New Orleans Saints vs. Cleveland Browns Connections

• New Orleans head coach Sean Payton and Browns offensive coordinator Todd Haley coached on the same staff with the Dallas Cowboys in 2004-05 under Bill Parcells. Payton served as the quarterbacks coach at Miami University (Ohio) from 1994-1995. Payton and Cleveland defensive backs coach DeWayne Walker served on the same New York Giants coaching staff in 2002
• Browns defensive coordinator Gregg Williams held the same position in New Orleans from 2009-2011
• Browns senior offensive assistant Al Saunders was on Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's staff from 2012-2014 when Allen was head coach of the Oakland Raiders
• Cleveland assistant offensive line coach Mark Hutson was the tight ends coach on Allen's Oakland coaching staff from 2012-2014. Hutson also served as offensive line coach for Tulane University from 2007-2011 and interim head coach/co-offensive coordinator in 2011. Saunders and New Orleans assistant head coach/tight ends Dan Campbell served on the same Miami staff in 2015, when Campbell was elevated to interim head coach early in the season. Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who prepped at Lutcher High School and played at Louisiana State University, played for Campbell when he served as interim head coach of the Dolphins in 2015
• Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael served as the tight ends coach and offensive assistant for the Browns in 2000, while his late father, Pete Carmichael Jr. served as the team's offensive coordinator
• Browns linebackers coach Blake Williams worked as an assistant in New Orleans from 2009-2011 and also served as an assistant coach at Southeastern Louisiana University in 2015
• Saints secondary coach Aaron Glenn served as assistant secondary coach in Cleveland from 2014-2015
• Browns defensive quality control coach Eric Sanders worked on Allen's staff in Oakland from 2012- 2014
• Browns assistant defensive backs/safeties coach Jerod Kruse spent 2015 as associate head coach and special teams coordinator for Southeastern Louisiana. He worked as a guest coach during the summers of 2009- 2011 in New Orleans
• Browns quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese served on the same Philadelphia staff with Payton in 1998
• Saints head strength and conditioning coach Dan Dalrymple spent 16 years at Miami University (Ohio) as director of athletic conditioning from 1989 - 2005
• Saints assistant strength and conditioning coach Charles Byrd is an Oxford, Ohio native and started as a strength and conditioning intern at Miami under the supervision of Dalrymple
• New Orleans assistant strength and conditioning coach Rob Wenning is a Coldwater, Ohio native and played football at the University of Findley (Ohio). Wenning also served a football strength and conditioning internship at Ohio State from 2007-2008
• New Orleans linebacker Demario Davis played for the Browns in 2016, finishing second on the team with 99 tackles
• Saints linebacker Craig Robertson spent the first four years of his career as a member of the Cleveland Browns after going undrafted out of North Texas in 2011 and joining the team's practice squad at the end of that campaign. Last year, his second in New Orleans, Robertson led the Saints linebackers in tackles for the second consecutive season with 77 stops and added two sacks, two interceptions, six passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, three special teams stops and one coverage fumble recovery
• Saints safety Kurt Coleman, wide receiver Michael Thomas, wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr, safety Vonn Bell, and cornerback Marshon Lattimore all played college football at Ohio State. Thomas, Bell, and Lattimore were teammates and members of the 2015 national championship team. Thomas and Bell played with Cleveland running back Carlos Hyde on the Buckeyes
• Ginn, defensive back Justin Hardee and Lattimore are Cleveland area natives and both attended Glenville High School in Cleveland
• Thomas, Bell and Lattimore were Buckeyes teammates with Cleveland rookie cornerback Denzel Ward
• New Orleans quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and Cleveland linebacker James Burgess Jr. were college teammates at Louisville
• Browns defensive tackle Devaroe Lawrence, was originally signed by New Orleans as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn in 2017. After spending his rookie season on the Reserve/NFI list, Lawrence made a charge for a roster spot with the Saints before being traded to the Browns at the end of the preseason
• Saints tight end Benjamin Watson played for the Browns from 2010-12, appearing in 45 games and recording 154 receptions for 1,674 yards and eight touchdowns
• Saints defensive end Trey Hendrickson and Browns defensive tackle Trevon Coley played on the defensive line together at Florida Atlantic from 2013 to 2015
• Saints linebacker Alex Anzalone, Browns defensive lineman Caleb Brantley and wide receiver Antonio Callaway were college teammates at the University of Florida
• At Northwestern, Saints wide receiver Austin Carr and Browns fullback Danny Vitale were college teammates
• At Illinois State, Saints wide receiver Cameron Meredith and Browns linebacker B.J. Bellow were college teammates
• Browns linebacker Jamie Collins Sr. is a McCall Creek, Miss. Native who starred at Franklin County (Meadville, Miss.) High School and the University of Southern Mississippi
• New Orleans cornerback P.J. Williams and Cleveland tackle Roderick Johnson were college teammates at Florida State
• New Orleans running back Mike Gillislee, running back Jonathan Williams and Cleveland defensive back E.J. Gaines and Browns quarterback Tyrod Taylor were teammates in Buffalo from 2015-16
• Gillislee and Landry were teammates with the Dolphins from 2013- 14
• Cleveland Wide Receivers Coach Adam Henry played at McNeese State from 1990-93, played for the Saints in 1994 and coached at his alma mater from 1997-2006 and at LSU from 2012-14
• Henry tutored New Orleans Assistant Wide Receivers Coach Ronald Curry in Oakland from 2007-08
• Cleveland Special Teams Coordinator Amos Jones served on the Tulane coaching staff from 1995-96. Jones tutored New Orleans defensive end Alex Okafor on special teams in Arizona from 2013-16. Okafor and Cleveland quarterback Drew Stanton were also Cardinals teammates during that same period
• Cleveland Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Evan Marcus served as assistant strength and conditioning coach in New Orleans from 2000-02
• New Orleans Area Scout Jon Sandusky served as a member of the Cleveland player personnel staff from 2010-15
• Saints Executive Director of Corporate Partnership Sales Matt Webb and Director of Partnership Marketing Kelly Carroll both worked in the Cleveland front office
• Cleveland Associated Head Coach/Running Backs Freddie Kitchens served as a graduate assistant at LSU in 2000
• Cleveland Tight End Orson Charles spent most of 2014 on the Saints practice squad and went to training camp with the team in 2015.