New Orleans Saints Secondary Coach Wesley McGriff Hired As Auburn Defensive Backs Coach

We now know who will replace Travaris Robinson as Auburn's defensive back coach.

Right around lunch, the official site issued the news release that New Orleans Saints secondary coach Wesley McGriff is joining Auburn's staff. His exact capacity isn't stated in the release, but it is said to be "co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach."

McGriff is someone with SEC experience, as he's coached at Ole Miss, Vandy, and Kentucky. The release states that he was the national assistant of the year in Division II while at Kentucky State.

He's been with the Saints for the last three seasons where he's been on a defensive coaching staff that, well, let's just be frank, they've kinda sucked. The Saints allowed the most points out of any team in the NFL this year. They weren't the worst defense in the NFL, but they were second worst. They were second worst in passing yards allowed, too. That was down from 25th (out of 32 for you non-NFL fans) in 2014. They were 2nd in the NFL in his first season, though.

His Ole Miss secondary did pull down 11 of Ole Miss' 18 interceptions in 2012, led by Senquez Golson and Dehendret Collins. His defensive backs at Vanderbilt and Miami were also pretty good. He was a top recruiter while at Ole Miss, as well, ranking in the Top 25 of Rivals' recruiting rankings. A number of his DBs made All-ACC at Miami, and he has put a number of players into the NFL.

The performance of the defenses at New Orleans are concerning, but there is reason to believe a lot of that lies at the feet of the defensive game plans by former DC Rob Ryan. His past history in college appears to be as a good coach who made a big impression on his former players and, as Gus Malzahn loves, as a great recruiter.

Either way, we welcome the man who jumps to the top of the heap when it comes to Twitter handles, as he goes by @coachcrimedog. Hopefully his DBs are good at hunting down the ball and stealing it away!