Seven Saints losses in a row, and the worst of them all to cap off a brutal steak came on the road to the lowly Panthers. Change had to happen, and that came on Monday with the firing of Dennis Allen.
That change was greeted with a somber tone by team leaders, even as they showed support for interim head coach Darren Rizzi.
"Disappointing, heartbreaking," Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu said. "It’s the first team I’ve ever been on that really, basically got a coach fired."
And that quote really sums up the message, at least as far as what's being said publicly. Players, particularly on defense, feel like they let their head coach down. Everyone played a role, and everyone still in the building has to take ownership of making sure things change for the better.
"Like I told the defensive back unit, man, if you don’t feel bad, like something’s probably wrong with you," Mathieu said. "Like, I absolutely believe that defensively we played probably the biggest role in him getting fired. You know, to go from a really good defense to a defense that’s really kind of unrecognizable, you know what I mean, as far as our standard goes."
While the defense has had its struggles, they're not alone in shouldering the blame. There have been plenty of offensive missteps, too, particularly when it comes to ill-timed penalties and blunders. It's been the case throughout the Saints' longest losing streak in more than two decades. When the offense needed to be picked up by the defense after go-ahead scoring drives against the Eagles and Falcons, the defense floundered and surrendered the big plays that swung the result. When the offense got the ball late, as they did against the Panthers, with a chance to drive for a go-ahead score, they couldn't get the job done.
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It was a failure on all levels, and one made more frustrating by what Foster Moreau described as one of their best weeks of practices all season. Ultimately that prompted Allen's dismissal nine games into Year 3 of his head coaching stint. The players were informed by text message just after 9 a.m., with Allen apologizing for how things had gone as his tenure ended.
"In terms of accountability I feel personally responsible 100% every day," Moreau said. "If you come into work and you find joy in your head coach getting fired, shame on you. I can’t say the same for a fan. I know we have a bit of a split fanbase in that regard. I understand that. I’m in enough group texts. I’m from the city. I see it on social media, I should probably stay off it. It’s a shame, because I’m gonna be honest, Dennis Allen came in here every single day. He was accountable, he worked his ass off, he led players, he did everything that he could and in the end results weren’t there and so something had to be done.”
The next step is to pick up the pieces, something Rizzi began early on with a team meeting. The messaging is simple: We all dug a hole together, we need to dig out of it together. If things are going to improve, it'll have to happen as a group.
Rizzi said he spoke with every member of the team in some form or fashion and spent a good chunk of the day meeting with every department throughout the building. It's a big task, but one that Rizzi says he feels as prepared for as he could possibly be. Rizzi has been the Saints special teams coordinator since 2019 and is a 32-year coaching veteran, 16 coming in college. He's served as a head coach, offensive coach and defensive coach during his career. He's been a part of two prior interim scenarios, both coming during his time with the Dolphins. The most recent was in xxx when Dan Campbell took over as the interim for Joe Philbin. That connection was a major element that drew him to the Saints in the first place, with Campbell then serving as the Saints tight ends coach and assistant head coach.
The early returns from team leaders has been overwhelmingly positive. Saints players have said many of the same things about Rizzi that we hear about Campbell during his highly successful run as the Lions head coach.
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"I think Rizz is the type of coach and the type of leader and the type of man that really can kind of command a room," Mathieu said. "I think he kind of knows what buttons to push to motivate his guys, right, and he’s a straight shooter and I think you need that sometimes. I think guys need to be called out sometimes, and so I think Rizz is gonna provide us with that sense of reality ... and so I’m just looking forward to really playing for him."
The Saints sit at 2-7 and a successful turnaround is unlikely, but that won't stop the players from working toward it. As Moreau put it, if you can lose seven straight, you can win eight straight. The math checks out as long as you don't look at it for too long.
More realistically, the Saints would settle for some positivity. Moreau has experienced it twice in interim situations, the first during his time at LSU when Ed Orgeron took over for Les Miles in 2016, ultimately landing the full job and going on to win a national championship. He experienced it again with the Raiders in 2021 after Jon Gruden stepped down amid an email scandal. That team, quarterbacked by Derek Carr, won its final four games of the season under Rich Bisaccia and went to the postseason. I asked Moreau the common threads between those teams. This is what he said.
“Accountability, extremely high levels of accountability, no cliquing up or secrets in the locker room, that’s a big one," Moreau recalled, counting on his fingers. "Coming in in high spirits and embracing change. For me those are the four pillars of what you have to do if you have found yourself in an interim coaching situation. That’s it.”
Perhaps it's kismet then, because when Rizzi was asked to describe his coaching philosophy, the first words out of his mouth were "I'm an accountability guy."
That's one pillar down. Let's see if some wins come with it.