Saints Fire DC Steve Spagnuolo, Will Transition To A 3-4 Defense

The New Orleans Saints have announced that they have relieved defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and secondary coach Ken Flajole of their duties.

“I personally want to thank Steve and Ken for their contributions during what was an unprecedented 2012 season,” said Saints Head Coach Sean Payton. “Philosophically we are changing our defense to a 3-4 alignment and right now is the best time to accomplish this transition.”

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio suggests that Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini could potential options to run their 3-4 defense next year.

 

The Saints defense was atrocious in 2012, so it’s not all that surprising to see Sean Payton make some changes now that he’s back at the helm. They allowed over 7,000 total yards to opposing offense, which is staggering number.

This marks the second time in as many seasons that Spagnuolo has been fired, so it will be interesting to see where he lands in the coming weeks.

Jason La Canfora tweets that Spagnuolo could be an option for Chip Kelly and the Eagles given that they are in need of a defensive coordinator.

There’s already plenty of speculation circulating that the Saints will target a pass rusher in the upcoming draft. We have them taking BYU DE Ezekiel Ansah in our 2013 NFL Mock Draft.