Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images
Dennis Allen is coaching a sinking Saints ship, and it’s wild we’re at this point.
The Saints made history for all the wrong reasons on Thursday night after they became the first team in over a decade to start a season 2-0, before losing five games in a row. At the heart of New Orleans’ horrors: Dennis Allen, an perennially mediocre coach who was handed his job, and managed to keep it through astounding mediocrity.
Allen’s primary selling point as a coach is his defensive acumen, but that’s evaporated as quickly as the Saints’ hopes in 2024. The team now ranks 26th in points allowed, 28th in passing yards allowed, 28th in rushing yards allowed — while giving up an astonishing 6.1 yards per play.
That’s had a knock-on effect in the wake of Derek Carr’s injury where the Saints simply can’t outscore their opponents to counteract their sieve of a defense. In the last month the team has given up an embarrassing 136 points, an average of 34 points-per-game. Not only is the defense bad, but it’s seemingly given up.
Richard Sherman on Saints D “it seems like they want to get their coach fired, that’s the effort they’re playing with”
— Mike Nabors (@MikeNabors) October 18, 2024
If this team has any desire in saving its season there’s only one path forward. Allen has to go.
It’s easy to forget that Dennis Allen wasn’t the first choice as coach, the second, third, or the fourth. He was installed as a caretaker in the hopes Sean Payton would return after his sabbatical, and has kind of just held onto the job for no specific reason. As it stands Allen’s record over the last three years in New Orleans is 18-23, bringing his total overall record as head coach to an odious 26-51.
There’s certainly an argument to be made that a lot of the issues with the Saints aren’t specifically Allen’s fault, but it’s unclear what the upside of keeping Dennis Allen is. He’s seemingly kept this job for no other reason than New Orleans doesn’t want to dive into a coaching search, but that ignores the fact they have someone very promising waiting in the wings.
Klint Kubiak has an extremely strong resume and is absolutely ready to take over. Not only does he have a pattern of success from Minnesota to San Francisco and beyond as offensive coordinator, but managed to design a very successful Saints offense with Derek Carr. At the very least making a switch at coach would give the front office 10 weeks to evaluate Kubiak as head coach before deciding if he’s their long-term answer, or if they need to dive into the hiring pool in 2025.
At this point there’s no reason to keep Allen. It’s a blunt assessment, but there’s zero upside for the future of the Saints by treading water with a coach who was never designed to have a vision for this franchise in the first place. The 2-5 start, the five losses in a row are all a sign of how inconsequential the Saints under Allen have become. Change has to come.
Oh, and the last team to win two and then lose five in a row? The 2023 Texans. Their coach who was fired mid-season: Gary Kubriak, Klint’s dad. Football can be funny like that.
