New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis says Tulane connection is important

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2014/02/nick_toon.html#incart_river

Indianapolis -- The relationship between the New Orleans Saints and the Tulane football program has been give and take. But thanks to Green Wave coach Curtis Johnson, that relationship seems stronger than ever.  Johnson spent six seasons coaching wide receivers for the Saints from 2006-11 before accepting the head coaching position at Tulane in 2011.  But recently, it's been Tulane sending people to the Saints. The Saints signed quarterback Ryan Griffin as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and recently hired Wave assistant Mike Neu to coach quarterbacks after the departure of Joe Lombardi to Detroit.  "Tulane's important to the Saints and vice versa," said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis. "Now that C.J.'s there, obviously we know how good of a coach he is, how good of a talent evaluator he is.   "He has credibility with us, so when he tells us about a particular player, having an opportunity to be successful in the NFL, we listen."  Tulane runs the same style of offense as the Saints, which worked in Griffin's favor when they were evaluating him. The Saints liked Griffin enough to sign him from the practice squad to the active roster midseason, and he stayed on as the third quarterback for the rest of the year.  It didn't hurt that Neu had been talking up Griffin as far back as two years ago. The two will reunite this year with the Saints.  "Mike Neu was talking about Ryan Griffin and felt he had a lot of the tools to play in the NFL. He was just disappointed he didn't get to coach him longer," Loomis said. "Ryan comes to us after we signed him as a free agent. He had the advantage of being in the familiar offense, but it's much more than that. He's a talented player who got the chance to be successful. We like what we saw, and we have high expectations for him."