Saints Fans Say Dennis Allen's Time is Up. The Organization Disagrees.

As the dust settled over Allegiant Stadium and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes rode off into Disneyland, the attention of everyone outside of Kansas City officially turned to the 2024 NFL Regular Season. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stood on stage alongside Saints owner Gayle Benson and New Orleans mayor Latoya Cantrell to officially kickstart the countdown to the Crescent City playing host to the 59th Super Bowl this time next year. 

The coaching hiring cycle is officially complete, and every fanbase (even the 17 Chargers fans in existence) is now either looking to run it back under the same coaching regime or looking forward to a fresh opportunity under a new leader. 

One has to ask, of course, if each organization has made the right decision. Did a team jump the gun too soon on their head coach? Is there perhaps a coach or two overstaying their welcome into the new season? 

To put it plainly: Did every general manager make the right call for the head coaching position?

If you ask the majority of the city of New Orleans - the strong, unique, passionate, boisterous members of the Who Dat Nation - the answer is no. If you ask a lifelong Saints fan and childhood best friend of mine, Jason, the answer is a definitive no.

As much as I've already heard it from him over the past few months, I still wanted to hear his up-to-date feelings a few days removed from a beatdown of the Atlanta Falcons in the Saints' matinee performance of the 2023 season. 

"This is a production league. If Dennis Allen failed to produce at least a division title in the league's worst division - with easily the most talented roster in the said NFC South - why should he be granted another shot? What more does he need?"

He says there's only one goal in the NFL: the Super Bowl. "Anyone can see that if the Saints fail to make changes in coaching positions this summer, they will not be a real Super Bowl contender. Despite carrying a roster with a championship ceiling." That leaves the blame to the coaching staff - one that failed to maximize a talented roster and make the playoffs with the easiest schedule in the NFL this season.

It makes sense why this fanbase feels on the same page about the coaching unit. Yes, there are externalities to account for. The team still suffered from injury. Poor kicking from rookie Blake Grupe cost the Saints at least two wins early in the year; had Wil Lutz still been here, the Superdome would likely have played host to the Philadelphia Eagles in the postseason.

Nevertheless, the coaching staff still takes a rightful portion of the blame for one of the most underperforming, disappointing teams of the NFL season.

General manager Mickey Loomis has been to work since I asked my good friend his raw thoughts about the 2023 campaign in January. While Dennis Allen remains posted as head coach, Jason still got his wish in some capacity. Pete Carmichael is out after 15 years as offensive coordinator, replaced by former 49ers passing game specialist Klint Kubiak. New offensive line coach John Benton also comes over from the Bay Area, replacing the fired Doug Marrone. 

Derrick Foster (running backs), Andrew Janocko (quarterbacks), and Keith Williams (wide receivers) were also introduced as newly appointed specialist assistants on the offensive side of the ball. Tenured NFL journeyman Rick Dennison brings over 25 years of coaching experience on board as a new senior offensive assistant. 

Meanwhile, a defense which gave up a 5th-best 315 yards per game last season will bring a largely unchanged coaching staff into the new season. 

Jason sees the latest hires as a step in the right direction. "As far as the Kubiak hire, I think it was as good as we could have gotten. Although I'm still not the highest on Allen, the smartest thing he's doing is getting the hell out of the way. I'll give him his flowers for understanding that there needs to be drastic change on the offensive side of the ball, and letting Kubiak take care of that."

"Every hire makes sense. Each one is connected to either Derek Carr, the Kubiaks, or the Shanahans."

Jason explained that Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan - fathers of Klint and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan - created and developed their system premised on zone blocking and pre-snap motion back in the 90s, a style that should now carry over to New Orleans this fall. He - among many across the fanbase - was disappointed with the stale, uninspiring state of the offensive system last season.

In every sense, the 2023 offense was a disappointment for the Saints. Derek Carr has yet to play to the standard of his contract, though he trended upwards as the year went on and endured a few injuries in his debut season in the black and gold. Michael Thomas failed to stay on the field. Chris Olave was underused. Alvin Kamara was criminally underused. A few scoreboards were salvaged to be respectable in garbage time against prevent defenses. Leads were blown - week 3 at Green Bay stings particularly hard in retrospect. 

The easy response here is to point all fingers at the departing Carmichael and label the problem solved. Although Dennis Allen remains at the top. And he has a lot to prove. Allen was able to project the disappointment of last year onto his former offensive coordinator and keep his job, though the excuses are running out. After last year's defensive hires, both sides of the ball have now been overhauled on the coaching front under the instruction of this head coach. And there's a talented, hungry roster showing up to training camp. 

Most in the Crescent City are already at breaking point with Allen. As crazy as it sounds, the Saints - fresh off of missing the postseason for the third consecutive season - just might be entering a Super Bowl appearance or bust season. At the very least, a failure to win a playoff game next winter would surely mark the end of Dennis Allen in charge of this team. 

When I asked him how he'd like the organization to respond to another shortcoming: "You give up on Dennis Allen, give up on attempting to be a contender and finally swallow the pill of our cap situation and start rebuilding the right way."

And Jason is right to mention the cap. The Saints are deep in the negative. 

A rebuild is inevitable; we might as well lift the Lombardi before it starts. And in order for that to happen, Dennis Allen has a lot of people he must prove wrong.