NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The New Orleans Saints added former San Diego Coach Mike Riley to the staff Thursday and promoted Rick Venturi to defensive coordinator.
A month after being fired as coach of Chargers, Riley was named secondary coach and assistant head coach to Jim Haslett. His name had surfaced in the few college vacancies since he left San Diego.
Venturi, who has been with the Saints since 1996, makes the move from the secondary and replaces Ron Zook, who left to coach the University of Florida when Steve Spurrier departed for the Washington Redskins.
Both Riley and Venturi, an interim coach with the Indianapolis Colts in 1991 and Saints in 1996, have head coaching position.
"It's invaluable to have former NFL head coaches in both Mike and Rick on the staff as a resource," General Manager Randy Mueller said.
Haslett made the moves after his team tied for 16th overall in the league in total defense, allowing 316.9 yards per game. The Saints ended a 7-9 season with four straight losses, yielding an
average of 40 points.
Riley never cut it in San Diego, posting a 6-26 mark in two seasons. The Chargers went a league-worst 1-15 in 2000 and won five of their first seven games in 2001 before finishing with nine losses.
A former Grey Cup-winning coach with Winnipeg of the Canadian Football League, Riley guided Oregon State for two seasons before joining San Diego. He also has coached in the World League and was an assistant at Southern California.
Venturi has served a number of posts during a 20-year NFL coaching career. He twice has been an interim head coach, was a defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns and has worked with the secondary and linebackers.
Mueller called his promotion "a natural progression." After a 12-year stint with the Colts that included an interim head coaching stint for the final 11 games of the 1991 season, Venturi has held five titles with the Saints.
He joined the team as linebackers coach in 1996 and was elevated to interim coach at midseason. When Mike Ditka took over in 1997, Venturi was retained as linebackers coach and added the
title assistant head coach.
Venturi tutored the secondary in 1998 before taking over as linebackers coach again in 1999. He returned to the secondary in 2000.
