ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
W e d n e s d ay, F e b r u a ry 12, 2025
“I am excited to join the New Orleans Saints and deeply appreciate the faith that Mrs. (Gayle) Benson and the entire Saints organization have placed in me.” KELLEN MOORE, newly hired Saints head coach
Saints hire Moore Philadelphia offensive coordinator considered one of NFL’s brightest young offensive minds
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LSU ordered to return professor to teaching Law school educator suspended for criticism of Landry, Trump
BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
either accepted another job or withdrew their name from consideration, but within the last few weeks, the Saints zeroed in on Moore as their primary target. “At the start of the interview process, it was important to find a head coach who was the right fit for the New Orleans Saints organization,” said Saints owner Gayle Benson in a statement. “Through the search process, it became clear that Kellen is the right person to help us re-establish a winning program and culture that our fans are accustomed to and
LSU must immediately allow law professor Ken Levy to return to teaching, and the university is barred from interfering with the professor’s employment and violating his free speech and due process rights, East Baton Rouge Parish District Judge Tarvald Smith ruled Tuesday night. Smith said he was “re-implementing” language from a previous restraining order issued in the case by Judge Don Johnson and set a May 19 date for the parties to return to the courtroom to review the matter. “Your client In the meantime, Smith’s order takes effect immedi- should get back ately. to the business “Your client should get of training back to the business of trainlawyers and ing lawyers and let profeslet professors sors teach, especially those that are tenured,” Smith told teach, especially LSU’s attorneys from the those that are bench. tenured.” Smith said he hopes LSU’s flagship university would alDISTRICT COURT low professors to “invite rigJUDGE TARVALD orous debate and dialogue” SMITH, addressing and not be punished for it. LSU’s attorneys The judge’s decision came after two days of testimony from witnesses brought to the 19th Judicial District Courthouse in Baton Rouge. Levy sued LSU over a teaching suspension imposed last month due to student complaints after he used vulgar language to criticize Gov. Jeff Landry and President Donald Trump. LSU President William Tate IV was among those who took the witness stand. Tate said Tuesday “it was my decision” to suspend Levy. Tate said from the stand that he learned of a student complaint about Levy and asked Provost Roy Haggerty to look into the matter. The provost, Tate said, shared with him a transcript of comments Levy made in class. Tate then decided to suspend Levy based on the comments in the transcript, he said. “I never talked to the governor,” Tate said, referring to the Levy matter. Tate also said he was not aware of any
ä See MOORE, page 7A
ä See PROFESSOR, page 8A
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore smiles before the start of Super Bowl LIX on Sunday. BY LUKE JOHNSON and MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers
When the New Orleans Saints last changed the trajectory of their franchise, they tabbed a young offensive mind with NFC East roots to lead them out of the cellar. Perhaps they’re trying to rekindle the spark of the Sean Payton era: The Saints officially named Kellen Moore their 12th head coach in franchise history. “I am excited to join the New Orleans Saints and deeply appreciate the faith that Mrs. (Gayle) Benson
and the entire Saints organization have placed in me,” Moore said in a statement. “I look forward to embracing the challenges ahead and am eager to get started. I would also like to thank the Philadelphia Eagles for an incredible 2024 season. I’m excited to begin this new chapter.” This marks the end of a monthslong search that began when the Saints fired former head coach Dennis Allen on Nov. 4 after the team’s seventh consecutive loss. New Orleans was the last of seven teams to fill a head coaching vacancy this offseason. The process dragged on for 99 days, as several candidates
Government efficiency task force temporarily pauses meetings Questions raised about panel’s secret sessions BY TYLER BRIDGES
ing will temporarily suspend its work because of questions about whether the group must hold its A task force that had begun sessions in public. Steve Orlando, a business owner meeting secretly to eliminate wasteful state government spend- who chairs the Fiscal Responsibil-
Staff writer
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ity Program, cited news reports for his decision, writing to legislative leaders on Monday that “the media has attempted to complicate our process by framing our informal meetings under public meetings laws.” Orlando’s letter comes a week
after The Times-Picayune | The Advocate first reported that the group had been meeting privately. In a second news story last week, the newspaper quoted Gov. Jeff Landry saying the group would keep meeting privately even though experts in this area
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World ................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
of state law said the task force is clearly subject to public meetings requirements. Landry created the commission in December through an executive order.
ä See MEETINGS, page 7A
100TH yEAR, NO. 227