And we’re off: the New Orleans Saints officially started the Dennis Allen era on Monday, April 4, as one of four teams with first-year head coaches starting their offseason workout program. The Chicago Bears (under Matt Eberflus), Miami Dolphins (under Mike McDaniel), and New York Giants (under Brian Daboll) were each given a two-week head start on the rest of the NFL. Players who choose to participate in the first phase of the offseason will have an opportunity to work out in the team facility and spend time on the practice field with their new training staff, though it’ll be a while before helmets come on and any full-speed drills start being run.
But what do these workouts entail? The NFL Players Association describes Phase 1 as a two-week period of four-hour sessions at the team facility, with two hours of work with strength and conditioning coaches and another two hours of independent training in the weight room. Of those two hours with the strength coach, only ninety minutes can be spent on the field. It’s a strictly-regulated part of the league calendar with player safety in mind. No one is wearing helmets, and all contact drills are prohibited.
For the Saints specifically, this will be their first opportunity to meet the team’s new director of sports science, Matt Rhea, who was hired away from Alabama. Rhea brought New Orleans’ new strength coach Matt Clapp along with him from the Crimson Tide, so this is a good opportunity for players to get to work and familiarize themselves with some new faces and new processes around the facility. Assistant strength and conditioning coaches Charles Byrd and Rob Wenning were each retained, so there is some continuity.
