Saints and Jets Connections

• Linebacker Gerald Hodges prepped at Paulsboro (N.J. HS).
• Wide receiver Brandon Coleman was a standout at Rutgers from 2011-12.
• Running back Mark Ingram II II was born in Hackensack, N.J. Jets guard James Carpenter blocked for Ingram at Alabama where he was an All-American running back. Saints center Max Unger, Carpenter and Jets wide receiver Jermain Kearse were teammates in Seattle.
• Jets Assistant defensive line coach La'Roi Glover played defensive tackle for the Saints from 1997-2001, recording 50 sacks and being named to two Pro Bowls and as an AP All-Pro twice.  He is a member of the Saints Hall of Fame and the Saints All 50th Team.
• Jets running back Matt Forte prepped at Slidell (La.) HS, where he was a standout as a senior and the St. Tammany Parish Player of the Year and then played at Tulane University, where he was a third-team AP All-American as a senior. Pro Scout Michael Parenton blocked for Forte at Tulane as an offensive lineman for the Green Wave. Parenton also spent part of the 2009 season on the Jets practice squad.
• Jets Offensive Coordinator John Morton served in the same position for the Saints from 2015-16 and served on their staff in 2006.
• Vice President of Football Administration Khai Harley is a Somerville, N.J. native and graduate of Rutgers.
• Secondary Coach Aaron Glenn was a first -round draft pick of the Jets in 1994 (12th overall) and played for New York from 1994-2001 and was a two-time Pro Bowl selection (1997-98).
• Wide reciever Michael Thomas' uncle Keyshawn Johnson was selected by the Jets with the first overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft and played for them from 1996-99.
• Quarterbacks Coach Joe Lombardi coached tight ends and running backs for the XFL's New York/New Jersey Hitmen in 2001.
• Senior Defensive Assistant Peter Giunta served on the Jets staff from 1995-96.
• Assistant Special Teams Coach Kevin O'Dea served on the Jets staff from 2008-09.
• Special Teams Coordinator Bradford Banta played for the Jets in 2000.
• Special Teams Mike Westhoff served in several capacities in charge of Jets special teams from 2001-12.
• Executive Director of Communications Doug Miller was a member of the Jets PR staff from 1990-2006.
• Jets S Jamal Adams and CB Morris Clairborne played at LSU.
• Head Coach Sean Payton and Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles served on the same Dallas staff in 2005. Defensive Coordinator Mike Nolan and Bowles served on the same Jets staff in 2000, Nolan as defensive coordinator and they tutored Glenn as a player.
• O'Dea and Jets Quarterbacks Coach Jeremy Bates served on the same Chicago staff in 2012. Unger played for Bates in Seattle in 2010, when he served as offensive coordinator.
• Jets Running Backs Coach Stump Mitchell served as Head Coach at Southern from 2010-12.
• New York running back Elijah McGuire is a Houma native who played at Louisiana-Lafayette.
• Defensive end Hau'oli Kikaha and Jets tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins were teammates at Washington.
• Safety Chris Banjo, fullback Zach Line, cornerback Sterling Moore and punter Thomas Morstead played with Jets tackle Kelvin Beachum at Southern Methodist.

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