The New Orleans Saints did nothing bold the last time they hired a head coach three years ago. They promoted from within with Dennis Allen, an excellent defensive coordinator with them from 2015-21 and a Saints' position coach from 2006-10, all under then-head coach Sean Payton.
They had hoped enough Payton had rubbed off on Allen to make up for the latter's suspect head coaching experience with the Oakland Raiders, where he was 8-28 from 2012-14. It hadn't, and Allen was fired after a 2-7 start this season and 18-25 mark from 2022-24.
Now, the Saints are deep into the search process to replace Allen, but so far they are only publicly considering the usual suspects — successful and not-so-successful NFL coordinators supposedly rising toward head coaching jobs. That's the track Payton was on when the Saints hired him after the 2005 season, but hiring coaches without head coaching experience is always a gamble.
Are Aaron Glenn and other candidates head coach material?
The Saints are very interested in Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, a defensive back who played for Payton in New Orleans in 2008 to cap a 15-year career with five teams and then coached defensive backs for him from 2016-20. Let's hope it's not just because of his Saints' ties. Thosehave not been winning ties since 2020, the last time New Orleans had a double-digit win season and reached the playoffs.
Glenn, 52, interviewed via video on Friday as Dan Campbell's NFC North champion Lions (15-2) are open this week with a bye in the NFL playoffs. Hopefully, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis is interested in Glenn because of what he has done with the Lions' defense more than Glenn's Saints' past, which was Allen's best quality.
Detroit's defense under Glenn finished No. 1 in the 2024 regular season on third down, allowing a first down just 32.4 percent of the time. The Lions were also No. 5 against the run (98.4 yards a game) and No. 7 in points allowed (20.1) and in red zone defense, allowing success 50.9 percent of the time.
His past with the Saints may not end up being that important to Glenn as he could end up elsewhere with a much better salary cap situation and a more successful general manager. Glenn also interviewed with Las Vegas on Friday and interviewed on Thursday with the New York Jets, where he played for eight years after they drafted him in the first round out of Texas A&M in 1994. He has interviews scheduled for Sunday with Jacksonville and Chicago.
Glenn is clearly more qualified on paper than the Saints' other two interviews so far. Anthony Weaver, 44, has been a defensive coordinator for only two seasons: 2020 with the Houston Texans (4-8) and this season in Miami (8-9). But he had a very good 2024, as his defense finished in the top 10 in six major categories: No. 4 in total defense and red zone defense, No. 6 on third down, No. 9 against the pass and run and No. 10 in points allowed. Weaver was a defensive line coach in the NFL for 12 seasons with six teams before joining the Dolphins after last season.
Kafka was part of the Kansas City Chiefs' 2019 Super Bowl championship season as quarterbacks coach and the 2020 Super Bowl appearance as passing game coordinator and QBs coach, but he did have Patrick Mahomes at quarterback. He rode that success to the offensive coordinator post with the Giants in 2022. But his third season in 2024 was not a great one, as New York finished 3-14 with one of the league's worst offenses.
Other interviews upcoming
The Saints expect to interview Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who was a former Saints assistant, along with Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi in the coming days and weeks.
The Saints want to interview former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel, but New England may make him its head coach before that happens. Vrabel had winning seasons in his first four years at Tennessee from 2018-21, including three playoff appearances with an AFC title game appearance in his second season. Then he fell to 7-10 in 2022 and 6-11 in '23 before being abruptly fired.
Sign of the times: 1 Saint makes A.P. All-Pro team
For the fourth straight season the Saints had two or fewer player make the Associated Press All-Pro team. Special teams player J.T. Gray earned second team honors, leading the NFL with 25 special teams tackles and blocking a kick.
The Saints had two players make the same team last year after a 9-8 season: punt returner Rashid Shaheed and linebacker Demario Davis. No Saint made the team in 2022 after a 7-10 campaign. In 2021 following a 9-8 season, Gray and Davis made the team. In 2020 after a 9-8 record, three Saints made it: running back Alvin Kamara, offensive tackle Ryan Ramczyk and Davis.
