NEW ORLEANS — It’s hard to find anybody around town today that was even moderately surprised the New Orleans Saints fired coach Dennis Allen. After seven straight losses, it’s kind of expected in the NFL.
The team immediately named special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi, which is not uncommon in a coaching change. It’s the position group a head coach can manage along with all of the other responsibilities the job carries.
“We’ve all had a hand — and me included — in where we are right now and we’re all going to have a hand in kind of digging us out this hole that we’re in,” Rizzi said. “This is a day that’s a little bit tough. It’s a situation I’ve been through before, a couple different times, and we need to circle the wagons right now. We need everybody on board and the only way I know how to do it is to fight and work out of it. So that’s what we’re going to do.”
The Saints won their first two games this season but haven’t won since. Their latest loss was Sunday to the Carolina Panthers, 23-22. It apparently was a “quiet” plane ride home, according to safety Tyrann Mathieu. The players were informed by Allen in a text message the next morning that he had been fired.
“Disappointing, heartbreaking,” Mathieu said Monday. “This is the first team I’ve ever been on that really, basically, ever had a coach fired.”
Considering the way the Saints have looked the past few weeks, the firing was evidently coming. Saints’ ownership really didn’t have much choice and had to pull the trigger to salvage any kind of season.
“”Dennis has been part of our organization for many years,” Saints owner Gayle Benson said in a statement. “He is highly regarded within the NFL. He has been extremely loyal and professional and most importantly an excellent football coach for us. All of this makes today very tough for me and our organization.
“However, this decision is something that I felt we needed to make at this time. I wish nothing but the best in the future for Dennis and his family. He will always be considered in the highest regard by me and everyone within our organization.”
This is the first midseason firing for the Saints since the late Tom Benson purchased the team in 1985. The last in-season firing occurred when Dick Nolan was ousted after an 0-12 start to his third season in 1980. The team also made an in-season coaching change in 1996 when Jim Mora resigned after a 2-6 start, and New Orleans then went 1-7 under Rick Venturi.
Allen, who replaced Sean Payton in 2022, went 18-25 as the team’s coach.
“That’s a message heard loud and clear … Got to find a way to win,” one player told ESPN regarding Allen’s firing.
This is the first time since 1999 that the Saints have lost seven straight games. The team went 3-13 that season and fired coach Mike Ditka and general manager Bill Kuharich.
The Saints’ fan base, which showed its displeasure by leaving the Caesars Superdome in droves during a 33-10 loss to the Denver Broncos and Payton in Week 7, clamored again on social media for Allen’s firing.
Players also took to social media to express their frustration.
“We just lost to the panthers… I love y’all New Orleans truly had higher expectations and the best of hopes for us, y’all deserve it,” longtime defensive end Cameron Jordan wrote on X, prompting a flurry of back-and-forth between Saints and Panthers players about their respective 2-7 records.
Saints tight end Foster Moreau said the week leading up to the Panthers loss was “awesome,” but ultimately did not translate into results.
“We were a 2-6 football team. And we’re like … we are scratching and clawing to get to 3-6 and I’m sitting here and it’s Monday morning … and we’re 2-7,” Moreau said.