1996 New Orleans Saints season

1996 New Orleans Saints season
Head coach Jim Mora
Rick Venturi (interim)
Home field Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record 3–13
Division place 5th NFC West
Playoff finish did not qualify

The 1996 New Orleans Saints season was the team's 30th as a member of the National Football League. They were unable to match their previous season's output of 7–9 and finished with the second worst sixteen-game record in team history at 3-13.[1] The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

The Saints started the season with Jim Mora as coach in his eleventh season. The team started out by losing its first five games, won its next two, and then lost in Week 8 to the Carolina Panthers. After the loss, which was the team's second to the Panthers that season, Mora gave a postgame tirade where he criticized his team's effort in the second half of the game and said he was "ashamed" of the way they had played. Mora said the Saints could not do "diddly poo" offensively, which led to the rant becoming known as the "diddly poo" speech.

The next morning, Mora announced he was stepping down as the head coach after ten and a half years effective immediately. He left the hastily called press conference after announcing his resignation and refused to answer any questions from reporters. Linebackers coach Rick Venturi was named the interim coach for the remainder of the year, and the Saints went 1-7 under him with their only victory coming against the New York Giants in Week 16.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1996 NFL Draft
1996 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 11 Alex Molden  Cornerback Oregon
2 40 Je'Rod Cherry  Defensive back California
3 70 Brady Smith  Defensive end Colorado State
4 103 Ricky Whittle  Running back Oregon
5 136 Mercury Hayes  Wide receiver Michigan
5 145 Tom Ackerman  Guard Eastern Washington
5 165 Terry Guess  Wide receiver Gardner–Webb
6 179 Keno Hills  Guard Louisiana–Lafayette
6 204 Toderick Malone  Wide receiver Alabama
7 246 Henry Lusk  Tight end Utah
      Made roster  

[2]

Personnel

Staff

1996 New Orleans Saints staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Russell Paternostro
  • Strength and Conditioning Assistant – Glenn Mayeaux

[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 1, 1996 at San Francisco 49ers L 27–11
63,970
2 September 8, 1996 Carolina Panthers L 22–20
43,288
3 September 15, 1996 at Cincinnati Bengals L 30–15
45,412
4 September 22, 1996 Arizona Cardinals L 28–14
34,316
5 September 29, 1996 at Baltimore Ravens L 17–10
61,063
6 October 6, 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars W 17–13
34,231
7 October 13, 1996 Chicago Bears W 27–24
43,512
8 October 20, 1996 at Carolina Panthers L 19–7
70,888
9 Bye
10 November 3, 1996 San Francisco 49ers L 24–17
53,297
11 November 10, 1996 Houston Oilers L 31–14
34,121
12 November 17, 1996 at Atlanta Falcons L 17–15
43,119
13 November 24, 1996 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 13–7
40,203
14 December 1, 1996 St. Louis Rams L 26–10
26,310
15 December 8, 1996 Atlanta Falcons L 31–15
32,923
16 December 15, 1996 at New York Giants W 17–3
52,530
17 December 21, 1996 at St. Louis Rams L 14–13
57,681

Standings

NFC West
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(2) Carolina Panthers 12 4 0 .750 367 218 W7
(4) San Francisco 49ers 12 4 0 .750 398 257 W2
St. Louis Rams 6 10 0 .375 303 409 W2
Atlanta Falcons 3 13 0 .188 309 461 L2
New Orleans Saints 3 13 0 .188 229 339 L1

References

  1. ↑ 1996 New Orleans Saints
  2. ↑ "1996 New Orleans Saints Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  3. ↑ "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
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