Darren Rizzi, New Orleans Saints Interim Head Coach, Opens Up About Homecoming

Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi looks forward to a pleasant "homecoming" this weekend as his team faces the Giants.

Dec 1, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi walks the sideline before a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

In a season that’s already featured two distinct homecomings to MetLife Stadium in the past couple months, the New York Giants won’t finish off their dismal year without hosting one more that, this time, is coming from a coaching perspective. 

This Sunday, the Giants are returning home to East Rutherford for a two-game homestand, the first of which will see a visit from the New Orleans Saints and their new interim head coach Darren Rizzi, who will be making his long-awaited return to the Garden State as a leader of a professional locker room for the first time. 

Rizzi, a longtime assistant coach at the NFL level, was named the Saints’ interim head coach back on November 4 after the franchise parted ways with predecessor Dennis Allen amid a disappointing 2-7 start to the campaign. 

The transition comes while Rizzi was currently serving as the Saints assistant head coach and special teams coordinator, a role which he’s held since the 2019 season. 

The 54-year-old bears no working connection to the Giants organization in his established resume that spans over 20 years at different stops, but he does have humble beginnings in the nearby area. 

Rizzi grew up a Giants fan while living in Hillsdale during his childhood and attended Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, just a stone's throw away from the stadium in which he’ll compete against his beloved team from the visitor’s sidelines. 

“Definitely a unique situation,” Rizzi told local reporters this week. “I grew up just about 15 minutes from the stadium there rooting for the Giants, going to watch a lot of playoff games back when Bill Parcells was the coach. So it's certainly something in the back of my mind but just trying to have the blinders on like everybody else, and just trying to coach the game."

Rizzi spoke about how he has been overwhelmed with endless phone calls from friends and family in the days leading up to the game as everyone wants to express support and be present for his momentous achievement, but he is refusing to let it serve as a big distraction from leading his men towards preparing for the next important game on their slate.

It’s a moment of immense pride for the man with Jersey roots and he understands the overflowing reaction. Yet, at the same time he knows that he must set an example for his players on when to separate the emotions from focusing on the details within the hash marks. 

He won’t dismiss the homecoming and chance to soak it in, but also won’t let it derail his physical and mental preparation for just his fourth contest at the interim helm, one that could serve as a tryout for a permanent role next year, as he expects the same of his players on the field..

"I've got to practice what I preach, quite frankly, with the players," Rizzi said. "I've got to stay locked in, I can't get too wrapped up in the moment.”

“Whether we're home or on the road, no matter where it is you've got to stay locked into the game. I'm trying to do a great job. Just like I tell the players, limit the distractions during the week. That's going to be important for me, too.”

“I'm going to have to shut my phone off at the end of the week; a lot of people reaching out, family and friends. It's a little bit surreal, quite frankly, but I've got to do a great job of staying in the moment, staying focused on the game, the game plan and not get wrapped up. I can think about it after the fact.”

Along with the pomp and circumstance from the bleachers, Rizzi will have one more familiar face challenging him from across the field in Giants head coach Brian Daboll. 

The two men crossed paths while working together at the Miami Dolphins organization during the 2011 season when Daboll was the offensive coordinator and Rizzi the special teams ace.

“Obviously, he’s a New Jersey guy, Bergen Catholic. I got a lot of respect for him,” Daboll said when asked about Rizzi. “He's been a good friend here for, I'd say, the last almost 15 years. Good football coach, good special teams coach and done a nice job since he's been down there. Him, his family, he's got a lot of kids, too. So, a good man.”

Since developing a friendship, the two coaches have had to work hard to climb up the ranks in the NFL level, and their journeys have brought them both to eerily similar points. Daboll is in the final stretch of his third season with the Giants and is desperate to salvage what is left of a second consecutive losing season that is sitting at a league-worst 2-10 record. 

For Rizzi, he’s had to inherit a broken and bruised Saints squad that holds a 4-8 record and has lost eight of their last ten contests that has them clinging onto nearly irrelevant playoff hopes. In just three games, he has New Orleans experiencing some success with a 2-1 stint that has been powered by the efforts of their dual-threat offensive attack.

The Saints have ratcheted up the numbers in both phases of their offense in recent weeks, averaging the league’s 14th and 12th ranked unit in total production that includes top-10 standings on the ground. On the flip side, they’ve struggled to prevent the opposition from gashing them back at a clip of over 5.0 yards per attempt that ranks 31st overall. 

Despite what the records show on Sunday, Rizzi holds great respect for what Daboll can do as an offensive mind and knows that is one element that has followed his former colleague’s schemes with different teams. He expects his friend to look to exploit that in their upcoming matchup and is making sure that is a focus for his defense. 

“I've worked with Brian, he and I are good friends. Brian's a great coach and a great man. And no matter where he's been, they've been able to run the football,” Rizzi said. 

“That’s kind of been one of his calling cards, regardless of the record of the team, they've always had a good run game. They got a really good running back there in (Tyrone) Tracy (Jr.) and, although I know their record isn't what they want it to be up there right now, that's something that they're going to commit to.”

“And if you're playing us right now, you're looking at us statistically, you're going to say we're going to make these guys have to stop the run, and we're going to make them prove it. We're going to do it until they prove they can stop it. ... There's no question that we got to go up there and we're going to have to control the line of scrimmage on both sides.”

In their own rushing attack, the Giants have really laid into their backfield shared by Tracy and Devin Singletary to bolster the work of their huddle. They’ve amassed over 100 yards rushing in eight of their 12 games this fall and have provided 116 or more in four of the last five matchups. 

With that workload, New York is now up to 15th in rushing yards and 18th in rushing touchdowns which account for 10 of their 18 scores this season. They are averaging right in the wheelhouse of that 5.1 yards that the Saints allow to their opponents in the same span. 

The Giants have gone more in the direction of the veteran Singletary in the last two games against Tampa Bay and Dallas given the fumbling woes of Tracy, but the rookie is still the team’s leading ball carrier and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Giants go back to him for his speed and strength against a Saints defense that ranks 29th in team run stop win rate entering Week 14. 

Add in the elements of MetLife Stadium that expect to be cold and windy and the struggling quarterback play from both parties, and the winner could end up being the team that finds more plays up the middle and turns them into points. 

From concentration to game management, it’s set to be a challenging yet important weekend for whichever team comes out on top, and for Rizzi, who will have a sea of supporters watching behind him, it's all about being as prepared as possible and just letting all the outside noise wait until after the victory is clinched. 

“"When you get wrapped up in a game week and you're just thinking about – I think (about) all the hoopla prior to the game and all that stuff – but once the game starts and the first kickoff is kicked and you've got to concentrate on the game management and all that stuff, that stuff kind of goes out the window.”

We're going to be obviously on the road. The weather is going to be a little different that we're used to. We're going to be in a visiting crowd, all those things. And so, as we all know, that's going to be really important for us on both sides of the ball for sure."

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