# 1975 New Orleans Saints season

The 1975 New Orleans Saints season was the Saints ninth season and their first in the newly opened Louisiana Superdome. Despite the new stadium, they failed to match their 1974 output of 5–9, winning only two games and tying the San Diego Chargers for the league’s worst record.
Coach John North, who was hired four games into the 1973 exhibition season, was fired following a 38–14 road loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the sixth game. Director of Player Personnel Ernie Hefferle took over for the final eight games. His only win was his first game in charge, a 23–7 victory at home over the hated Atlanta Falcons.
The Saints were winless on the road for the fourth time in six seasons, leaving them 3–36–3 away from New Orleans since 1970.
The Saints wore white pants for the first time after wearing old gold pants for their first eight seasons. After 1975, New Orleans did not wear white jerseys and white pants again until introducing their Color Rush set in 2016.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1975 New Orleans Saints draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 7 | Larry Burton | Wide receiver | Purdue |
| 1 | 12 | Kurt Schumacher | Guard | Ohio State |
| 2 | 32 | Lee Gross | Center | Auburn |
| 3 | 60 | Andrew Jones | Running back | Washington State |
| 3 | 63 | Elois Grooms | Defensive end | Tennessee Tech |
| 4 | 92 | John Starkebaum | Defensive back | Nebraska |
| 4 | 99 | Charlie Hall | Defensive end | Tulane |
| 6 | 149 | Mike Lemon | Linebacker | Kansas |
| 7 | 163 | Steve Rogers | Running back | Louisiana State |
| 9 | 216 | Mike Strachan | Running back | Iowa State |
| 10 | 243 | Chuck Heater | Running back | Michigan |
| 11 | 266 | Danny Lee | Punter | N.E. Louisiana |
| 12 | 294 | Ron Gustafson | Wide receiver | North Dakota |
| 13 | 319 | Jim Upchurch | Punter | Arizona |
| 14 | 344 | Randy Rhino | Defensive back | Georgia Tech |
| 15 | 372 | Grant Burget | Running back | Oklahoma |
| 16 | 397 | Mike McDonald | Linebacker | Catawba |
| 17 | 422 | Greg Westbrooks | Linebacker | Colorado |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 21 | at Washington Redskins | L 3–41 | 0–1 | RFK Stadium | 54,414 |
| 2 | September 28 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 0–21 | 0–2 | Louisiana Superdome | 52,531 |
| 3 | October 5 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 7–14 | 0–3 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 29,444 |
| 4 | October 12 | Green Bay Packers | W 20–19 | 1–3 | Louisiana Superdome | 51,371 |
| 5 | October 19 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 21–35 | 1–4 | Candlestick Park | 39,990 |
| 6 | October 26 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 14–38 | 1–5 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 54,723 |
| 7 | November 2 | Atlanta Falcons | W 23–7 | 2–5 | Louisiana Superdome | 49,342 |
| 8 | November 9 | at Oakland Raiders | L 10–48 | 2–6 | Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum | 51,267 |
| 9 | November 16 | Minnesota Vikings | L 7–20 | 2–7 | Louisiana Superdome | 52,765 |
| 10 | November 23 | San Francisco 49ers | L 6–16 | 2–8 | Louisiana Superdome | 40,328 |
| 11 | November 30 | at Cleveland Browns | L 16–17 | 2–9 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 44,753 |
| 12 | December 7 | Los Angeles Rams | L 7–14 | 2–10 | Louisiana Superdome | 39,958 |
| 13 | December 14 | at New York Giants | L 14–28 | 2–11 | Shea Stadium | 40,150 |
| 14 | December 21 | Chicago Bears | L 17–42 | 2–12 | Louisiana Superdome | 33,371 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

NFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Los Angeles Rams$^{(2)}$ | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 5–1 | 9–2 | 312 | 135 | W6 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 3–3 | 4–7 | 255 | 286 | L4 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 3–3 | 3–8 | 240 | 289 | L1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 1–5 | 2–9 | 165 | 360 | L7 |