For many teams, like the New Orleans Saints, the offseason can’t come soon enough. While they started red-hot, winning two games in a row, both in convincing fashion, losing the next seven games got Dennis Allen fired. Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi has performed admirably, leading the Saints to a 3-4 record, but now it’s time to interview a large variety of candidates who could land the job full-time.
One of the newest candidates mentioned in the latest batch of Saints coaching rumors may even surprise the fans who follow the NFL closest.
Related: New Orleans Saints could turn to former Super Bowl-winning head coach
New Orleans Saints linked to Matt Nagy
Back in 2017, Matt Nagy was viewed as a rising star in the NFL coaching circles. It only took one season as the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator under Andy Reid to help springboard him into a job as head coach of the Chicago Bears.
His four-year tenure in Chicago was widely mocked after it ended, but looking back, Nagy’s track record might be better than most remember. He led the Bears to a 12-4 start before going 8-8 in his next two seasons. That delivered two playoff appearances for a Chicago franchise that hadn’t played a postseason game since 2010., ending a seven-year drought.
But after a 6-11 season in 2021, the Bears moved on from Nagy, only to hire Matt Eberflus. Nagy’s win-loss record tallied up to a 34-31 mark, making Eberflus’ accomplishments look frail (14-32, no playoff appearances). Now, Nagy’s returning to the NFL head coaching conversation after another successful stint coordinating the Chiefs’ offense.
According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Nagy’s now being linked to the New Orleans Saints’ coaching vacancy, where he could emerge as a frontrunner for the job.
“Expect the Saints to show interest in former Bears head coach and current Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. I also expect interim head coach Darren Rizzi to get a shot at the job full-time but, if he doesn’t get it, I could see him still being part of the coaching staff in New Orleans, in some form.”
Dianna Russini on Matt Nagy and the New Orleans Saints
Nagy returning as an NFL head coach in 2025 would be shocking to some, yet there’s a reason he’s so highly regarded on Coach Reid’s staff and in the locker room. Plus, after learning from his previous mistakes coaching the Bears, he’s likely itching to prove so many of his doubters wrong.
Not to mention, he’d already have an above-average quarterback in Derek Carr, which is more than he can say for his time in Chicago, where he was stuck with Mitchell Trubisky. Teams are always trying to tap into the Chiefs’ Super Bowl success, and Nagy has had a first-hand look at what it takes to be a back-to-back Super Bowl champion, even if he won’t get to bring Patrick Mahomes with him to the Bayou.