Sunday’s 23-22 defeat at the Carolina Panthers proved the final straw as the New Orleans Saints today fired coach Dennis Allen.
The Saints have lost seven straight games after starting the season with back-to-back wins and sit bottom of the NFC South.
Allen, who worked previously as defensive coordinator under Sean Payton, took over as head coach in 2022 and compiled an 18-25 record across three seasons.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport claims special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi will be named interim coach.
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 3, 2024
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has repeatedly defended Allen but yesterday’s defeat to the Panthers, who came into the weekend with the worst record in the NFL, meant he had to act.
After the game, defensive tackle Khalen Saunders joked the team had lost the “DooDoo Bowl”, and apologized to the Saints fans.
There has been speculation the move to dispense with Allen was driven by owner Gayle Benson.
NewOrleans.Football report Benson met with several players last week and shared correspondence with others about how they viewed Allen’s work. The feedback was not positive with the widespread view being the program was failing.
Asked about his position after the loss in Charlotte, Allen said: “I’m going to keep coming in every day and fighting my ass off just like I have every single day that I’ve been here.”
That seemingly was not enough with Allen becoming the first Saints head coach to be fired mid-season in 44 years when Dick Nolan departed after an 0-12 start.
