Wisconsin, and that's supposed to be your bread
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  Speaker 2: and butter, scoring.
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  Speaker 3: And throwing the ball and getting points.
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  Speaker 2: What happens is now that the pretty part of your
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  Speaker 2: team looked ugly, And you're not physical enough to overcome
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  Speaker 2: the rest. We're going through it there. Look at our
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  Speaker 2: run game this past week. We couldn't do anything in
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  Speaker 2: Wisconsin was they bullied us. Well, in this case, and
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  Speaker 2: Lincoln's still going to do what he does, which may
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  Speaker 2: never lead to a national championship. And he may be
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  Speaker 2: coaching somewhere else next year. It's the same thing here.
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  Speaker 2: I think Kellen Moore is a brilliant offensive mind, but
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  Speaker 2: he also, he also created the love for him in
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  Speaker 2: the way he was able to diagram stuff and, off.
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  Speaker 2: We don't usually talk about coordinators when we hire them
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  Speaker 2: as head coaches, man, he was great in the run game.
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  Speaker 2: He put up points and they know how to throw
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  Speaker 2: it all over the lot. That's usually the perception. But
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  Speaker 2: what happens also, Matt, in any part of life, in our.
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  Speaker 3: Jobs, me and you, or what do we do? We
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  Speaker 3: lean on a crutch, man. We do.
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  Speaker 2: We lean on when things are going bad, players do
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  Speaker 2: it all the time. I'm going to use this move
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  Speaker 2: on a pass rush. Here's how I'm going to stun
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  Speaker 2: that pass rush as a quarterback, man, when in doubt,
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  Speaker 2: here's what I'm going to lean on my strength. I
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  Speaker 2: think Kellen Moore is believes the strength of that team,
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  Speaker 2: and he's right right now, is put the ball in
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  Speaker 2: Shook's hands.
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  Speaker 3: And go throw it all over. I think that. And
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  Speaker 3: he's been known to, he did it in Dallas. He
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  Speaker 3: did it some in Philly.
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  Speaker 2: They just had different, up front their personnel was dominating
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  Speaker 2: when he was the coordinator. So they kind of forced
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  Speaker 2: him into, and he had pretty good running back, you know,
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  Speaker 2: in the backfield. They had pretty good backs back there
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  Speaker 2: when he was there. But they had a dominant offensive line,
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  Speaker 2: one of the best in the league. He was almost
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  Speaker 2: forced to, as a coordinator, and understanding running the football.
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  Speaker 2: But I think what happens is that they abandon it because,
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  Speaker 2: you know, when it's not moving, you want to put
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  Speaker 2: the ball in the guy's hands that you think gives
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  Speaker 2: you the best chance to win. So I think it's
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  Speaker 2: a commitment. I think they run away from it too quickly.
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  Speaker 2: I think the next level is, is the personnel good
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  Speaker 2: enough to get into that hole and understand the scheme?
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  Speaker 2: And then third, it goes to hopefully they understand how
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  Speaker 2: to teach it, which I believe they do.
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  Speaker 3: But is it getting across to the guys they're teaching it?
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  Speaker 2: And so I think there's all those levels, Matthew. To me,
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  Speaker 2: it's a simple, a big time. It starts at the
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  Speaker 2: commitment issue. And the head coach loves to score and
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  Speaker 2: wants to put it in the guy's hands. And right now,
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  Speaker 2: when you commit to that, you kind of, they're not
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  Speaker 2: good enough to turn on and off the running game
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  Speaker 2: like a light switch on Sundays.
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  Speaker 3: They're just not. They're not good enough up front. They're
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  Speaker 3: not good enough in the backfield right now.
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  Speaker 1: It's a shame too, man. They've invested so much capital.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, they got three first round picks and the
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  Speaker 1: second round pick on the offensive line. That doesn't even
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  Speaker 1: include David Edwards, who they spent $ 60 million on.
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  Speaker 3: You have to, Matt, like anything.
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  Speaker 2: I know it's, you got to go through the phase of,
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  Speaker 2: really getting your butt handed to you a lot. But
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  Speaker 2: just when you start to abandon, I've seen it a
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  Speaker 2: million times, stop you, stop you, stop you, meaning whether
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  Speaker 2: it's in Baltimore, whether it was me when we were
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  Speaker 2: at SC and Marcus Allen, although they didn't stop us
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  Speaker 2: very much with him running it, but that John Robinson
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  Speaker 2: was never going to decommit to.
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  Speaker 3: That, ever.
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  Speaker 2: We were going to run it, and we were going
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  Speaker 2: to do it, and our personnel was good. And even
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  Speaker 2: if we embarrassed ourselves with three, three and outs, when
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  Speaker 2: it was third and three, we were running the ball.
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  Speaker 2: So there's a commitment level. And if you're not committed
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  Speaker 2: to it, how can you force your players to be
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  Speaker 2: committed to it? So there's a lot missing. I think
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  Speaker 2: there's a layer of each part of that that exists
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  Speaker 2: with the new Orleans saints. And the fact that your
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  Speaker 2: quarterback goes 30 for 38 for two 78, I think,
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  Speaker 2: or two 80 somewhere there, but you run it that
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  Speaker 2: many times and can't move the pile that there's a
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  Speaker 2: physicality issue going on in the run game for them
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  Speaker 2: as well. And I've seen that across the league on
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  Speaker 2: certain teams.
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  Speaker 1: Sean, I want to, I want to follow up on
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  Speaker 1: something you said where you said you think Kellen Moore
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  Speaker 1: is a brilliant offensive mind. And I just want to
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  Speaker 1: peel back the layers of the onion because here the
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  Speaker 1: narrative is becoming, and I'm sort of leaning this way
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  Speaker 1: to go, when you keep watching through 24 games and
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  Speaker 1: you continue to see the same issues over and over,
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  Speaker 1: you begin to wonder, like, does he actually know how
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  Speaker 1: to fix the issues that are presenting? So give me
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  Speaker 1: a reason to believe that the success in Philly, per se,
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  Speaker 1: wasn't just Saquon Barkley and A.J. Brown and a Hall
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  Speaker 1: of Fame left tackle and all the great personnel they
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  Speaker 1: had there.
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  Speaker 3: Don't kid yourself for a second, Matty. That is a
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  Speaker 3: big part of it.
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  Speaker 2: Of course.
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  Speaker 3: That is a big part. Not you know.
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  Speaker 2: I'm just saying to anybody. Listen, how many times have
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  Speaker 2: we seen a guy go one place? Well, one place
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  Speaker 2: where it's like, man, Is his career done as a
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  Speaker 2: coach or a player? Next thing you know, he's a
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  Speaker 2: coach of the year or the guy's in the Pro
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  Speaker 2: Bowl or an All-Pro. So that personnel does matter. And
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  Speaker 2: I got news for you. Players win games. Coaches can
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  Speaker 2: lose them a lot of times. And what happens is,
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  Speaker 2: and we automatically think when a guy becomes a head coach,
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  Speaker 2: and I've said this many a time to people, I've
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  Speaker 2: been on teams where a guy who coaches a position
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  Speaker 2: can get up on that board and teach you X's
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  Speaker 2: and O's until the cows come home and really good
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  Speaker 2: at it. Then you hand him the reins and say,
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  Speaker 2: run the offense. He'll be back position coaching in three
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  Speaker 2: years or less. Not very good at it.
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  Speaker 3: Just can't get into that rhythm.
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  Speaker 2: And it also exists from we automatically think, oh, offensive coordinator, elite, bam.
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  Speaker 2: Give him a head coaching job. They're a better offensive coordinator.
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  Speaker 2: I'm finding that out at USC right now with Lincoln.
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  Speaker 2: And when I say, if you notice, I said, brilliant
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  Speaker 2: offensive mind.
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  Speaker 3: Play call it. That doesn't always constitute to.
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  Speaker 2: Understanding every nook and cranny and approach to offenses, defensive
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  Speaker 2: and special teams football. Now you empower your coaches to
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  Speaker 2: teach it, but you've got to oversee it. And the
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  Speaker 2: great ones don't miss anything. Even though Nick Saban loves
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  Speaker 2: defensive backs, he didn't miss anything in the run game.
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  Speaker 3: Nothing got by him. And I've been with coaches like that.
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  Speaker 3: They don't miss anything.
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  Speaker 2: I've been with coaches that that are great at X's
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  Speaker 2: and O's that just, that I, that I'm a better
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  Speaker 2: play caller when I'm going to two minute drill than
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  Speaker 2: they are. And yet you go back and XO, they
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  Speaker 2: can teach it for, for years. And then I've been
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  Speaker 2: with offensive coordinators. They go in, they're just not like
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  Speaker 2: my guy, Tom Moore, Tom Moore is a, is as
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  Speaker 2: good a coach as I've ever been around in, in, in,
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  Speaker 2: in my life. Phenomenal guy with the players, players loved him.
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  Speaker 2: Great teacher, really good offensive play caller. Tom's never been
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  Speaker 2: a head coach at.
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  Speaker 3: The NFL level.
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  Speaker 2: It just wasn't his thing, whether it's a leadership thing,
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  Speaker 2: whether it's managing the whole thing.
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  Speaker 3: And Kellen was on a fast track, man. He got
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  Speaker 3: there pretty damn quick.
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  Speaker 2: So I'm not telling you that I can't talk you
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  Speaker 2: into two years from now are the Saints going to
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  Speaker 2: win the division and be home field advantage and that
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  Speaker 2: they're going to be in a Super Bowl.
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  Speaker 3: The personnel was better overall in Philly.
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  Speaker 2: He didn't have to be the head coach and lead
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  Speaker 2: and then also be the play caller. He got to
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  Speaker 2: be the play caller and focus on what he does
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  Speaker 2: best is manipulate defenses and be wild. And then when
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  Speaker 2: he needed to be drawn back in, he'd have a
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  Speaker 2: head coach, let's focus back on what makes us good.
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  Speaker 2: If I'm an offensive play caller, first thing I'm thinking
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  Speaker 2: of as a coordinator, how am.
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  Speaker 3: I gonna score? I'm not thinking about how you like it.
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  Speaker 3: That's what I'm thinking.
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  Speaker 2: But when you get to be a head coach, now
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  Speaker 2: you're taking on babysitting, what kind of coffee they're serving,
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  Speaker 2: how to, what is the run game scheme? I can't
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  Speaker 2: just turn it over to the offensive line coach. I
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  Speaker 2: got to be in finding out how we're doing this.
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  Speaker 2: So when I'm calling plays as a court, as a
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  Speaker 2: coordinator and a head coach, I got to tie these
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  Speaker 2: things in there. There is something missing from that. So
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  Speaker 2: when I say brilliant play caller, he does, he knows
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: offensive football. If you ask me, is he a brilliant
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  Speaker 2: head coach?
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  Speaker 3: And is he a head coach? It's going to be
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  Speaker 3: a star. That's I think that we're still in purgatory.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think we know yet.
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  Speaker 2: I really don't, but They're always going to lean, just
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  Speaker 2: like defensive coaches that I've been around. When it gets
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: to nut-cutting time, they usually lean into, Matty, playing conservative offense.
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  Speaker 2: Does that make sense? They play defensive offense. And so
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  Speaker 2: Kellen right now, there's some things missing and a commitment
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  Speaker 2: to the run game and a few other things.
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  Speaker 3: But making you a great offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator.
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  Speaker 2: Has absolutely no bearing on on how good a head
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  Speaker 2: coach you're going to be. Leadership's first. You've got to
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  Speaker 2: know how to manage things and lead people. And I
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  Speaker 2: think we're still in the infancy trying to figure that out.
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  Speaker 2: But there's not a whole lot of latitude or leash
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  Speaker 2: for coaches in the NFL or in college these days.
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  Speaker 3: Two or three years, if it's not working, they find
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  Speaker 3: a way to replace you. I don't know if they're
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  Speaker 3: there in New Orleans yet.
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  Speaker 1: Well, the reason I ask the question is because that's
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  Speaker 1: the question that's being asked as the Saints head into
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: this bye, is 24 games enough of a sample size
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  Speaker 1: to say, man, I I don't know that he really
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  Speaker 1: has the answer.
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  Speaker 3: Let him finish this season, Matty. Let's see. He's got
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  Speaker 3: a better quarterback now.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, when they finish the season and if they
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  Speaker 2: haven't made progress, then you've just got to say it's
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: stalled out.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: Maybe it's time to look somewhere else.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: He is Sean Salisbury at Sean Unfiltered. Make sure you
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: go check out Unpaved Media. Subscribe on YouTube. You and
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: McMahon doing the show tonight?
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: We're doing it tomorrow night live.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: We're trying to make it Wednesdays at 6 Central regularly,
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: unless it changes with that crazy guy's schedule. But, yeah,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: tomorrow– And there's some really funny stories from last week.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: Billy Joe Tolliver, who you know, Red lives in Baton Rouge.
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: Sure, yeah.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Billy Joe and Dave Archer, who's one of the great storytellers.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: He's the color analyst for Atlanta Falcons Radio. We were
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: all four on together last week. And, Matty, I thought
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: I was going to, well, throw up laughing again, like
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I said. Because Billy Joe with that Southern, great storyteller.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: So go check it out. I think you'll like it. And,
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: by the way, why did you guys have to beat
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: up on Auburn so bad? I did tell you last
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  Speaker 2: week if you keep Byron Brown– from running the football,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: and boy, did they ever. You could turn it into
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: an ass-whipping. Their quarterback didn't play well enough, and your
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: quarterback was lights out. I know you had Sam on earlier.
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  Speaker 2: That looked like a championship offense last week.
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  Speaker 3: It was a beatdown.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we'll circle back next week. as we're leading into
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Bama game. We'll talk a little bit about what we.
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: Were talking about. That's going to be a fun one.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: You bet.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: It was, it was fat. The combo with Sam was fascinating.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: And I want to ask you a little bit about,
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  Speaker 1: we'll do that next week. Sean, we appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Love his energy, man. Love his energy. I love being
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: on with you. Thanks so much for everything, buddy. I
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: appreciate it.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: Thanks, man.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: That's Sean Salisbury.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: It's after.