2000 New Orleans Saints season

NFL team season

2000 New Orleans Saints season

Owner| Tom Benson
General manager| Randy Mueller
Head coach| Jim Haslett
Offensive coordinator| Mike McCarthy
Defensive coordinator| Ron Zook
Home field| Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record| 10–6
Division place| 1st NFC West
Playoff finish| Won Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Rams) 31–28
Lost Divisional Playoffs
(at Vikings) 16–34
Pro Bowlers| T Willie Roaf
WR Joe Horn
DT La'Roi Glover
DE Joe Johnson
LB Keith Mitchell
LB Mark Fields

* <- 1999
* Saints seasons
* 2001 ->

The 2000 season was the New Orleans Saints' 34th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 25th playing home games at the Louisiana Superdome. The Saints were looking to improve on their 3–13 finish from a year earlier under new head coach Jim Haslett.[1] Not only did the Saints do so, but they finished with a 10–6 record to win the NFC West and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 1992. They also won their first ever playoff game in franchise history by defeating the defending Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams in the wild-card round. The Saints went no further, though, as they lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the next round.

This was the only time the Saints made the playoffs under Haslett. For the next four seasons, the Saints fell out of contention. They would not return to the playoffs until 2006.

## Offseason[edit]

### NFL Draft[edit]

Main article: 2000 NFL Draft

2000 New Orleans Saints draft

Round  | Pick  | Player  | Position  | College  | Notes
2  | 33  | Darren Howard | Defensive end | Kansas State |
4  | 96  | Terrelle Smith | Fullback | Arizona State |
5  | 131  | Tutan Reyes | Guard | Mississippi |
5  | 158  | Austin Wheatley | Tight end | Iowa |
5  | 166  | Chad Morton | Running back | USC |
6  | 168  | Marc Bulger * | Quarterback | West Virginia |
6  | 195  | Michael Hawthorne | Defensive back | Purdue |
6  | 200  | Sherrod Gideon | Wide receiver | Southern Miss |
7  | 228  | Kevin Houser | Center | Ohio State |
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

## Personnel[edit]

### Staff[edit]

2000 New Orleans Saints staff |

Front office

* Owner – Tom Benson
* General manager of football operations – Randy Mueller
* Assistant general manager of football operations – Charles Bailey
* Director of football administration – Mickey Loomis
* Director of player personnel – Rick Mueller
* College scouting coordinator – Rick Thompson

Head coaches

* Head coach – Jim Haslett
* Assistant head coach/secondary – Rick Venturi

Offensive coaches

* Offensive coordinator – Mike McCarthy
* Quarterbacks – Frank Cignetti, Jr.
* Running backs – Dave Atkins
* Wide receivers – Hubbard Alexander
* Tight ends – Bob Palcic
* Offensive line – Jack Henry
* Offensive assistant/quality control – Phil Pettey

|  |  | Defensive coaches

* Defensive coordinator – Ron Zook
* Defensive line – Sam Clancy
* Linebackers – John Bunting
* Secondary assistant – Joe Baker
* Defensive assistant/quality control – Winston Moss

Special teams coaches

* Special teams – Al Everest
* Special teams assistant – Joe Baker

Strength and conditioning

* Strength and conditioning – Rock Gullickson
* Assistant strength and conditioning – Evan Marcus

|
|
|
|

### Roster[edit]

2000 New Orleans Saints final roster

| Quarterbacks

* 2 Aaron Brooks
* 12 Jake Delhomme
* 11 Billy Joe Tolliver

Running backs

* 20 Terry Allen
* 26 Fred McAfee KR
* 40 Brian Milne FB
* 32 Jerald Moore
* 30 Chad Morton KR/PR
* 44 Terrelle Smith FB

Wide receivers

* 87 Joe Horn
* 88 Willie Jackson
* 83 Keith Poole
* 86 Jake Reed
* 80 Robert Wilson

Tight ends

* 82 Andrew Glover
* 81 Lamont Hall
* 89 Dave Stachelski
* 84 Austin Wheatley

|  | Offensive linemen

* 69 Tom Ackerman C/G
* 62 Jerry Fontenot C
* 65 Chris Naeole G
* 70 Marcus Price T
* 76 Tutan Reyes G/T
* 77 Willie Roaf T
* 78 Daryl Terrell G/T
* 68 Kyle Turley T
* 63 Wally Williams G

Defensive linemen

* 92 Martin Chase DT
* 97 La'Roi Glover DT
* 99 Norman Hand DT
* 93 Darren Howard DE
* 94 Joe Johnson DE
* 90 Jared Tomich DE
* 98 Willie Whitehead DE/DT

|  | Linebackers

* 51 Phil Clarke MLB
* 55 Mark Fields OLB
* 53 Donta Jones OLB
* 59 Keith Mitchell OLB
* 54 Darrin Smith MLB

Defensive backs

* 35 Chris Canty CB
* 37 Steve Gleason SS
* 36 Michael Hawthorne CB
* 27 Rob Kelly FS
* 29 Sammy Knight SS
* 23 Kevin Mathis CB/KR
* 25 Alex Molden CB
* 28 Chris Oldham SS
* 39 Darren Perry FS
* 22 Fred Thomas CB

Special teams

* 10 Doug Brien K
* 4 Toby Gowin P
* 47 Kevin Houser LS

|  | Reserve lists

* 18 Jeff Blake QB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
* 34 Ricky Williams RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
* 85 Cam Cleeland TE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
* 56 Charlie Clemons LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
* 95 Marques Douglas DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
* 79 Mike Halapin DT (PUPTooltip Physically unable to perform)
* 21 Steve Israel CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
* 50 Corey Terry LB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
* 24 Fred Weary CB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)

Practice squad

* 46 Corey Harris CB
* 19 Michael Lewis WR
* 52 Ron Merkerson LB
* 61 Blaine Saipaia T
* 75 Bobby Setzer DE

Rookies in italics
53 active, 8 inactive, 5 practice squad

[3]

## Preseason[edit]

Week  | Date  | Opponent  | Result  | Record  | Venue

|
|
|
|
|

1  | July 29 | at New York Jets | L 20–24  | 0–1  | Giants Stadium
2  | August 5 | at Minnesota Vikings | W 25–24  | 1–1  | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
3  | August 12 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 0–17  | 1–2  | Ross–Ade Stadium (West Lafayette)
4  | August 25 | Miami Dolphins | L 17–22  | 1–3  | Louisiana Superdome

## Regular season[edit]

### Schedule[edit]

Week  | Date  | Opponent  | Result  | Record  | Venue  | Attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | September 3  | Detroit Lions | L 10–14  | 0–1  | Louisiana Superdome | 64,900
2  | September 10  | at San Diego Chargers | W 28–27  | 1–1  | Qualcomm Stadium | 51,300
3  | September 17  | at Seattle Seahawks | L 10–20  | 1–2  | Husky Stadium | 59,513
4  | September 24  | Philadelphia Eagles | L 7–21  | 1–3  | Louisiana Superdome  | 64,900
5  | Bye
6  | October 8  | at Chicago Bears | W 31–10  | 2–3  | Soldier Field | 66,944
7  | October 15  | Carolina Panthers | W 24–6  | 3–3  | Louisiana Superdome  | 50,015
8  | October 22  | at Atlanta Falcons | W 21–19  | 4–3  | Georgia Dome | 56,508
9  | October 29  | at Arizona Cardinals | W 21–10  | 5–3  | Sun Devil Stadium | 35,016
10  | November 5  | San Francisco 49ers | W 31–15  | 6–3  | Louisiana Superdome  | 64,900
11  | November 12  | at Carolina Panthers | W 20–10  | 7–3  | Ericsson Stadium | 72,981
12  | November 19  | Oakland Raiders | L 22–31  | 7–4  | Louisiana Superdome  | 64,900
13  | November 26  | at St. Louis Rams | W 31–24  | 8–4  | Trans World Dome | 66,064
14  | December 3  | Denver Broncos | L 23–38  | 8–5  | Louisiana Superdome  | 64,900
15  | December 10  | at San Francisco 49ers | W 31–27  | 9–5  | 3Com Park | 67,892
16  | December 17  | Atlanta Falcons | W 23–7  | 10–5  | Louisiana Superdome  | 64,900
17  | December 24  | St. Louis Rams | L 21–26  | 10–6  | Louisiana Superdome  | 64,900
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Standings[edit]

NFC West

* view
* talk
* edit

| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK
(3) New Orleans Saints | 10  | 6  | 0  | .625  | 354  | 305  | L1
(6) St. Louis Rams | 10  | 6  | 0  | .625  | 540  | 471  | W1
Carolina Panthers | 7  | 9  | 0  | .438  | 310  | 310  | L1
San Francisco 49ers | 6  | 10  | 0  | .375  | 388  | 422  | L1
Atlanta Falcons | 4  | 12  | 0  | .250  | 252  | 413  | W1

## Playoffs[edit]

Main article: 2000–01 NFL playoffs

Week  | Date  | Opponent (seed)  | Result  | Record  | Venue  | Attendance

|
|
|
|
|
|

Wild Card  | December 30 | St. Louis Rams (6)  | W 31–28  | 1–0  | Louisiana Superdome | 64,900
Divisional  | January 6 | at Minnesota Vikings (2)  | L 16–34  | 1–1  | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 63,881

## Player stats[edit]

### Passing[edit]

Player  | Completions  | Attempts  | Percentage  | Yards  | TD  | Int  | Rating

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|
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|
|

Jeff Blake | 184 | 302 | 60.9 | 2,025 | 13 | 9 | 82.7
Aaron Brooks | 113 | 194 | 58.2 | 1,514 | 9 | 6 | 85.7

#### Rushing[edit]

Player  | Attempts  | Yards  | Avg Yards  | Long  | Touchdowns

|
|
|
|
|

Ricky Williams | 248 | 1000 | 4.0 | 26 | 8
Jeff Blake | 57 | 243 | 4.3 | 20 | 1
Terry Allen | 46 | 179 | 3.9 | 18 | 2
Aaron Brooks | 41 | 170 | 4.1 | 29 | 2

[4]

#### Receiving[edit]

Player  | Attempts  | Yards  | Avg Yards  | Long  | Touchdowns

|
|
|
|
|

Joe Horn | 94 | 1340 | 14.3 | 52 | 8
Ricky Williams | 44 | 409 | 9.3 | 24 | 1
Willie Jackson | 37 | 523 | 14.1 | 53 | 6
Chad Morton | 30 | 213 | 7.1 | 35 | 0
Keith Poole | 21 | 293 | 14.0 | 49 | 1
Andrew Glover | 21 | 281 | 13.4 | 39 | 4

[4]

### Defense[edit]

#### Sacks[edit]

Player  | Number

|

La'Roi Glover | 17
Joe Johnson | 12
Darren Howard | 11
Keith Mitchell | 6.5
Willie Whitehead | 5.5

[4]

#### Interceptions[edit]

Player  | Number  | Yards  | Avg Yards  | Long  | Touchdowns

|
|
|
|
|

Sammy Knight | 5 | 68 | 13.6 | 37 | 2
Alex Molden | 3 | 24 | 8.0 | 24 | 0
Darren Perry | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 3 | 0

[4]

## Awards and records[edit]

* Jim Haslett, AP Coach of the Year,[5]
* Jim Haslett, College and Pro Football Newsweekly Coach of the Year,[5]
* Jim Haslett, Football Digest Coach of the Year,[5]
* Jim Haslett, Football News Coach of the Year,[5]
* Jim Haslett, Pro Football Writers Association Coach of the Year,[5]
* Jim Haslett, Sports Illustrated Coach of the Year [6]
* Jim Haslett, USA Today NFC Coach of the Year,[5]

### Milestones[edit]

* Ricky Williams, 1st 1000 rushing yards season

## References[edit]

1. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.129
2. ^ "2000 New Orleans Saints Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
3. ^ "2000 New Orleans Saints starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
4. ^ a b c d NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 127
5. ^ a b c d e f NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 201
6. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 202

* Saints on Pro Football Reference
* Saints on jt-sw.com

* v
* t
* e

New Orleans Saints

* Founded in 1967
* Based in New Orleans, Louisiana
* Headquartered in Metairie, Louisiana

Franchise|

* Franchise
* Seasons
* History
* Players
* Coaches
* Expansion draft
* First-round draft picks
* Starting quarterbacks
* Broadcasters

Stadiums|

* Tulane Stadium
* Caesars Superdome
* Temporary home venues in 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina: Alamodome
* Giants Stadium
* Tiger Stadium

Culture|

* Gumbo
* Sir Saint
* Saintsations
* Who Dat?
* Tom Benson
* Effect of Hurricane Katrina
* Buddy D
* "When the Saints Go Marching In"
* Home Team
* Number One
* A Saintly Switch

Lore|

* "Aints" (1–15)
* Dempsey's 63-yard field goal
* Dome Patrol
* Ricky Williams trade
* River City Relay
* Steve Gleason's blocked punt
* Beast Quake
* Bountygate
* Minneapolis Miracle
* NOLA No-Call

Rivalries|

* Atlanta Falcons
* Carolina Panthers
* Los Angeles Rams
* Minnesota Vikings
* Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Wild card berths (5)|

* 1987
* 1990
* 1992
* 2010
* 2013

Division championships (9)|

* 1991
* 2000
* 2006
* 2009
* 2011
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020

Conference championships (1)|

* 2009

League championships (1)|

* 2009 (XLIV)

Retired numbers|

* 31
* 81

Ring of Honor|

* Andersen
* Benson
* Jackson
* Manning
* Mills
* Roaf
* Smith

Current league affiliations|

* League: National Football League
* Conference: National Football Conference
* Division: South Division

* v
* t
* e

New Orleans Saints seasons

* 1967
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* 1975
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* 2001
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Bold indicates Super Bowl victory

* v
* t
* e

2000 NFL season

| AFC| East | Central| West| East| Central| West | NFC

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Buffalo | Baltimore| Denver| Arizona| Chicago| Atlanta
Indianapolis | Cincinnati| Kansas City| Dallas| Detroit| Carolina
Miami | Cleveland| Oakland| NY Giants| Green Bay| New Orleans
New England | Jacksonville| San Diego| Philadelphia| Minnesota| St. Louis
NY Jets | Pittsburgh| Seattle| Washington| Tampa Bay| San Francisco
| Tennessee| | | |

* 2000 NFL Draft
* NFL playoffs
* Pro Bowl
* Super Bowl XXXV

*[IR]: Injured reserve
*[PUP]: Physically unable to perform
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[T]: Ties
*[PCT]: Winning percentage
*[PF]: Points For (Total points scored)
*[PA]: Points Against (Total points allowed)
*[STK]: Current Winning or Losing Streak
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template