Texas A&M football: Here’s 4 great reasons to root for the Saints

Texas A&M football is well represented on the New Orleans Saints coaching staff, giving Aggies something to cheer for with the Texans and Cowboys out.

It’s tough being an NFL fan of most teams, but fans of the NFL in Texas have had it pretty rough for the last 20 or so years. Fear not, fans of Texas A&M football who also happen to be fans of the Houston Texans or the Dallas Cowboys, for we (or, the Houston Chronicle) have identified four terrific reasons to cheer for the New Orleans Saints the rest of the way.

Sure, for Cowboys fans it’s already easy to cheer against the Los Angeles Rams, who knocked them out of the playoffs in the Divisional Round, but this is a little extra motivation. The team that knocked the Texans out of the playoffs lost already, so I know you Texans fans are looking for anything to latch on to.

Well, here it is.

The Saints have four — yes FOUR — Aggies among their coaching ranks. Michael Hodges is a defensive assistant, Aaron Glenn coaches the secondary, Dennis Allen is the defensive coordinator and Dan Campbell is the tight ends/assistant head coach.

It’s nice to see Aggies have their hand in turning around the Saints defense over the last couple of seasons. Glenn is getting a ton out of the Saints’ secondary, which has gone from historically bad a few seasons ago to one of the best in the league. The coaching staff has turned the Saints into one of the most complete teams in the NFL.

Hodges is a former Aggie linebacker who played for Mike Sherman and led the Ags in tackles in his senior season. He has been coaching linebackers in the college ranks and assists the Saints in this regard.

Glenn and Allen were teammates with Texas A&M in the early 90s, each playing for multiple Southwest Conference champions. Glenn went on to play 15 years in the NFL and made the Pro Bowl three times. Allen has been in the NFL coaching ranks for years and got his coaching career started as a graduate assistant for Texas A&M.

Dan Campbell was a leader on the last conference championship team for the Aggies in 1998. He played 11 seasons in the NFL and got his coaching career started in the NFL immediately after he retired. He had a stint as the Miami Dolphins interim head coach and has been the assistant head coach for the Saints the past three seasons. He will be a head coach one day.

Jeff Shull is the Site Expert for the Gig Em Gazette on FanSided. Follow him on Twitter, and be sure to follow the Gig Em Gazette on Facebook and Twitter.