Dennis Allen took over as head coach and Pete Carmichael as the play-caller in a Week 15 victory over the Bucs last season, and it appears that duo will be back when the 2022 season kicks off.
The Saints' longtime offensive coordinator will remain in that role on the newly appointed head coach's staff. The news was first reported by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.
The Saints had reportedly interviewed Colts running backs coach Scottie Montgomery, Cowboys assistant Robert Prince and former Washington head coach Jay Gruden prior to the decision to stick with Carmichael, who had declined to interview for the head coach position.
The news of one the biggest dominoes of the coaching staff turnover came Wednesday evening, just over 3 weeks removed from Sean Payton's abrupt retirement. Initial reports indicated that Carmichael was likely to stay on the staff in a different role, but after multiple interviews the team came back to Carmichael, who has served as the Saints' offensive coordinator since 2009. Payton called the plays for a majority of that tenure, with the exception of a 62-7 beatdown of the Colts in 2011 with Payton sidelined due to a leg injury, the 2012 season with Payton suspended, and the 9-0 victory over the Bucs this past season with the head coach sidelined due to COVID.
Carmichael, 50, has been coaching football for nearly three decades, getting his start as an OL coach for the University of New Hampshire in 1994, then signing on as the QBs coach at Louisiana Tech for the next four years. From there he jumped to the NFL as a TEs coach and offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns, and went on to hold coaching roles with Washington and the Chargers before first joining the Saints as a quarterbacks coach on Payton's initial staff in 2006. He took on the role of passing game coach the next two seasons before ascending to OC.
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The decision means the offense and defense will effectively retain their leadership from the past half-decade, with the biggest question now to come at defensive coordinator. Allen has already said he plans to continue calling the defensive plays despite ascending to head coach.
There have been a handful of hires reported to Allen's staff, most notably former Bills and Jaguars coach Doug Marrone. His role remains unclear, though he had most previously served as an OL coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Marrone had been a possible name for the OC role, having previously served as the Saints OC and OL coach on Payton's staff from 2006-'08.
Check back for updates.