How Much Patience Will Saints Ownership Show Dennis Allen?
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After a dismal 3-7 start, much of the New Orleans Saints fan base and even some of the media have called for head coach Dennis Allen to be fired. This is highly unlikely to occur before the end of the season. Barring a winless or one-win finish down the stretch, Allen will also probably be given another chance to right the ship in 2023.
Dennis Allen is the 17th person to serve in a head coaching role in Saints franchise history. He is the 11th person to be hired as head coach, with six others serving in an interim role.
Two of those interim coaches, Joe Vitt and Aaron Kromer, were during the 2012 season when Sean Payton was controversially suspended by the NFL. Two more, Wade Phillips (1985) and Rick Venturi (1996), finished the year after coaches Bum Phillips (1985) and Jim Mora (1996) resigned in mid-season.
The Saints have fired a head coach during the season just three times in franchise history. All of them happened during the ownership tenure of John Mecom from 1967 to 1984.
Nov 26, 1978; Atlanta, GA, USA; FILE PHOTO; New Orleans Saints head coach Dick Nolan on the sideline against the Atlanta Falcons. Mandatory Credit: Manny Rubio-USA TODAY Sports
1980 - Dick Nolan
-Interim = Dick Stanfel
1975 - John North
-Interim = Ernie Hefferle
1970 - Tom Fears
-Interim = J.D. Roberts
Shortest Tenured Saints Coaches:
Former New Orleans Saints coach Mike Ditka. Credit: USA TODAY
Hank Stram (1976-1977)
-28 games
-7-21 record
John North (1973-1975)
-34 games
-11-23 record
J.D. Roberts (1970-1972)
-35 games
-7-25-3 record
*Roberts is the only interim coach in franchise history to be retained as head coach the following year
Dick Nolan (1978-1980)
-44 games
-15-29 record
Mike Ditka (1997-1999)
-48 games
-15-33 record
Tom Fears (1967-1970)
-49 games
-13-34-2 record
Of the six shortest tenured New Orleans coaches, all but Ditka occurred under Mecom's ownership. However, the Saints have still never fired a coach after just one season or less.
The four longest tenured New Orleans coaches, Payton (241 games), Mora (167 games), Jim Haslett (96 games), and Bum Phillips (69 games) occurred under the ownership of Tom Benson from 1985 until his death in 2018.
Gayle Benson took over ownership duties of both the Saints and New Orleans Pelicans after her husband's passing. Perhaps it's noteworthy that the Pelicans fired head coach Stan Van Gundy after just one season in 2020-21. However, the Saints have been one of the NFL's most stable franchises over the last two decades.
This is uncharted territory for both Gayle Benson and GM Mickey Loomis, the league's longest tenured general manager. Loomis has the job security from ownership, so the front office can afford to be patient with Allen if they see a direction consistent with where they want to go.
The guess here is that Dennis Allen will be on the sidelines for the New Orleans Saints in 2023, much to the chagrin of most fans. However, I also expect several changes within an offensive and defensive coaching staff that has underachieved all year.
The Benson family and Mickey Loomis have always shown patience with their coaches. Everyone's patience has a limit. We may find out that limit depending on how the home stretch of the 2022 Saints season develops.
