Change is coming for the New Orleans Saints coaching staff after their 2-5 start to the season. Run game coordinator T.J. Paganetti took the fall for the team's inability to run the football through as first half of 2026 and has been let go, as first reported by NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill and confirmed by Ian Rapoport for NFL Network. Head coach Kellen Moore determined it was his Paganetti at fault for a rushing attack that ranked 30th in yards per carry (3.5) and 25th in yards per game (86) at the bye week.
It's a bold move. Unlike offensive line coach Brendan Nugent or Moore himself, Paganetti was one of the few coaches on staff who has been part of a consistently successful run game before. He spent a decade assisting legendary Philadelphia
Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland and was seen as a big get for Moore's staff. Instead, it looks like Nugent will remain in place and shoulder even more responsibility in figuring out how to run the football. Paganetti's firing would seem to shut the door on any hope of the Saints recruiting Stoutland themselves later on down the road.
New Orleans has invested too many resources in the run game to be this bad. Between an offensive line full of top-50 draft picks and top-10 contracts at left guard and center, not to mention an underutilized tight end room running four-deep and all of the money invested at running back, they should be able to lean on teams and take pressure off of Tyler Shough. We'll see if this coaching change makes a difference when the Saints match up with the Cleveland Browns and their 25th-ranked run defense at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints fire coach after bye week amid struggles to run the football
