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 stadium	Louisiana Superdome
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	4th NFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1975 Saints seasons 1977 →

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

1976 Expansion Draft

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

New Orleans Saints selected during the Expansion Draft

Round	Overall	Name	Position	Expansion Team
0	0	Morris LaGrand	Running back	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
0	0	Joe Owens	Defensive end	Seattle Seahawks
0	0	Dave Thompson	Offensive tackle	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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 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 (QB) 10 Bobby Douglass 12 Bobby Scott Running backs (RB) 34 Tony Galbreath 32 Kim Jones 28 Alvin Maxson 42 Chuck Muncie 33 Mike Strachan Wide receivers (WR) 80 Larry Burton 87 Don Herrmann 83 Tinker Owens Tight ends (TE) 85 Henry Childs 86 Jim Thaxton

Offensive linemen (OL) 56 Lee Gross C 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 (DL) 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 (LB) 50 Ken Bordelon 58 Joe Federspiel MLB 55 Rick Kingrea 57 Jim Merlo OLB 60 Greg Westbrooks OLB Defensive backs (DB) 45 Pete Athas CB 24 Chuck Crist SS 30 Ernie Jackson CB 22 Benny Johnson CB 46 Jim Kearney SS 37 Tom Myers FS 29 Maurice Spencer CB Special teams 16 Tom Blanchard P 15 Rich Szaro K

Reserve 23 Craig Cassady DB (IR) 24 Clarence Chapman CB (IR)  8 Archie Manning QB (IR) 88 Joel Parker WR (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	Minnesota Vikings	L 9–40	0—1	Louisiana Superdome	58,156
2	September 19	Dallas Cowboys	L 6–24	0—2	Louisiana Superdome	61,413
3	September 26	at Kansas City Chiefs	W 27–17	1—2	Arrowhead Stadium	53,918
4	October 3	Houston Oilers	L 26–31	1—3	Louisiana Superdome	51,973
5	October 10	Atlanta Falcons	W 30–0	2—3	Louisiana Superdome	51,521
6	October 17	at San Francisco 49ers	L 3–33	2—4	Candlestick Park	43,160
7	October 24	Los Angeles Rams	L 10–16	2—5	Louisiana Superdome	51,984
8	October 31	at Atlanta Falcons	L 20–23	2—6	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	34,127
9	November 7	at Green Bay Packers	L 32–27	2—7	Milwaukee County Stadium	52,936
10	November 14	Detroit Lions	W 17–16	3—7	Louisiana Superdome	42,048
11	November 21	at Seattle Seahawks	W 51–27	4—7	Kingdome	61,865
12	November 28	at Los Angeles Rams	L 14–33	4—8	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	54,906
13	December 5	at New England Patriots	L 6–27	4—9	Schaefer Stadium	53,592
14	December 12	San Francisco 49ers	L 7–27	4—10	Louisiana Superdome	42,536
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC West
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams(3)	10	3	1	.750	7–0	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