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The New Orleans Saints said goodbye to head coach Dennis Allen nine games into the 2024 NFL season. After seven straight losses, a few controversial decisions, and games that made the team look like it had given up, New Orleans decided it had had enough of their former defensive coordinator.
He was one of only three head coaches fired midseason, with the other being former New York Jets coach Robert Saleh and Matt Eberflus of the Chicago Bears. Now, the Saints are looking for a new lead man to take charge of their struggling organization.
Below, we'll break down the eight most likely candidates to be their head coach in 2025, in no particular order.
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Darren Rizzi, Interim Head Coach, New Orleans Saints
Obviously, the Saints will consider hiring their interim head coach. Rizzi took over for Allen shortly after the old HC was fired, and while the Saints had just a 3-5 record under his leadership, the injuries to key players on the offense likely doomed them from the start. The team was without its two best receivers, WR Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed (knee), for the entirety of Rizzi's games.
The Saints resume their coaching search today with virtual interviews with Bills OC Joe Brady and Saints interim HC/STC Darren Rizzi, sources tell @NFLonCBS
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) January 17, 2025
It's difficult to effectively evaluate Rizzi's tenure so far. While he was previously considered a prime candidate for the head coaching position before Allen's hiring, teams retaining their interim head coaches hasn't gone very well historically. Just this season, we saw former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce fired after only one year with the team.
Rizzi is more likely to be hired as a special teams coach of another club, in our eyes at least.
Joe Brady, Offensive Coordinator, Buffalo Bills
The Saints conducted a virtual interview with Brady on January 17th, the same day they did with Rizzi, and Brady seems like a more likely candidate to take over the job. Perhaps after several years of defensive-minded coaching, the Saints want a change.
I was initially leaning more towards Aaron Glenn as the next head coach of the #Saints. However, since they are allowing Kubiak and some offensive staff members to interview for other positions, I am now leaning more towards Joe Brady. Regardless, it's important to give the new…
— Timothy J Jones (@tjayjones8) January 13, 2025
It would be a logical move for them. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is interviewing for positions with other teams, and as the above post states, this could indicate that they want a new coach to bring in his own regime and staff members. No doubt the Saints are impressed with the job Brady has done with the Bills.
Joe Brady is using man-beater concepts better than anyone right now. His mesh/pivot family and Shallow Cross family concepts are incredibly impressive, but the way he presents them is what really takes it over the top. The use of formations, alignments, and movement to create… pic.twitter.com/ATYrrRc29p
— Honest NFL (@TheHonestNFL) January 13, 2025
Last season, former Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey was fired in favor of Brady, and his game plans and play-calling concepts have helped Buffalo ascend to having one of the best offenses in the league and assisted quarterback Josh Allen to be considered in the MVP conversation.
Joe Brady has been orchestrating a historic @BuffaloBills offense pic.twitter.com/AUE78I1uAD
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 12, 2025
In addition, running back James Cook has had a ridiculously productive season, scoring 19 total touchdowns (so far) and accounting for 1,267 yards of total offense. They've racked up 30.9 points per game on offense, which is second to only the Detroit Lions.
We would likely see a productive offense under the Saints if they hire Brady, and that's likely what the team is looking for.
Mike McCarthy, Former Dallas Cowboys Head Coach
McCarthy was let go by the Cowboys after failing to come to terms on a new contract with Dallas' owner, president, and general manager Jerry Jones. Despite his string of failures in the playoffs, McCarthy has quickly become a hot candidate for head coach for numerous teams, with the Saints being among them.
Dave Wannstedt on Mike McCarthy and the Saints' job: "I talked to a guy today and he's one of three finalists."
Listen: https://t.co/qxK8rf36dm pic.twitter.com/YuOssuG0pA
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) January 17, 2025
Despite the speculative nature of the above post, numerous other reports have linked Big Mike with the open job in New Orleans. And quarterback Dak Prescott thrived in McCarthy's offensive system, regularly finishing near the top of the league in passing yards per game. The offense he ran did well as a whole too, finishing No. 1, No. 4, and No. 1 in points per game for the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons.
And that's likely a big reason why he's being considered for the job. At least it's known that he can perform well with good rosters. The lack of competitiveness against great teams and having just one playoff win over his tenure there.
But he'd likely be good for the development of a new quarterback, should one be drafted by the Saints. And he's a good overall coach who would bring stability to the organization.
Aaron Glenn, Defensive Coordinator, Detroit Lions
Glenn has done a masterful job turning around a Lions defense what was one of the worst in the NFL just a few years ago. The team that allowed the most, second-most, and 3rd-most points per game in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 seasons now looks unrecognizable, as they've held opposing offenses to 20.1 points per game for the 2024 regular season, ranking as the 7th-best unit in the NFL.
NFL Network’s @TomPelissero talks about the Saints HC opening on the @RichEisenShow. He says to keep an eye on Aaron Glenn.
“Aaron Glenn loves that city, he still has relationships with some of the older players on that roster, he knows that building, he’s worked with Mickey… pic.twitter.com/EsYjJY0K45
— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) January 17, 2025
Glenn was considered as a "runner-up" to Allen when he was hired to be the Saints head coach, so it makes sense that the team would consider him again after the masterful turn-around job he's pulled off in Detroit. And unlike Allen, Glenn is a "players' coach", whose personal bonds with the members of his defenses are excellent for their development.
A change in pace along those lines would be welcome among players who were disillusioned with Allen's abrasiveness, and "leader of men" style head coaches are becoming more popular in our eyes, or at least should become more mainstream, due to the success of Lions head coach Dan Campbell.
And it doesn't hurt that Glenn worked directly under Campbell and has likely gained intimate insight into what's made the Motor City man such a great head coach.
Bobby Slowik, Offensive Coordinator, Houston Texans
Slowik was one of the hottest head coach candidates after playing a big part in engineering quarterback C.J. Stroud's fantastic Offensive Rookie of the Year season in 2023. They haven't played quite as well this year, with the offensive line in particular being massively suspect, but he's still viewed as one of the better offensive minds in the league.
Tank Dell's impact is certainly going to be missed but some of his production last game against KC was just great play design by Bobby Slowik.
Outside corner has to travel with Dalton Schultz and Dell has an easy path to the sideline.
They'll need more of these #HTownMade pic.twitter.com/NFDGRFUtd6
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) January 17, 2025
His 2023 job shouldn't be ignored, and the reality is that last year's injuries to wide receiver Tank Dell (knee) played a huge role in slowing the offense down as well. Slowik would bring innovative play-calling to the team, but it's worth noting that he's not the most likely candidate to be chosen here.
Ben Johnson, Offensive Coordinator, Detroit Lions
The fact is that Johnson is an auto-include here. His transformation of the Lions offense from putrid to the literal best in the league this year, after being the fifth-best in the league a year ago under his guidance, has rocketed him into contention for every head coach position available.
I think the #Saints have a very strong chance to land Ben Johnson as their next head coach. What do you think? pic.twitter.com/mduEjyO9Al
— Timothy J Jones (@tjayjones8) December 7, 2024
Should the aforementioned Saints offensive coordinator Kubiak decide to depart, Johnson would help return the Saints offense to dominance, and likely help guide whichever quarterback they eventually draft to replace current QB Derek Carr to a productive career.
Like Slowik, he seems like one of the less likely candidates, though. The cap situation in New Orleans has been abysmal for years, as the team refuses to rebuild and continually kicks the can down the road in that regard. It's also been rumored that Johnson wants some degree of control over the roster, and would prefer to pick his own general manager.
Dark Horse Pick: Robert Saleh, Former New York Jets Head Coach
The firing of Saleh was not a great decision by New York, and we saw quickly that he wasn't the main problem with his old team. The Jets defense collapsed miserably after he was canned, becoming one of the worst in the league for the remainder of the season.
From today's column ($): The Jets have fielded the worst defense in football by EPA per play since firing Robert Saleh. https://t.co/KxdW13UApY pic.twitter.com/pCcatCbDhB
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) October 28, 2024
It was a stunningly quick drop-off, and showed just how valuable he was for the team. And he had fielded fantastic defenses with the team for years, and as recently as 2023, his team gave up the third-fewest yards of any defense in the NFL.
Should the Saints decide to retain offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who had the team on a historic run for all of two games before injuries started destroying offensive personnel groups, Saleh could shore up the defense and make the team a legitimate threat to win the NFC South crown.
While the team hasn't interviewed Saleh yet, it would be a fantastic hire, in our opinion.
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