1976 New Orleans Saints season

The 1976 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints’ tenth year in the National Football League (NFL). Hoping past success could influence the franchise, the Saints hired Hank Stram as the new head coach. However, in Stram's first season at the helm, the Saints continued to struggle finishing with a 4–10 record. The Saints made a uniform change before the year, going from a dark gold to old gold, and have retained the color albeit with minor shading changes since. It was also the team's first season wearing black pants, a move which was not unexpected, since Stram outfitted the Kansas City Chiefs in red pants beginning in 1968..[1]

1976 New Orleans Saints season
Head coachHank Stram
Home fieldLouisiana Superdome
Results
Record4–10
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersNone

New Orleans' hopes for success was severely diminished before the season began when Stram learned star quarterback Archie Manning would not be able to play at all due to offseason elbow surgery. This forced Stram to alternate between longtime backup Bobby Scott and Chicago Bears castoff Bobby Douglass.

The high point of the season was in week three, when Stram’s Saints traveled to Kansas City and defeated the Chiefs 27–17. Stram rubbed salt in the wounds of the team he coached for 15 seasons (1960 to 1974) and led to the Super Bowl IV championship when Scott threw a touchdown pass on the game's final play to Tinker Owens. Chiefs coach Paul Wiggin refused to shake hands with Stram, who was carried off the Arrowhead Stadium turf by his players upon orders by the coach.

Offseason

NFL draft
Main article: 1976 NFL draft
1976 New Orleans Saints draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 3 Chuck Muncie *  Running back California
2 32 Tony Galbreath  Running back Missouri
3 77 Bob Simmons  Guard Texas
4 95 Tinker Owens  Wide receiver Oklahoma
5 127 Scott Parrish  Offensive tackle Utah State
6 160 Terry Stieve  Guard Wisconsin
7 201 Ed Bauer  Guard Notre Dame
8 213 Craig Cassady  Defensive back Ohio State
9 240 Warren Peiffer  Defensive tackle Iowa
10 269 Junior Hardin  Linebacker Eastern Kentucky
11 294 Greg Kokal  Quarterback Kent State
12 323 Milton Butts  Offensive tackle North Carolina
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff
1976 New Orleans Saints staff
Front office
  • President – John W. Mecom, Jr.
  • Executive Vice President – Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
  • Vice President of Administration – Harry Hulmes
  • Business Manager and Treasurer – Eddie Jones

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Alvin Roy

[3]

Roster
1976 New Orleans Saints roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 12, 1976 Minnesota Vikings L 40–9
58,156
2 September 19, 1976 Dallas Cowboys L 24–6
61,413
3 September 26, 1976 at Kansas City Chiefs W 27–17
53,918
4 October 3, 1976 Houston Oilers L 31–26
51,973
5 October 10, 1976 Atlanta Falcons W 30–0
51,521
6 October 17, 1976 at San Francisco 49ers L 33–3
43,160
7 October 24, 1976 Los Angeles Rams L 16–10
51,984
8 October 31, 1976 at Atlanta Falcons L 23–20
34,127
9 November 7, 1976 at Green Bay Packers L 32–27
52,936
10 November 14, 1976 Detroit Lions W 17–16
42,048
11 November 21, 1976 at Seattle Seahawks W 51–27
61,865
12 November 28, 1976 at Los Angeles Rams L 33–14
54,906
13 December 5, 1976 at New England Patriots L 27–6
53,592
14 December 12, 1976 San Francisco 49ers L 27–7
42,536

Standings
NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Los Angeles Rams(3) 10 3 1 .750 6–0 9–2–1 351 190 W4
San Francisco 49ers 8 6 0 .571 5–2 7–5 270 190 W1
New Orleans Saints 4 10 0 .286 2–5 3–8 253 346 L3
Atlanta Falcons 4 10 0 .286 2–5 4–8 172 312 L3
Seattle Seahawks 2 12 0 .143 1–3 1–12 229 429 L5

References
  1. Uniform Databases: New Orleans Saints
  2. "1976 New Orleans Saints draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
  3. "All-Time Roster". NewOrleansSaints.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
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