New Orleans made the move after suffering its seventh consecutive loss of the season.
The New Orleans Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen after losing their seventh straight game on Sunday. Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi was named interim head coach.
The Saints won their first games of the season, but have not won since, suffering their latest loss to the Carolina Panthers 23-22.
“I’m going to continue to come in every day and fight hard like I have every day I’ve been here,” Dennis Allen said Sunday when asked about his employment status.
This is the first midseason firing for the Saints since Tom Benson bought the team in 1985. The last in-season firing occurred when Dick Nolan was fired after starting his third season 0-12 in 1980.
“Dennis has been a part of our organization for many years,” owner Gayle Benson said in a statement released by the team. “He is highly respected throughout the NFL. He has been extremely loyal and professional and, most importantly, an excellent football coach for us. All of this makes today a very difficult day for me and our organization. However, this decision is one I felt we had to make at this time. I wish nothing but the best for the future for Dennis and his family. He will always be held in the highest regard by me and everyone within our organization.”
This is the first time the Saints have lost seven straight games since 1999. The team finished 3-13 that year and fired coach Mike Ditka and general manager Bill Kuharich.
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis defended Dennis Allen in January after the Saints finished 9-8, citing several Hall of Fame coaches who had slowly starts to their careers. Instead, the Saints made sweeping changes to their offensive staff and parted ways with veteran defensive coordinator Pete Carmichael.
While Dennis Allen inherited much of former head coach Sean Payton’s staff when he took over in 2022, most of the coaching staff had been hired by Dennis Allen for his third season. Quarterback Derek Carr, signed by the Saints in 2023, was also a draft pick by Dennis Allen in 2014 when the coach was with the Raiders.
Dennis Allen went 8-28 as the Raiders’ head coach and was fired after starting 0-4 in his third season with the franchise in 2014.
Loomis also defended Dennis Allen recently, saying everyone should look “beyond the results,” alluding to the significant number of injuries the Saints had this season. Some of those injuries included Carr, several starting offensive linemen and star wide receivers Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave.
Saints’ fans, who showed their discontent by leaving Caesars Superdome in droves during the 33-10 loss to Payton’s Denver Broncos in Week 7, called for Dennis Allen to be fired on social media.
Dennis Allen spent most of his professional career in New Orleans. He was hired by Payton in 2006 as an assistant defensive line coach and was part of the team that won the Super Bowl in 2009.
Dennis Allen left in 2011 to spend a year as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator but returned to New Orleans in 2015 after he was fired in Oakland. Dennis Allen replaced Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator during the 2015 season and remained in that position until he was promoted to head coach after Payton left following the 2021 campaign.
CREDITS:
Director: Alejandro Bernal
Text: Max Hackenbroich
