Category: Dennis Allen

Darren Rizzi has an opportunity to definitively succeed where Dennis Allen failed

The Saints and Rams met last year with the season in the balance, and Dennis Allen failed that test. A rematch is coming up after the bye. Can Darren Rizzi pass it?

Darren Rizzi has an opportunity to definitively succeed where Dennis Allen failed after replacing the former New Orleans Saints head coach. He’s arguably already done that by ending the seven-week losing streak that cost Allen his job and winning back-to-back games. But their next matchup may tell the real story.

The Saints and Los Angeles Rams met last year with the season in the balance, and Allen failed that test. That loss in L.A. put the Saints so far out of the playoff picture that the remaining games were all for naught. A rematch is coming up after the bye, and we’re in a similar situation. Can Rizzi pass this test?

Maybe so. The Rams aren’t the juggernaut they once were, stuck at 5-5 while going back-and-forth in the win-loss column, but they are a hurdle the Saints must overcome to reach the playoffs this year. If the Rams lose to the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday night, they’ll take the field next week ahead of New Orleans by a single win. Knocking them off and winning three in a row would be a heck of an achievement.

And if nothing else, it would be symbolic. Allen struggled to coach the Saints up when they drew an opponent with a backbone, and that loss to the Rams felt like an indictment for him. With such a big impact on the team’s playoff odds at stake, he wilted. If Rizzi can rise to that challenge it’ll say a lot about where he has this team trending and where he could take them. And he’s got time on his side with the bye week buying a few more days to prepare for it.

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How big a part did fans pay in Saints’ coaching change?

Saints fans were frustrated with Dennis Allen for a long time. Eventually, those frustrations became too loud for Gayle Benson to ignore:

When New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson, not Mickey Loomis, made the decision to fire Dennis Allen, she listened to the fan base, literally.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said, “Benson and her group was hearing from the fan base in a way they hadn’t before.” The fan base wasn’t the reason Allen was relieved of his duties, but their vocal opposition to him remaining as coach played a part. Breer reported Benson’s “resolve was strengthened through that.”

Saints fans have been frustrated with Allen for a while. Many fans hoped for his termination at the end of last season. Allen was .500 as the Saints head coach coming into 2024, but with context it wasn’t impressive. The inability to take advantage of a weak schedule or defeat quality teams over two years had taken its toll.

Things improved to start the season. The addition of Klint Kubiak had the Saints looking like a high flying offense and one of the best teams in the NFL. That may have made the seven game losing skid hurt even more because those first two weeks were essentially false hope.

Being embarrassed at home in back to back weeks against the Buccaneers and Broncos only incited fans more. The chants for change weren’t always vocal, but the volume was louder than ever. Loud enough to reach ownership.

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Derek Carr on Dennis Allen’s second firing: ‘This one was harder’

Derek Carr has seen Dennis Allen get fired in the middle of the season twice, but the pill was tougher to swallow the second time:

Derek Carr is far from unfamiliar with the process of changing head coaches. Darren Rizzi will be the seventh head coach of Carr’s career. This is the third time he’s witnessed a midseason coaching change.

This one in particular hits a little different because it’s the second time he’s seen Dennis Allen be fired in the middle of the year. First time it happened was as a rookie with the Oakland Raiders, and the second time was obviously this week with the New Orleans Saints.

“This one was harder. The first one was like three games into my rookie year,” Carr said. That first moment was kind of like a welcome to the NFL moment and left Carr thinking “Dang, this is the NFL?”

It may not have been just four games, but Carr felt like this run was short too. Over the course of three seasons, Carr has played a total of 27 games under Dennis Allen. The pairing hasn’t equated to success, but they’ve closer since Carr’s rookie season, making this a tough pill to swallow.

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Former Saints player details the beginning of the end for Dennis Allen

Dennis Allen’s actions in the 2023 season finale vs. the Falcons was a tough pill for fans to swallow. James Hurst says many players felt the same:

James Hurst retired this offseason, but he saw the separation between Dennis Allen and the New Orleans Saints locker room last year. He even went as far as to say some players wondered if Mickey Loomis would fire Allen at the end of the 2023 season.

Hurst reflects on the aftermath of players going against Allen’s wishes to kneel the ball out against the Atlanta Falcons in the season finale. Hurst was among the crew that opted to get Jamaal Williams his first touchdown of the season. He admits they were wrong but players were disappointed Allen apologized to Arthur Smith instead of having their back publicly.

“Many of the players felt he missed an opportunity there to have our backs, to defend us, even though what we did was wrong, admittedly,” Hurst relayed. Fans were upset Allen didn’t embody what they believed was Saints culture, but players were upset he hung them out to dry. Their preference was a public backing to show a unified front and being reprimanded in private.

Those emotions continued into the next day as players talked negatively among themselves. It was to the point to that when Loomis called a rare post season meeting, players thought it was to announce Allen’s departure.

Hurst capped off his statement by saying, “maybe that was the beginning of the end. That was definitely tough for the players to swallow and something surely some of the guys hadn’t quite gotten over.”

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Tyrann Mathieu voices support for Dennis Allen after head coach is fired by Saints

Tyrann Mathieu voiced his thoughts on the Saints parting ways with head coach Dennis Allen, and he doesn’t share the same sentiment that so many seem to:

Tyrann Mathieu was among the many Saints players who spoke up and voiced their thoughts and opinions after New Orleans decided to fire the head coach on Monday.

“I’m from New Orleans so I remember when we weren’t very good on defense,” Mathieu told NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill.  “We all played a part in him not being here anymore. … I think from an accountability standpoint, this just gives a chance to get together and get tighter.”

Even though there are several fans expressing joy and relief now that Allen is gone, Mathieu isn’t relishing in the events that have taken place at all.

“(I am) disappointed,” Mathieu said. “(It is) heartbreaking. First team I ever been that basically a coach got fired.”

The decision by team owner Gayle Benson to part ways with Allen came right after the Saints fell 23-22 to the Carolina Panthers, one of the worst teams in the NFL, on the road. That extended the Saints’ losing streak to seven games.

While injuries and other issues have plagued the Saints and continued to this backside after they started the season on a two-game winning streak, there is no doubt that coaching played a part.

Now the Saints will, at least temporarily, look to the talents of special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi to hopefully get them back to the right side of the win column as they face the visiting Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

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Dennis Allen and Derek Carr make unfortunate history together

Dennis Allen and Derek Carr made unfortunate history together. Allen is the first NFL coach to be fired by two teams with the same starting quarterback:

There are many head coaches who have been fired from multiple teams. Dennis Allen is the first head coach in NFL history, however, to be fired from two teams with the same quarterback at the helm.

Derek Carr was with Allen with the Oakland Raiders for a year and has been a part of of the New Orleans Saints since 2023. You may wonder why Allen would partner up with Carr again if the first attempt ended so badly.

In Allen’s defense, it wouldn’t be fair to point to Carr as the reason he was fired in Oakland. Allen lasted just four games into Carr’s rookie season. Not only is a player not truly developed as a rookie, the partnership lasted less than a handful of games. The issues in Oakland went further back than Carr’s tenure.

Allen handpicked the veteran version of Carr as the quarterback who was supposed to solve the issues. That didn’t happen. Unlike in Oakland, Carr played a big role in this firing.

Long stint or less than a season, veteran or rookie. The fact each time Dennis Allen lost his job as head coach Derek Carr was the quarterback is a very unfortunate piece of history that likely won’t be replicated any time soon

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Dennis Allen reacts to being dismissed by the Saints

Dennis Allen aired his thoughts on being dismissed by the New Orleans Saints. He says he’s leaving the team on good terms:

Dennis Allen is no longer the head coach of the New Orleans Saints as of Monday, Nov. 4.

It’s a move that many get the sense has been a long time coming, made final with 23-22 loss to one of the worst teams, if not previously the NFL’s worst team, against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

The fall extended the team’s losing streak to some seven total games, forcing action out of team owner Gayle Benson. Allen, as would be expected, is disappointed in the outcome and expressed as much to Jay Glazer of FOX NFL Sunday.

“Just got off the phone with Dennis Allen,” Glazer shared in a post on social  media. “‘Obviously disappointed but had nothing but love for the Saints and New Orleans. ‘Of course I’m disappointed but I love that organization, I love the people in there and will always have so much love for the city of New Orleans. I always will!’”

Allen had a solid run with the Saints in 2023 when the team finished out the season with an overall record of 9-8, but things have been in nothing short of a state of collapse ever since then.

The Saints have named special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi the interim head coach as New Orleans sets out on its first true day of figuring out Allen’s replacement.

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Dennis Allen’s firing officially begins the Saints rebuild

After fighting the rebuild for years, the Saints are about to dive head first into one, and it started with firing Dennis Allen:

The New Orleans Saints announced the firing of Dennis Allen Monday morning. It’s the first time New Orleans has fired a coach in the middle of the season since firing Dick Nolan in 1980. This move signifies the beginning of a rebuild the Saints have been eluding for a couple of years.

When Sean Payton retired, the Saints replaced him with Allen, an in-house candidate. That’s not something you do when you’re even pondering a rebuild. After an unsuccessful campaign, Allen went to grab is old quarterback, Derek Carr, from the Las Vegas Raiders.

Grabbing a veteran quarterback who you feel can elevate your immediate future is also not something to do when considering a rebuild. The roster wasn’t good at that point, but the Saints fought it. There’s no more fighting. Firing Dennis Allen is essentially waiving the white flag.

The new head coach may decide to move on from older players and eat a lot of dead money to get a full restart in his second year. Offensive and defensive approaches will change and you will likely see a different prototype of players on the defensive line specifically.

The Saints have been under Dennis Allen’s offense for the better part of a decade. The new coach is going to bring his guys in, which will lead to a different style of defense.

Everything will be different around New Orleans in 2025. After fighting the rebuild for years, the Saints are about to dive head first into one, and it started with firing the head coach.

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Former Saints wide receiver reacts to Dennis Allen’s firing

Michael Thomas gave Derek Carr multiple tweets on Sunday, but he needed just three words to react to Dennis Allen’s firing:

Michael Thomas kept his reaction to Dennis Allen being fired simple, “There it goes.” In just three words, Thomas had the reaction many New Orleans Saints fans had when they heard the news.

After the Saints lost to the Carolina Panthers, changes felt imminent and mandatory. It would be one thing if you dropped a game to the Panthers randomly, but the Saints lost to the worst team in the NFL after losing the previous six games.

Originally, the Saints likely wanted to let Allen finish the season or make it to the bye week at least. After the disappointing performance and various post game reactions, the luxury of waiting was gone. So, Allen being let go Monday morning was expected, and “there it goes” was likely uttered by a large amount of fans.

It was a surprise for Thomas to keep his message short and sweet. The former Saints star receiver is good for letting off multiple tweets to get his point accross. He did it on Sunday when airing out Derek Carr. Thomas kept it simple this time. There wasn’t a need to add insult to injury. Thomas just knew it was time for a change.

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Mickey Loomis has a terrible record without Drew Brees and Sean Payton

Mickey Loomis wanted everyone to know who was really responsible for the Saints’ success after Sean Payton left. Now, there’s no question about it:

Mickey Loomis wanted everyone to know who was really responsible for the New Orleans Saints’ success after Drew Brees retired and Sean Payton stepped away to pursue other jobs. Now, after Loomis picked Dennis Allen and the team ran into the ground, there’s no question about it. Payton soundly beating his successor in prime time only illustrates that point.

Before hiring Allen, the teams Loomis built without Payton had a record of 28-36 (a winning percentage of .438). Now, after Allen’s 18-25 run, Loomis has a record of 46-61 (.430) when Payton wasn’t coaching his team. That doesn’t count the 2012 season in which both Payton and Loomis were suspended, but that year’s 7-9 finish wouldn’t really help his case, either (putting Loomis at 53-70 without Payton, or .431).

Maybe things would have gone differently had Loomis hired someone who didn’t already have an 8-28 record as a head coach to replace the winningest coach in team history. Maybe this team’s foundation was just weaker than he thought. Either way, what matters now is whether the Saints can dig themselves out of this hole. And whether Loomis is the right man to oversee that job.

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