The New Orleans Saints made a curious move to keep head coach Dennis Allen after two seasons without a playoff berth.
While the team did fire longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, it remains to be seen if that decision will positively affect the Saints in 2024.
Saints general manager Mickey Loomis remained steadfast in his reasoning for keeping Allen, too, and explained that other top-flight head coaches struggled early in their coaching careers before becoming experts in their craft.
“Chuck Noll his first three years: 1-13, 5-9, 6-8. They recognized he’s a good football coach. Bill Belichick, his first three years: 6-10, 7-9, 7-9. Tom Landry: 0-11, 4-9, 5-8, 4-10, 5-8. All of them Hall of Fame coaches,” Loomis said, via Ari Meirov. “The easy thing is to blame them. You gotta look beyond that.”
#Saints GM Mickey Loomis on keeping HC Dennis Allen: “Chuck Noll his first three years: 1-13, 5-9, 6-8. They recognized he’s a good football coach. Bill Belichick, his first three years: 6-10, 7-9, 7-9. Tom Landry: 0-11, 4-9, 5-8, 4-10, 5-8. All of them Hall of Fame coaches. The… pic.twitter.com/n8O7M6Zg9e
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 17, 2024
This is quite the comparison, especially because this isn’t even Allen’s first head coaching job after he spent three years with the then-Oakland Raiders.
Allen’s tenure with the Raiders was way worse than his two years with the Saints, but his history as a head coach has not painted a picture of an ascending leader on NFL sidelines like Noll, Landry, and Belichick did in their subsequent years.
Allen very well may end up becoming a solid coach for the Saints, but the team will need to make wholesale changes across the roster and the rest of the coaching staff if they want to get a complete picture of the team under Allen.
For now, though, Loomis is envisioning a Belichick-like rise for Allen – we’ll see how that goes.
NEXT:
The Saints Have Made A Decision About Pete Carmichael’s Future
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