1986 New Orleans Saints season

1986 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach	Jim Mora
General manager	Jim Finks
Owner	Tom Benson
Home field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1986 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 20th as a member of the National Football League. They bested their previous season's output of 5–11, winning seven games.^[1] Despite being in the NFL for twenty seasons, the team still had yet to qualify for the playoffs.

Offseason

Organizational changes

On January 14, owner Tom Benson hired Jim Finks as the franchise's general manager, and turned over the entire football operation to the veteran operative who previously built championship clubs with the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. Two weeks later, Finks hired Jim Mora as the new head coach. Mora was the most successful coach in the history of the United States Football League, leading the Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars to two USFL championships and a runner-up finish.

NFL Draft

1986 New Orleans Saints draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	6	Jim Dombrowski	Offensive tackle	Virginia
2	31	Dalton Hilliard *	Running back	LSU
3	57	Rueben Mayes *	Running back	Washington State
3	60	Pat Swilling *	Linebacker	Georgia Tech
3	62	Barry Word	Running back	Virginia
4	88	Kelvin Edwards	Wide receiver	Liberty
5	115	Reggie Sutton	Defensive back	Miami (FL)
6	142	Bob Thompson	Wide receiver	Youngstown State
7	173	Gill Fenerty	Running back	Holy Cross
8	200	Filipo Mokofisi	Linebacker	Utah
9	226	Merlon Jones	Linebacker	Florida A&M
10	253	Jon Dumbauld	Defensive end	Kentucky
11	284	Pat Swoopes	Defensive tackle	Mississippi State
12	311	Sebastian Brown	Wide receiver	Bethune-Cookman
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1986 New Orleans Saints staff
	Front office Owner/General Partner – Tom Benson President/General Manager – Jim Finks Vice President of Administration – Jim Miller Director of Player Personnel – Bill Kuharich Head coaches Head Coach – Jim Mora Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Carl Smith Running Backs – Jim Skipper Wide Receivers – Steve Walters Tight Ends – Joe Marciano Offensive Line – Jim Erkenbeck			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers – Steve Sidwell Defensive Line – John Pease Outside Linebackers – Vic Fangio Defensive Backs – Dom Capers Special teams coaches Special Teams – Joe Marciano Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Russell Paternostro

^[3]

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1986	Atlanta Falcons	L 31–10	67,950
2	September 14, 1986	Green Bay Packers	W 24–10	46,383
3	September 21, 1986	at San Francisco 49ers	L 26–17	58,297
4	September 28, 1986	at New York Giants	L 20–17	72,769
5	October 5, 1986	Washington Redskins	L 14–6	57,378
6	October 12, 1986	at Indianapolis Colts	W 17–14	53,512
7	October 19, 1986	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 38–7	43,355
8	October 26, 1986	at New York Jets	L 28–23	44,246
9	November 2, 1986	San Francisco 49ers	W 23–10	53,234
10	November 9, 1986	Los Angeles Rams	W 6–0	62,532
11	November 16, 1986	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 16–7	32,069
12	November 23, 1986	at Los Angeles Rams	L 26–13	58,600
13	November 30, 1986	New England Patriots	L 21–20	58,259
14	December 7, 1986	Miami Dolphins	L 31–27	64,761
15	December 14, 1986	at Atlanta Falcons	W 14–9	39,994
16	December 21, 1986	at Minnesota Vikings	L 33–17	51,209

Standings

NFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
San Francisco 49ers^(3)	10	5	1	.656	3–2–1	6–5–1	374	247	W3
Los Angeles Rams^(5)	10	6	0	.625	3–3	8–4	309	267	L2
Atlanta Falcons	7	8	1	.469	2–3–1	6–5–1	280	280	W1
New Orleans Saints	7	9	0	.483	3–3	6–6	288	287	L1

References

1. 1986 New Orleans Saints
2. "1986 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
3. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Retrieved February 28, 2011.