Saints fire Dennis Allen after losing streak during his 3rd season leading team, name Darren Rizzi interim head coach

New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen didn’t lead the team to the playoffs in either of his first two seasons. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Dennis Allen survived a couple seasons of mediocrity. He couldn’t survive a long losing streak that included dropping games to former Saints coach Sean Payton and a horrible Carolina Panthers team.

The New Orleans Saints resisted a coaching move after each of Allen’s first two seasons, though it would have been justified either time. A seven-game losing streak ended up finishing Allen’s time as Saints head coach.

Following their painful 23-22 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 9, the Saints reportedly fired Allen on Monday morning. The Athletic’s Diana Russini reported that special teams coach Darren Rizzi will take over as interim head coach.

The Saints started this season well, going 2-0. But it got ugly after that. The downturn was a reminder of how far the Saints have fallen since Payton stepped down as their head coach after the 2021 season. Among the defeats in the losing streak was a 33-10 blowout on prime-time to Payton’s Denver Broncos in Week 7. Then in Week 9, the Saints fell to a Panthers team that came in with just three wins since the start of the 2023 season. New Orleans gave up a game-winning drive in the final minutes to Bryce Young, blowing a late lead.

Allen’s third season as Saints coach started well enough. But then the losses started piling up and the Saints had to take action. In his two-plus seasons as head coach in New Orleans, Allen went 18-25, with zero playoff appearances.

Dennis Allen didn’t make playoffs

Allen has been through being fired before. He was 8-28 as Oakland Raiders head coach from 2012-14. Allen got another shot to be a head coach with his fine work as Payton’s defensive coordinator. When Payton stepped down following the 2021 season, Allen was an obvious choice to take over.

As with most failed coaches, Allen’s biggest problem might have been an unsettled quarterback situation. The team went into…

Source link : https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/saints-fire-dennis-allen-after-losing-streak-during-his-3rd-season-leading-team-name-darren-rizzi-interim-head-coach-145933024.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-04 14:59:33

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.