Pete Carmichael has been fired as offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, and among many things, it marks the end of an era.
Carmichael had been a member of the Saints' staff since 2006 and its offensive coordinator since 2009, spending years as the "go-between" for two Saints legends in Sean Payton and Drew Brees. It was a tenure that shouldn't go underappreciated, even if results weren't necessarily as desired the past two seasons, as Mike Detillier and Bobby Hebert broke down on SportsTalk this week.
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“To even last, whether you’re a head coach or an assistant, to even last in one place like 18 years, you’re doing something right. And, you know, we tend to always look what have you done for me lately, I always say that, or the negative versus the positive, but Pete was a big part of the Saints having success offensively with the combination, obviously he’s gonna be behind the scenes, with Sean Payton and Drew Brees getting all that."
All that said, the page still has to turn, and the Saints announced on Tuesday they'd be doing just that with the firing of Carmichael, along with senior offensive assistant Bob Bicknell and wide receivers coach Kodi Burns. The Saints have missed the postseason each of the past three seasons, twice going 9-8 and losing out on tiebreakers. On the offensive side there was a surge at the end of the season, but not enough to salvage the current staff's fate.
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The next OC is going to have to be one that can command that group, with head coach Dennis Allen's focus always skewed a bit toward the defense.
"We all know, Dennis Allen’s wheelhouse is on defense," Detilleir said. "So the offensive coordinator actually becomes the head coach of the offense.”
One way or another, there's little time to waste. Allen enters Year 3, and all the excuses are gone. The defensive staff was rebuilt in 2022 and you got your quarterback in Derek Carr. This year it's the offensive staff. In 2024, there's no question where things stand.
"The bottom line is ... and Dennis Allen and Mickey Loomis know this, that for sure Dennis, he’s on the hot seat before there’s even a hot seat, because next year, OK, it is truly — I thought this year was playoffs or bust, but next year I know it’s playoffs or bust," the Cajun Cannon said. "I hope it’s not the same song and dance, what happened with the Raiders. You get off to a slow start, no, then all of a sudden you have an interim head coach in the middle of the season or something.”