The East-West Shrine Bowl announced the coaching staff for their respective teams earlier this week. Included were New Orleans Saints coaches Terry Joseph, Josh Hill, and Tobiah Hughley.
Joseph was named the defensive coordinator of the west team, Hill the tight ends coach of the West, and Hughley the coach of the offensive line. They'll be joining Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Sean Mannion, New York Jets assistant coach Randall Jette, and Dallas Cowboys tight ends coach in trying to lead the West to a 55th shrine bowl victory.
This is great news for the Saints, as with three coaches on the staff, they really get an inside look at this year's top prospects. Some teams probably wish for this opportunity, and now it's time for the Saints to take advantage of it.
The Saints get an inside look at this year's top prospects
The New Orleans Saints have always been a team that takes a lot of interest in games like the East-West Shrine Bowl. This year, they get an inside look at some of the top NFL prospects thanks to Terry Joseph, Josh Hill, and Tobiah Hughley.
Joseph might have the most to look at, because edge rushers this year are expected to run deep in the Shrine Bowl. In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Eric Galko, the director of football operations and personnel for the bowl, said he thinks it'll be one of the strengths of this class. "Every single one of our defensive linemen and linebackers is a first-wave NFL Combine guy, meaning a majority of NFL teams think these guys are draft picks," Galko said. "I think those positions are really strong this year."
Defensive ends Ethan Burke, Marvin Jones Jr., and Nygalik Kelly are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the players that Joseph will get an up-close and personal look at. Other names on the West team include Malachi Lawerence and Jake Golday.
Hughley arguably has the most important job of the three because of how underwhelming the O-line was in New Orleans this year. He gets the opportunity to work closely with guards like Ar'Maj Reed-Adams (Texas A&M), Garrett DiGiorgio (UCLA), and Anez Cooper (Miami, FL), all of whom could help New Orleans next year.
Hill, a former Saints tight end himself, will get the chance to help his former team find their next TE. Players like Seydou Traore (Mississippi State) and Jaren Kanak (Oklahoma) are among the players he'll get to coach.