Saints Coaching Question: Retread or New Face?

The New Orleans Saints are confirmed to interview four candidates for their vacant head coaching position so far. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, and former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores have or will interview for the position.

New Orleans is looking for a coach because 58-year-old Sean Payton stepped down after 16 years with the team last week. Payton was 42 when the Saints hired him in 2006. He had been a successful offensive assistant with three different NFL teams, but had never been a head coach at any level before.

The question that New Orleans needs to answer with this hire is whether they'll want to promote from their own staff or go outside the franchise. Allen and Glenn, a former defensive backs coach with the team, would check that box. So would offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen, or Chargers OC Joe Lombardi.

If New Orleans opts for someone outside the organization, will they chose someone with previous head coaching experience? Or give an assistant their first top job like they did with Payton?

New Orleans has hired ten coaches since their inaugural season of 1967, not counting six interim coaches. The Saints have not had great luck with coaching retreads through their history. Four of their previous ten hires had coached previous NFL teams.

Hank Stram (1976-1977)

7-21 record with New Orleans

Dick Nolan (1978-1980)

15-29 record with New Orleans

Bum Phillips (1981-1985)

27-42 record with New Orleans

Mike Ditka (1997-1999)

15-33 record with New Orleans

Stram (Chiefs), Nolan (49ers), Phillips (Oilers), and Ditka (Bears) had combined for 27 winning seasons in 40 total years of coaching prior to arriving in New Orleans. In 13 years with the Saints, none of them had a winning season. Nolan and Phillips each turned in one 8-8 finish.

Dennis Allen, Brian Flores, and Doug Pederson all have prior head coaching experience at the NFL level. Allen went 8-28 in a little over two turbulent years with the Raiders from 2012 to 2014. Flores was 24-25 over the last three years in Miami.

Critics will point to the unsuccessful stints Allen and Flores had in their first head coaching jobs. Pederson had much better success. He was 38-26 his first four years with the Eagles, going to the playoffs three times and winning Super Bowl LII. However, he was fired after a 4-11-1 disaster in 2020.

Other potential candidates like Lane Kiffin, Todd Bowles, Leslie Frazier, Doug Marrone, and Raheem Morris were also unsuccessful in their NFL head coaching debuts. Some will criticize the hiring, or even interviewing, any of these coaches. They need to look closer at the situation each of them were in before judgment.

Dennis Allen was just 40 when he got the job with the Raiders. He inherited a poor roster and Oakland owner Al Davis was notorious for not working well with coaches.

Flores was only 38 when he took over a rebuilding Miami team. The Dolphins have had just three winning seasons in the last 13 years. Flores was responsible for two of them.

There are plenty of examples of young coaches who failed in their first try as NFL coaches but had great success on their second try.

Before building the Denver Broncos into a juggernaut and winning two Super Bowls in the late 1990s, Mike Shanahan was head coach of the Los Angeles Raiders - and Al Davis. He had just an 8-12 record before being fired four games into the 1989 season.

Pete Carroll's Seattle Seahawks have been a perennial contender for the last 12 years. Prior to that, and his powerhouse USC teams, Carroll had just a 33-31 record in four years with the New York Jets and New England Patriots.

Carroll was actually Bill Belichick's predecessor in New England. While Belichick was one of the league's most respected defensive coordinators before his success with the Patriots, many forget that it wasn't his first head coaching job.

Belichick was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 1991 to 1995, before their move to Baltimore. He led to Browns to one postseason appearance, but had just one winning season in five years that ended with a 36-44 record.

This isn't to suggest that Allen, Flores, or even Pederson will have the same success as Belichick or Shanahan. Perhaps the Saints give an assistant their first head coaching chance and strike gold like with Sean Payton in 2006. However, they could also have great success with a coach who learned from their first unsuccessful stint.

The answer is this question will shape the 2022 New Orleans Saints season.

Hank Stram (1976-1977)

Dick Nolan (1978-1980)

Bum Phillips (1981-1985)

Mike Ditka (1997-1999)

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