Ryan Nielsen will remain with the New Orleans Saints
Ed Orgeron wanted Ryan Nielsen to become the next defensive coordinator at LSU, but that was not the same plan the New Orleans Saints had.
Nielsen will remain the New Orleans Saints defensive line coach, according to The Athletic's Bruce Feldman. Nielsen was given a "new 3-year contract and the added title of assistant head coach with the Saints," per ESPN's Mike Triplett.
NFL Network reporter Jane Slater reported Monday afternoon that the Tigers were "working on finalizing a deal" with Nielsen, who met with Sean Payton and told him he plans to accept the job. However, there was a dispute about whether the "language of Nielsen’s contract will support the move to the college ranks," per Slater.
“We’re still working on it. He’s a primary candidate, obviously. Love Ryan. Ryan’s a bright, young, energetic coach. Comes to us highly recommended, but there’s still some things to work out to see if he can come to LSU and those things are not final yet," Orgeron said Tuesday morning on 104.5's "Off the Bench" radio station.
“I coached Ryan in in college at USC; outstanding player and outstanding young man. He decided to coach and started volunteer coaching at USC with me and Coach Carroll then went to Idaho then came to (Ole Miss) and became my full-time defensive line coach then took off. At North Carolina State he had four guys that he recruited that were drafted and I think a couple of them were first round picks. He’s done a tremendous job with the Saints. He comes to us with rave reviews but once again the deal is not done yet.”
LSU interviewed Cincinnati defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and thought they would land him, but Freeman ultimately picked Notre Dame over the Tigers. Orgeron also interviewed Mississippi State defensive coordinator Zach Arnett, but that never seemed to be a true possibility.
Below is Nielsen's full career breakdown:
Nielsen just completed his fourth season as New Orleans' defensive line coach. He has a history of developing players on the professional and college levels and brings abundant experience to the position. Since 2017, six different defensive linemen have produced multi-sack games and the New Orleans defense has gone the last 43 regular season and postseason games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
In 2019, New Orleans ranked third in the NFL with 51 sacks with 38.5 of them coming from the defensive line. New Orleans also ranked fourth in the NFL in opponent yards rushing per game (91.3). Defensive end Cameron Jordan was again instrumental in the defense's success as he tallied a career-high 15.5 sacks, ranked third in the NFL and collected one more in the postseason. Jordan was selected to the Pro Bowl for the third consecutive season, as an Associated Press second-team All-Pro for the second straight campaign and NFC Defensive Player of the Week after a dominating performance with four sacks to tie the team record as the team also tied the club single-game record with nine takedowns. Second-year defensive end Marcus Davenport finished second on the team with six sacks and defensive end Trey Hendrickson added a career-high 4.5 takedowns.
In 2018, Nielsen tutored a front four that contributed to the Saints finishing tied for fifth in the NFL with 49 sacks and ranking second in the league in opponent rushing yards per game (80.2) and opponent yards per rush (3.6). Jordan enjoyed an outstanding season with 12 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins enjoyed a breakthrough season with a career-high eight sacks, the most by a Saints interior defender since 2001. Davenport was a PFWA All-Rookie selection with 4.5 sacks, Defensive tackle David Onyemata had a career-high 4.5 takedowns and Defensive end Alex Okafor chipped in four sacks and a fumble recovery.
In 2017, under Nielsen's supervision, Jordan became the first Saints defensive end to be named an AP first-team All-Pro. Jordan's elite season highlighted by a career-high 13 sacks, earned him numerous individual accomplishments, including his third Pro Bowl nod, his first NFC Defensive Player of the Week (Week Six) and NFC Defensive Player of the Month (November) honors.
From 2013-2016, he was the defensive line/recruiting coordinator/run game coordinator at North Carolina State. He was a Broyles Award candidate in 2015-16, given annually to college football's top assistant coach, Nielsen earned this recognition tutoring a Wolfpack defensive line that was part of a defense that ranked 29th in the FBS in opponent net yards per game.
Nielsen coached at Northern Illinois from 2011-12, including a 2012 season where he was the co-defensive coordinator/defensive line/recruiting coordinator and helped the Huskies to the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl.
He served as the defensive line/special teams coach at Tennessee-Martin in 2010 when the Skyhawks led the Ohio Valley Conference in total defense. From 2008-09, Nielsen was the defensive coordinator and coached the defensive line and linebackers at Central Connecticut State. Nielsen served as the defensive line coach at the University of Mississippi from 2005-07 under Orgeron, following one season at the University of Idaho, where he coached two freshman All-Americans.
Nielsen got his start in coaching as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater, the University of Southern California in 2002.
Nielsen, a Simi Valley, Calif. native who started 30 games at defensive tackle at USC from 1998-2001, finished his college career with 107 career tackles and was voted the team's Defensive Lineman of the Year in 1999. He graduated with a degree in public policy in 2002 and went to training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played for the Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers in 2004.