New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Rams connections

• Rams Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips served as defensive coordinator of the Saints from 1981-85 under his father Head Coach Bum Phillips and handled interim coaching duties for the last four contests of the 1985 campaign
• Saints Pass Rush Specialist Brian Young was a fifth-round draft pick of the Rams in 2000 and played for them from 2000-03
• Rams Defensive Line Coach Bill Johnson is a Monroe native who played at Northwestern State and coached at his alma mater, McNeese State and Louisiana Tech and served in the same position with the Saints from 2009-16. Saints Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen also served on the same coaching staff with Phillips and Johnson in Atlanta
• Rams Run Game Coordinator Aaron Kromer served on the New Orleans staff from 2008-12
• Rams Scout Billy Johnson also served a post-graduate year as Tulane's long-snapper
• Saints Special Teams Coordinator Bradford Banta played at USC and served on the same Detroit staff with Rams Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers Joe Barry in Detroit in 2008
• Rams DL Michael Brockers played at LSU from 2010-11
• Saints Defensive Line Coach Ryan Nielsen is a Simi Valley, Calif., native, who started 30 games at defensive tackle at USC from 1998-2001, finished his college playing career with 107 career tackles and was voted the team's Defensive Lineman of the Year in 1999. He coached at his alma mater in 2002 as a graduate assistant and played for the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers in 2004
• Saints RB Mark Ingram and Rams LB Mark Barron won the 2009 BCS National Championship at Alabama as teammates in Tuscaloosa
• Rams T Andrew Whitworth is a Monroe native who played at LSU and was a member of the team's 2003 national championship team
• Saints DT Sheldon Rankins and Rams G Jamon Brown played together at Louisville
• Rams DT Tanzel Smart is a Baton Rouge native who played at Tulane for Saints Senior Offensive Assistant/ Wide Receivers Curtis Johnson, who served as head coach for the Green Wave
• Saints WR Michael Thomas prepped at Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.) and Taft Charter (Woodland Hills, Calif.) HS, where as a senior in 2010, he caught 86 passes, 21 for touchdowns
• Saints S Marcus Williams prepped at Eleanor Roosevelt (Eastvale, Calif.) HS and played with Rams CB Dominique Hatfield at Utah
• Saints CB P.J. WIlliams played with Rams S Lamarcus Joyner at Florida State
• Rams WR Mike Thomas played at Southern Mississippi
• Saints Senior Defensive Assistant Peter Giunta was defensive backs coach for the Rams in 1997, then was the co-defensive coordinator during the 1998-1999 seasons and in 2000 was the defensive coordinator
• Rams WR Brandin Cooks was New Orleans' first round draft pick in 2014 and played for the club in his first three NFL seasons
• Saints RB Dwayne Washington prepped at Gahr (Calif.) HS.