A look at the connections between the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints.
NEW ENGLAND TIES
- Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael hails from Framingham, Mass. He attended Medway High School and went on to play baseball at Boston College. In 1994, he began his football coaching career at the University of New Hampshire as the assistant offensive line coach, helping the Wildcats win the Yankee Conference championship that year.
- Saints senior defensive assistant Peter Giunta is a native of Salem, Mass. He played defensive back and running back at Northeastern from 1974-77, followed by a stint as an assistant coach at Swampscott (Mass.) High School from 1978-80. Giunta also coached at Brown University from 1984-87.
- Saints defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen was the defensive coordinator at Central Connecticut State from 2008-09, where he helped directed the team to the Northeastern Conference title in 2009.
- Saints offensive line coach Dan Roushar was an assistant coach at the University of Rhode Island in 1993.
NEW ORLEANS TIES
- Patriots P Ryan Allen attended Louisiana Tech from 2010-12, where he became the first player in NCAA history to win the Ray Guy Award in back-to-back seasons in 2011 and 2012. He was also a unanimous First Team All-American in 2012 and finished his career averaging a school record 48.0 yards per punt with 20 punts inside the 20 and 21 punts over 50 yards.
FORMER PATRIOTS
- Saints TE Michael Hoomanawanui played for the Patriots from 2012- 2015. He started 28 of the 45 games in which he appeared as a Patriot, tallying 20 catches for 289 yards and one touchdown.
- Saints CB Sterling Mooreplayed for the Patriots from 2011-12 and appeared in 14 games during his time with the team.
- Saints WRAustin Carr was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Patriots in May 2017 and spent training camp and preseason with the team.
FORMER SAINTS
- Patriots WR Brandin Cooks was drafted by the Saints with the 20th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. In his three seasons with the Saints, Cooks started 32 of 42 games played and recorded 215 receptions for 2,861 yards and 20 touchdowns.
FORMER NFL TEAMMATES
- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was the assistant head coach/secondary of the Jets from 1997-99 when Saints secondary coach Aaron Glenn played cornerback at New York. Under Belichick's tutelage, Glenn was selected to backto- back Pro Bowls in 1997 and 1998.
- Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDanielswas the head coach of the Broncos in 2009 when Saints linebackers coachMike Nolan was the defensive coordinator at Denver.
- Saints C Max Unger played for the Seahawks with Patriots DL Alan Branch (2011-12) and DE Cassius Marsh (2014).
- Patriots WR Danny Amendola, DB Eric Rowe and RB Dion Lewis played with Saints LS Jon Dorenbos at Philadelphia.
- Patriots TE Dwayne Allen, WR Phillip Dorsett, DL Lawrence Guy and RB Dion Lewis were teammates with Saints TE Coby Fleenerat the Colts.
- Patriots RB Dion Lewis and DB Johnson Bademosi played with Saints LB Craig Robertson at Cleveland. Saints secondary coachAaron Glenn was the assistant secondary coach for the Browns at that time and coached Bademosi from 2014-15.
- Patriots CB Johnson Bademosi and LB Kyle Van Noy played with Saints S Rafael Bushat Detroit in 2016.
- Patriots DL Lawrence Guy and Saints LB Manti Te'o were teammates with the San Diego Chargers in 2013 and 2014.
- Patriots DB Johnson Bademosi, LB Kyle Van Noy and OL LaAdrian Waddle played together at Detroit with Saints GLarry Warford.
- Patriots RB Mike Gillislee played for the Dolphins from 2013-14 when Saints assistant head coach/tight ends Dan Campbelldirected the tight end unit at Miami.
- Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen served in the same capacity at Denver in 2011 when Patriots pro personnel director Dave Ziegler worked in the Broncos scouting department.
- Patriots LB David Harris played for the Jets when Saints assistant special teams coach Kevin O'Deawas on the coaching staff at New York from 2008-09.
- Patriots OL LaAdrian Waddle played for the Lions when Saints quarterbacks coach Joe Lombardi was the offensive coordinator and Saints special teams coordinator Bradford Bantawas the assistant linebackers coach at Detroit. Lombardi and Patriots LB Kyle Van Noy were also in Detroit at the same time.
- Patriots wide receivers coachChad O'Shea was a member of the Chiefs special teams and defensive coaching staff from 2003-05 when Saints senior defensive assistant Peter Giunta was the defensive backs coach for the Chiefs.
- Patriots coaching assistant DeMarcus Covington coached alongside Saints defensive assistant Michael Hodges at Eastern Illinois in 2016. The two were co-defensive coordinators, with Covington directing the defensive line and Hodges overseeing the safety unit.
- Saints coaching assistant Deuce Schwartz was a member of the Buffalo coaching staff when Patriots WR Chris Hogan, CB Stephon Gilmore and RB Mike Gillislee played for the Bills.
FORMER COLLEGE TEAMMATES
- Patriots LB Dont'a Hightower and Saints RB Mark Ingram II played together at Alabama from 2008-10 and were members of the Crimson Tide's 2009 BCS National Championship team. Patriots special teams coach Joe Judge was on the support staff at Alabama during that time.
- Patriots LB Kyle Van Noy and LB Harvey Langi were college teammates with Saints QB Taysom Hill at BYU.
- Patriots S Patrick Chung and Saints C Max Unger played together from 2005-08 at Oregon.
- Patriots DB Jordan Richards, OL Cameron Fleming and DB Johnson Bademosi all played with Saints TE Coby Fleener at Stanford. Richards and Fleming were also Cardinal teammates with Saints T Andrus Peat.
- Patriots DL Trey Flowers and DL Deatrich Wise, Jr., were teammates with Saints DL Mitchell Loewen at Arkansas. Saints running backs coach Joel Thomas served in the same role for the Razorbacks at that time.
- Patriots TE Dwayne Allen played one season at Clemson (2011) with Saints LB Stephone Anthony.
- Patriots DB Devin McCourty and Saints WR Brandon Coleman were teammates together from 2011-12 at Rutgers.
- Patriots WR Phillip Dorsett played with Saints DE Al-Quadin Muhammad at Miami (Fla.) in 2013.
- Patriots DL Malcom Brown, Saints DE Alex Okafor and Saints S Kenny Vaccaro played one season together (2012) at Texas.
- Patriots DB Eric Rowe and S Marcus Williams were teammates at Utah in 2014.
- Saints RB Adrian Peterson played for the Vikings when two members of the Patriots coaching staff worked at Minnesota. Patriots defensive line coach Brendan Daly was a defensive assistant and defensive line coach and Patriots wide receivers coach Chad O'Shea was an offensive assistant/wide receivers for the Vikings during Peterson's tenure at Minnesota.
- Patriots tight ends coach Nick Caley was the secondary coach at Florida Atlantic when Saints DE Trey Hendricksonplayed for the Owls. Caley was also on the defensive coaching staff at Iowa State when Saints LB A.J. Klein played for the Cyclones and at Arkansas when Saints DL Mitchell Loewen played for the Razorbacks.
- Patriots G Joe Thuney played at North Carolina State when Saints defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen was the defensive line/recruiting coordinator/run game coordinator for the Wolfpack.
OTHER
- Saints RB Mark Ingram II's father, Mark Ingram Sr., played wide receiver for the New York Giants when Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was the defensive coordinator for the Giants.
