In 1996, after the Saints started 2-6, Mora resigned after more than ten years with the franchise. He finished his Saints tenure with 93 wins and 78 losses, making him far and away the most successful Saints coach ever. In fact, Mora was (up to then) the only coach ever to have a winning record during his Saints tenure, and his 93 wins were three more than the team had won in its entire history prior to his arrival. Rick Venturi was named interim head coach, but he had even less success than Mora did that season, going 1-7 to bring the Saints' final record to 3-13, their worst record since 1980.