Mike Nolan enjoying teaching role with Saints decades after his father coached in New Orleans

METAIRIE — The centerpiece of the New Orleans Saints’ overhaul of one of the worst  defenses in the NFL has been personnel changes to the linebacking corps.

In free agency New Orleans signed A.J. Klein from Carolina and Manti Te’o from San Diego, and in the draft it selected Alex Anzalone from Florida with a third-round pick (No. 76 overall).

The Saints are training the linebackers, both the new arrivals and holdovers, to handle multiple positions, finding who’s blessed with some combination of the abilities necessary to play in pass coverage, defend the run and align the defense.

For instance, Klein has been the starting strongside linebacker in the base defense and the middle linebacker in the nickel and Craig Robertson has played middle and weakside.

It’s fitting that head coach Sean Payton, who dismissed long-time linebackers coach Joe Vitt after last season, brought in Mike Nolan, a 35-year coaching veteran, including 30 years in the NFL, to coach the rebuilt unit.

Nolan, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons, was a defensive coordinator for 17 seasons and has worked for eight NFL teams. So he’s handled an even wider variety of jobs than he’s asking his players to do.

Though Nolan, whose father Dick was head coach of the 49ers (1968-75) and the Saints (1978-80), doesn’t carry the additional assistant head coach title that Vitt had, his background makes him a greater asset to defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and Payton than your average position coach would be.

Payton cited the value of Nolan’s “preparation and attention to details” while saying the Saints coaches, like the players, “need to have our best camp” as New Orleans tries to break out of the funk of three consecutive 7-9 seasons.

Nolan and Allen had not worked together before, but Nolan said Allen has been one of the easiest coaches for him to work with, comparing him to another former Saints assistant and son of a former Saints head coach — Wade Phillips.

There aren’t many differences between Nolan and Allen philosophically, but still they have been able to share more detailed approaches to certain schemes and broaden each other’s knowledge.

“There are some different ways to skin a cat when it comes to different techniques,” Nolan said.

As an example he said he has acquired a more detailed approach to the “Tampa 2” scheme from Allen because it has been a bigger part of Allen’s repertoire than Nolan’s.

Nolan, who was out of coaching last season after serving as linebackers coach for the Chargers Broncos in 2015, said he’s enjoying the increased teaching element of his current job compared to being a coordinator or head coach.

“I do believe I’ve been a good teacher all these years. I’ve always taken pride in that,” said Nolan, who can count Lawrence Taylor and Ray Lewis among his pupils. “One of the biggest reasons I’ve come back is I do miss that aspect. That was a big deal to me.”

One of the first things Nolan did when he arrived in New Orleans was ask the linebackers how they prefer to be taught so he could communicate technique and the scheme to each in a customized fashion, whether it was heavier in a visual, verbal or physical approach.

“You can be a great head coach and not be a very good teacher because if you surround yourself with the guys that do all the teaching you’re good to go,” Nolan said. “Your strength might be leadership, or Xs and Os, or calling a game or something else. It might not be technique.

“But I know for a fact it’s really important for a position coach to be able to teach because the players are looking for that detail to make them a better player. If they’re not getting the things that make them a good one-on-one player they’ll listen, but they’re looking for more.”

Nolan said his father, who was nicknamed “Mute Rockne” because he was a man of few words, was “a little more stoic” than him, though he had a look that clearly conveyed when he was angry about something.

As he has gotten older, Nolan said he has learned the value of knowing when displaying anger is necessary and when it’s not helpful.

“It’s like parenting,” he said. “When you’re a parent for the first time you blow up at some things, then you become a grandparent and you’re more like, that one I’m not getting excited about. We’re all right. We’re good.”

“I think coaching is a lot the same way. When you do it you start to figure out when you get excited and when you don’t, but they need to know you’re alive. I don’t like flat-line, dead guys. That’s never good.”

Nolan said he has “great memories” of being around the Saints when his dad was head coach. The family lived near Transcontinental Drive and Lake Pontchartrain, a short drive from the old practice facility off of David Drive.

He fondly recalled driving with long-time equipment managers Dan Simmons and Silky Powell to training camp at Dodgertown in Vero Beach, Fla.

Nolan’s father, who died at age 75 in 2007, was perhaps best known for helping to develop the flex defense in which a tackle and an end played about a yard off the line of scrimmage to improve reaction time in defending the run.

“He was known for the flex defense and being an innovator, but he used to always shake his head and say, “it’s all people,” Nolan said. “You get the right people and treat them the right way and motivate them and you’ve got a good chance.”

“He said the scheme is second. Don’t lose your mind on the scheme. You can be a good coach and if you don’t have good players you’re not going to look very good.”