Dennis Allen expects to return as head coach of the New Orleans Saints next season.
Allen guided the Saints to a 9-8 record and missed out on the playoffs in a tiebreaker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8) for the NFC South division title. New Orleans beat the Buccaneers and Falcons in consecutive games to keep its playoff chances alive until the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears to eliminate the Saints.
Asked Monday if he would be back as Saints’ head coach for a third season, Allen said: “That is my expectation — yes.”
“What I said to the team: I was proud of the way our guys continued to fight. I was proud of the way we finished the season,” Allen said. “But I was pissed we put ourselves in that position.”
“9-8, 7-10, 9-8 (the past three seasons), it’s not good enough. Everyone in the building is part of the culpability of that. And so we have to look at, what do we need to change? There’s things that have to be different. That’s part of what we have to do this offseason as an organization. We have to look at, what are we going to do differently? We’re all part of the problem. Now how are we going to figure out how are we going to be part of the solution. That’s what this offseason is going to be about.”
Allen, 51, was the Saints’ defensive coordinator from 2015-21 and followed Sean Payton as head coach in 2022.
Two teams in the division are searching for new coaches.
The Panthers relieved Frank Reich midway through his first season in Carolina and finished with the worst record in the NFL. The Falcons fired Arthur Smith as head coach at the end of his third 7-10 season.
–Field Level Media