NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Saints fired coach Dennis Allen on Monday, a day after a loss to the last-place Carolina Panthers extended the Saints’ losing streak to seven games — their longest since 1999.
"DA is an excellent American football coach," said Saints general manager Mickey Loomis. "This season, we have suffered an avalanche of injuries. That took its toll on us. DA never used it as an excuse. He went out to fight every day for this organization and for this team, and that makes this day disappointing."
The Saints have appointed Darren Rizzi, the special teams coordinator, as the interim head coach for the final eight games, in what is expected to be the fourth consecutive season without playoffs for New Orleans (2-7).
Allen has accumulated a record of 18-25 without reaching the postseason since taking over in 2022 after Sean Payton, the most successful coach in Saints history, left, which turned out to be a retirement of just one year.
Loomis decided to give Allen the promotion after six years as the defensive coordinator of New Orleans, a period in which his group ranked among the top 10 in the NFL in 2020 and 2021.
Although the Saints have maintained one of the best defenses in the NFL during Allen's first two seasons as head coach, the offense has been erratic and has often stumbled in the final stretches of close games.
This year, with new coordinator Klint Kubiak, the offense started the season with an outstanding harvest of 91 points by stringing together victories in the first two games. However, since then, the group has been unable to produce due to injuries to several key players.
Center Erik McCoy, the standout player of the offensive line, was the first to fall during the third week and has not played since then.
New Orleans also suffered the losses of quarterback Derek Carr, wide receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, and veteran guard César Ruiz, among others.