The New Orleans Saints made sure to keep an open opinion on every coach that they interviewed after Sean Payton’s abrupt retirement announcement. However, it was just announced that Dennis Allen was ultimately the coach that they settled on to replace him. The move makes sense, as Allen has been a major part of the Saints defense turning into the powerhouse that it is considered nowadays. Plus, he knows the system ridiculously well and understood how Payton operated. The team won’t have to endure much growing pains and it keeps the risk level relatively low for at least the first season.
Allen got one chance to act as the head coach of the Saints towards the end of this current season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Allen then coached the Saints to a 9-0 shutout win over Tom Brady, the first that he had suffered in over a decade until that point. I think it’s safe to say that Allen could be very successful with this team and has the tools needed to continue to grow. He will also keep on calling the defensive plays.
With Payton gone now, somebody is going to have to be brought in to be their offensive coordinator. Pete Carmichael will have a role on the offense but won’t be the play caller this season. Allen already brought in Doug Marrone as well but he also won’t be the coordinator, just another offensive assistant coach. There are some good-looking names out there in the offensive coordinator market, but the interview processes have to be thorough. It’s hard to replace a creative offensive mind like Payton. There is one guy though that piques my interest. Eric Bienemy. Yes, he 100 percent deserves a head coaching job in this league and has for the last two years. However, teams just haven’t given him that opportunity and now his current contract with the Kansas City Chiefs has expired. Meaning he can go look for work elsewhere and stay as an offensive coordinator. I think it is too good to be true for the Saints if they are able to sign him off the market to come in and call plays.
I mean, the team spent over eight hours with the coordinator while they interviewed him for the head coaching position. It was a genuine surprise when they announced that they didn’t hire him. Eric would be a beautiful fit with this offense and could get the most out of their dynamic playmakers like Michael Thomas, Taysom Hill, Deonte Harris and hopefully Alvin Kamara. Though we will still have to wait on further details of Kamara’s battery charges.
New Orleans looks to be in a good position for the future even with some cap space issues. Issues that usually don’t wind up affecting the Saints due to their excellent management in that regard. It is exciting to see who they bring in to fill out the rest of the open coaching spots and maybe we will even see them appear on Hard Knocks to get a bigger preview of what is to come.