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 coach	Hank Stram
Home field	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None

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

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 Vice President/Head Coach – Hank Stram Offensive coaches Quarterbacks – Dick Wood Offensive Backfield – John Beake Receivers – Sam Rutigliano Offensive Line – Dick Stanfel			Defensive coaches Defensive Line – Buck Buchanan Linebackers – Doug Shively Defensive Backfield – Jim Garrett Special teams coaches Special Teams – Whitey Campbell Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Alvin Roy

[3]

Roster

1976 New Orleans Saints roster

	Quarterbacks 10 Bobby Douglass 12 Bobby Scott Running backs 34 Tony Galbreath 32 Kim Jones 28 Alvin Maxson 42 Chuck Muncie 33 Mike Strachan Wide receivers 80 Larry Burton 87 Don Herrmann 83 Tinker Owens Tight ends 85 Henry Childs 86 Jim Thaxton		Offensive linemen 62 John Hill C 76 Don Morrison T 71 Kurt Schumacher G 68 Terry Stieve G 68 Fred Sturt G 66 Tom Wickert T 79 Emanuel Zanders G Defensive linemen 63 Steve Baumgartner DE 69 Andy Dorris DE 78 Elois Grooms DE 74 Derland Moore DT 82 Joe Owens DT 75 Elex Price DT		Linebackers 50 Ken Bordelon 58 Joe Federspiel MLB 55 Rick Kingrea 57 Jim Merlo OLB 60 Greg Westbrooks OLB Defensive backs 45 Pete Athas 24 Chuck Crist 30 Ernie Jackson 22 Benny Johnson CB 46 Jim Kearney SS 37 Tom Myers Special teams 16 Tom Blanchard P 15 Rich Szaro K		Reserve lists 8 Archie Manning QB (IR) 88 Joel Parker WR (IR) 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.

External links

• 1976 New Orleans Saints at Pro-Football-Reference.com