For the first time in 16 years the man coordinating the Saints offseason plans will be someone other than Sean Payton, and that man is Dennis Allen. Allen was announced the teams new head coach on Monday after the Saints conducted interviews with candidates for 13 days. In those interviews the team had to determine which interviewees would fit the team’s culture and have a familiarity with the scheme along with who would be the most comfortable at the head coaching position, and the Saints front office concluded that Dennis Allen is that man.
Allen is/was the safest and best decision for the Saints to be the next head coach. He has head coaching experience and the only other candidate who has experience is Flores. He’s been around the team since 2015 turning the worst defense in the league into one of the most dominant in the NFL. He was apart of turning a losing and humiliating defense/team into a team surrounded by success and the winning culture. Being in the organization for 12 out of 16 years has given Allen a guide as to how he should manage, coach, and lead a team as a head coach. Spending the past seven seasons watching, learning, and observing how Sean Payton led the team as a head coach is beneficial to Allen and how he will approach this new era of Saints football.
With the hiring of Allen, you get the sense that he will try to keep the same core group of guys together while making a few minor changes to the roster and staff. Allen is expected to find himself a new offensive coordinator meaning that Pete Carmichael will take on a new role on the team whether that be assistant head coach or some role related to the offense. Allen could go after guys like Flores or Bieniemy or Leftwhich to possibly be the next offensive coordinator for the team, but it would make sense to find a guy who knows the culture and has familiarity with the scheme that has been implemented in New Orleans for 16 years.
The team isn’t looking for a new scheme but someone who can add on to it. The scheme wasn’t productive this year, but with a restructure at the skill position the team will get their firepower back offensively. That means getting guys in free agency and the draft, and for those who are worried about Allen’s ability to find talent, he found Derek Carr, Khalil Mack, Latavius Murray in two drafts. Being with guys like Jeff Ireland will help scout some guys to fit what the teams looking for will provide some reassurance as well. The offense will be addressed, but priority number one is finding the next quarterback.
So, with Allen at the helm, what does that mean for the Saints quarterback situation? What does that mean for Jameis and how the team approaches the quarterback position?
Promoting Allen to head coach likely means the Saints will be aggressive to resign Jameis Winston. Jameis is the safest bet for the Saints and with a new head coach whose been with the team, it makes the most sense. The front office will definitely call teams to acquire Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, Carr, Jimmy G, Baker and whoeveer may be available, but the outcome I see happening is Jameis resigning. I see the Saints making a huge push to retain Jameis and get him back for another year to start at quarterback. The only thing is does Jameis even want to return without Sean Payton? Jameis will make the best decision for him, he’ll weigh out his options and see where he should end up, but at the end of the day, it feels like he will return and get a real shot as the Saints quarterback with a real offense.
Drafting a guy is obviously on the table but I think if they draft a guy early that means they don’t think they can win with what they have now and that’s not the case. They can win with Jameis or Jimmy G (if that becomes the case) or whoever it may be, but drafting a guy early means that they don’t think they can have success with who they can retain or get via a trade or free agency.
Defensively I believe Allen will promote from within for his next defensive coordinator with the two main candidates being Kris Richard and Ryan Nielsen. Vic Fangio or Mike Zimmer could be possible names in the mix as well, but the next defensive coordinator is likely in the building.
I think Kris Richard has to be the guy to get that promotion, he’s too good of a coach to just be a secondary coach. What Allen has done with Lattimore, Adebo, Chauncey, Marcus, P.J, and Jenkins in one year is remarkable. Lattimore had his best and probably most consistent year. Adebo took a huge leap from a third round pick to an NFL starter. Chauncey had his best year along with P.J Williams. Marcus and Jenkins had solid coverage back deep and hardly allowed anything downfield all year. This isn’t a coincidence, it’s from the coaching of Kris Richard and he is beyond deserving of a defensive coordinator position either in New Orleans or elsewhere.
The week that Allen took over as head coach the Saints won 9-0 over Tom Brady. It wasn’t pretty but it got the job done. For those who say that to only score nine points is disappointing and underwhelming need to understand that the quarterback that game had a splint on his throwing hand and no talented skill guys other than Kamara. We saw flashes of Callaway vs Tampa Bay and that could be due to scheme and the skill sets that Callaway started to develop with more experience. Give them time to revamp the offense with talent, and we’ll revisit the “Can Dennis Allen fix the offense?” questions.
This will be Allen’s second stint as a head coach after going 8-28 from 2012-2014 and not having a season over four wins (fired week five in 2014). His record as a head coach is irrelevant as to how he will be as the Saints head coach. Compare the rosters, compare the experience and the people he’s been around to build a winning culture in New Orleans. Decisions and front office choices were made significantly different in Oakland than New Orleans, so using his time in Oakland is an irrelevant argument.
Allen has turned the Saints defense from the 31st worst points per game defense into the fourth best. He has the qualities of a good coach and after being around Sean Payton for a significant amount of time it will be interesting to see how he approaches the most important offseason in 16 years as a new era of Saints football begins.
Written by Kadin Janisch
