Things may have turned around for the New Orleans Saints in recent weeks but they still have a lot of work to do. And changes will be coming in the offseason — not just for the many players whose contracts are up, but the assistant coaches whose units have underperformed. These guys need to finish strong in order to be part of the plan for 2026.

One of the hurdles the Saints dealt with last offseason was a late start in building Kellen Moore’s coaching staff. Because he was still coaching in the Super Bowl, he missed out on some assistants he probably would have liked to have on staff because they took other jobs offered by teams. One of them was former Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach Klayton Adams, who the Dallas Cowboys hired as Brian Schottenheimer’s offensive coordinator. Things are going to be different in 2026. Other teams are going to be turning over their staff and Moore will have opportunities to get his own guys into the building rather than inherit assistants from Dennis Allen’s staff or bring in coaches the organization already knew.

With that on mind, here are four spots to watch in the weeks ahead.

Special teams coordinator Phil Galiano

Galiano worked as Darren Rizzi’s right-hand man for several years, but the kicking units took a big step back without Rizzi leading the room. The Saints already had to make a change at kicker, cutting Blake Grupe and pivoting to Charlie Smyth. Kai Kroeger ranks fourth-worst in net yards per punt, and bottom-10 in punts placed inside the 20-yard line. As a team, the Saints rank among the bottom half of the league in yards allowed on punt and kick returns as well as yards gained when they have an opportunity to return. On average, their opponents have enjoyed the fourth-best starting field position in the NFL this year (the 32.6 yard line). Last season the Saints gave opponents the league’s worst starting field position (27.2). Hopefully Moore has a good candidate in mind for this job.

Offensive line coach Brendan Nugent

Nugent was one of the first assistants Moore hired after the Saints named him head coach, which made sense at the time. They had worked together on the Los Angeles Chargers and Nugent was well-known within the organization after coming up with the Saints early in his career. But the offensive line has been a disaster this year, even when they’ve had four or five healthy starters available at the same time (and with every one of them being a top-50 draft pick). The interior line especially has been so incohesive that well-drawn run plays have been shut down by guys not executing their blocks. Moore’s interest in Klayton Adams and quick pivot to Nugent suggests he wasn’t the first choice for the job. Klint Kubiak’s staff seemed to have the offensive line trending in the right direction, but now we’re starting over again from square one.

Running backs coach Joel Thomas

Thomas was also given the title of associate head coach, so he’s clearly someone the Saints thought highly of. But his position group just hasn’t gotten in done. The Saints have had the least-explosive group of running backs in the league over the last five years (with Thomas coaching them since 2015 in every year but 2024), and they need a complete overhaul here. Both in personnel and in coaching. The traits the Saints have valued and developed at this position just haven’t been good enough. If Evan Hull and Audric Estime can surprise us the last three weeks, maybe it’s a different conversation. This is another spot where it felt like Moore was short on options and went with someone the organization knew well.

Wide receivers coach Keith Williams

Williams was another holdover from Dennis Allen’s coaching staff, and we haven’t seen much growth from the receivers at the bottom of the depth chart. Mason Tipton has a dozen targets in 13 games, catching seven passes for just 47 yards and two first downs. Kevin Austin Jr. is running meaningful routes again in December but catching just three passes in five games. Dante Pettis hasn’t broken out of his role on special teams and has a single 14-yard catch on the season. Even if they shouldn’t be expected to start and route up the league’s best cornerbacks, the Saints must find someone who can develop those guys into players who can help the Saints win football games.