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

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

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

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio suggests thatย 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 thatย Spagnuolo has been fired, so it will be interesting to see where he lands in the coming weeks.

Jason La Canfora tweets thatย 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 DEย Ezekiel Ansahย in our 2013 NFL Mock Draft.

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