The Carolina Panthers reportedly hired former New Orleans Saints assistant Joe Brady, lately of the LSU Tigers, to be their new offensive coordinator beneath first-year head coach Matt Rhule, formerly of Baylor. And one report suggests Brady tried to bring one of his ex-Saints colleagues along with him to Carolina.
Per The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan, the Panthers submitted an interview request with Saints assistant offensive line coach Brendan Nugent. Nugent and Brady worked together at William & Mary earlier in their careers, and linked up again with the Saints. They evidently maintained a close friendship over the years, and Brady may have hoped to work with Nugent again in Carolina.
But because the Saints and Panthers are division rivals in the always-heated NFC South, this request for an interview was declined. It’s possible that other Saints coaches whose contracts are up join Brady in the future, but for now, this door is closed to him.
We’ll circle back to Nugent before we leave off. He’s been a longtime assistant of Saints offensive line coach Dan Roushar, and would make for a logical in-house promotion should Roushar ever leave for another opportunity. It’s not surprising in the least that the Saints weren’t eager to part ways with him regardless of their divisional rivalry with the Panthers.
