This offseason, the New Orleans Saints went shopping for a new offensive coordinator after finally distancing themselves from Pete Carmichael Jr., the last remnant of the Sean Payton era. Carmichael had held the position since 2009.
While the search was broad, a distinct theme seemed to arise when taking a look at the candidate pool: give us someone who knows how to run a version of Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan’s offenses. Jerrod Johnson (Houston Texans), Brian Griese (San Francisco 49ers), Shane Waldron (Seattle Seahawks) and the eventual choice for the job, Klint Kubiak (49ers), all went through the process. One person familiar with the thought process behind the decision said simply that Derek Carr needed an ally; someone or something to take his best skills and put them to proper use.
