New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles connections

The New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles face off for the 30th time in history on Sunday afternoon. The series history has seen these two clash in three separate playoff games (1993, 2007, 2014). Although the Eagles own the all-time series lead at 16-13, the Saints have won five out of the last six contests.

Here’s a look at the Saints-Eagles franchise connections:

Coaching/Front office connections

Sean Payton was the Eagles quarterbacks coach from 1997-1998; Joe Vitt was linebackers coach for the Eagles from 1995-1998.
Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan‘s father, Buddy, was the Eagles head coach from 1986-1990. Buddy Ryan went 43-35-1 in his tenure, and went to the postseason in his final three seasons with the club.
Saints Vice President of Football Administration Khai Harley was as an administrative intern in Philadelphia from 2001-2002.
Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and Eagles Head Coach Chip Kelly were on the University of New Hampshire coaching staff in 1994. Both were on the offensive side of the ball, with Carmichael coaching the offensive line and Kelly coaching the running backs.
Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis, Saints’ Dennis Allen and Bill Johnson all served on the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff 2001-2003.
Eagles inside linebackers coach Rick Minter was the defensive line coach at Louisiana Tech in 1979.
Saints secondary coach Wesley McGriff and Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland were on the University of Miami (The U) coaching staff from 2007-2010.
Saints offensive assistant Kyle DeVan played for the Eagles in 2011.
Offensive assistant Greg Lewis played for the Eagles in from 2003-2008; Defensive assistant/linebackers coach James Willis played for the Eagles from 1995-1998.

Player connections

Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins was originally a first round draft pick (14th overall) of the Saints in 2009. He played for black and gold for five seasons from 2009-2013.
Eagles running back Darren Sproles played for the Saints from 2011-2013. Sproles was not only a teammate with Drew Brees in New Orleans, but also in San Diego for the 2005 season. The two also played together with Eagles tight end coach Justin Peelle during the 2005 season.
Marques Colston prepped at Susquehanna Township High School. Colston lettered four times in football and was a three year member of the track team. Jahri Evans prepped at Frankford High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then played his college ball at Bloomsburg from 2001-2005. Both Colston and Evans are minority owners of the Philadelphia Soul AFL team.
Saints linebacker Michael Mauti played for Penn State.
Eagles defensive tackle Bennie Logan prepped at Red River High School in Coushatta, Louisiana and was a standout at LSU.
Mark Ingram‘s father, Mark Ingram Sr., played for the Eagles in his final season in 1996.
Cam Jordan played with Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks at the University of California from 2008-2010.
Saints cornerback Kyle Wilson and Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez were teammates with the New York Jets from 2010-2013. Wilson and Malcolm Jenkins were teammates at Piscataway High School in New Jersey.
Eagles punter Donnie Jones attended Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and played at LSU.
Saints running back C.J. Spiller and Eagles linebacker Kiko Alonso were teammates in Buffalo from 2013-2014.
Jairus Byrd and Eagles cornerback Walter Thurmond were teammates at Oregon. Saints cornerback Brandon Browner, Thurmond and Philadelphia guard Allen Barbre were teammates in Seattle.
Saints guard Mike McGlynn was originally a fourth round draft pick of the Eagles in 2008. He spent three seasons with them.
Saints center Max Unger played for Chip Kelly at Oregon when Kelly was the offensive coordinator.
Dannell Ellerbe and Eagles cornerback Nolan Carroll were teammates in Miami in 2013.
Saints defensive tackle Kaleb Eulls and Eagles defensive end Fletcher Cox are both from Yazoo City, Mississippi.
Andrus Peat and Eagles tight end Zach Ertz were teammates at Stanford.

Which connections surprised you the most?

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