The longest-tenured pure GM in the NFL, Mickey Loomis has held this New Orleans gig since 2002. He has only hired two head coaches, however, tabbing DC Dennis Allen to take over after Sean Payton‘s exit (Loomis was hired during Jim Haslett‘s six-year HC tenure). That number, barring a change in the front office, will expand to three next year.
If Loomis had his way, however, Allen may still be coaching the Saints. The 23rd-year GM is not believed to have been ready to fire the team’s third-year HC, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, who indicates ownership drove this ouster.
Hearing from a Saints fanbase that has not seen a season with six or fewer wins since 2005, the Gayle Benson-fronted group pulled the plug. Breer goes as far as to indicate ownership was committed to making this move to the point Allen might have been fired even if the Saints had won the Week 9 matchup with the downtrodden Panthers. The Saints had lost by double figures in each of their previous four games, with a Buccaneers 51-point day sprinkled in.
Allen has received two chances as a head coach. This one went better than his Raiders stint, which occurred in the early years of Mark Davis‘ ownership. Allen went 8-28 as Raiders HC, and while Derek Carr was Oakland’s quarterback when Davis dropped Allen in October 2014, the two-time Payton assistant had coached Carson Palmer in 2012 — before the QB’s Arizona resurgence — and then oversaw an unenviable 2013 situation that featured Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin combining for 15 starts. Allen went 4-12 in each of his first two Raiders seasons and followed a 7-10 2022 slate with a 9-8 showing last year. Though, his third New Orleans HC season reminded of the bleak period in Oakland.
The Saints started 2-0, seeing Klint Kubiak‘s offense become a central September storyline in the NFL, before dropping seven straight. This is the longest Saints losing streak since 1999, when Mike Ditka‘s finale deteriorated into a 3-13 showing. Allen firing rumors cropped up near the end of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, but Loomis resisted calls for the coach’s dismissal each year. The decision to retain Allen after the ’23 campaign surprised some Saints players.
Recently retired O-lineman James Hurst said this week some players expected Loomis to fire Allen after the team’s Week 18 win over the Falcons — a game that sealed Arthur Smith‘s fate in Atlanta. New Orleans’ 2023 season famously wrapped with backup QB Jameis Winston going rogue, eschewing Allen’s plans for a kneeldown sequence to give Jamaal Williams a chance to score a touchdown last season. Williams, who had led the NFL in rushing TDs in 2022, had not scored one to that point last year. The Saints beat the Falcons 48-17, with Williams’ TD occurring with 1:10 remaining. Smith voiced his displeasure to Allen postgame, and then apologized for his team’s actions.
Now working with WDSU, Hurst said during a recent broadcast many players viewed Allen as missing an opportunity to support them — even as the offense disobeyed the second-year HC — following that season-ending win. Hurst added Loomis addressed the players a day later, creating an expectation among them Allen would be fired. That, of course, did not happen. After all, the 2023 Saints won four of their final five games. This year’s edition is now 2-7 and will be in the market for an outside hire for the first time since Loomis hired Payton in 2006.
Allen not sticking up for his players publicly created a legitimate issue, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler adds. The losing streak, albeit one that involved a few key injuries, may have further solidified a perception of Allen losing the locker room. Loomis, however, does not look to have entirely agreed with that.
A Payton assistant from 2006-10 who returned after his Raiders ouster, Allen had played a central role in the Saints turning their defensive operation around after a rough mid-2010s period. After top-half finishes in both scoring and yardage from 2017-19, Allen’s defense ranked in the top 10 in points allowed from 2020-23. This season, however, Allen’s veteran-laden unit exited Week 9 ranked 26th in that category.
If Loomis indeed was not ready to fire Allen, both of this year’s in-season firings have gone down this way. Jets owner Woody Johnson went around GM Joe Douglas to can Robert Saleh last month. It will be interesting to see how Benson and Loomis coexist once the search for Allen’s full-time successor commences in earnest.
Loomis is living off the coattails of Brees. Carr was unsurprisingly a failure (in a bad division post-Brady) and his cap management will be a case study moving forward on how not to keep pushing it down the road, especially when it’s in the name of overpaying guys over the hump
Mickey signed Drew Brees, as well as a lot of other good players. The Saints have largely drafted well, and Loomis managed to create a sustained run of good football in New Orleans. He isn’t living off anyone’s coattails. Dude is a good GM.
Having a HoF QB allows to you take risks and kick the salary cap can down the road which he did with Brees. The verdict is still out on Payton post Brees as a result too. Those type of QBs can make up for bad cap choices and thin rosters depth wise. Derek Carr doesn’t allow that. Injuries haven’t helped this season but the teams he’s constructed of late have been old and not deep in talent and since the Lattimore draft of 2017 (which was excellent I will give you that) he’s been relying on FA signings and resigning their own aging players. They’re due to be like $70M over the cap next year with an ancient roster. To me he’s living off Brees’ success and can’t win in literally the worst division in football. He’s a bad GM who’s driving a team into the ground organically thanks in large part to poor LT cap management that’s handcuffing their ability to be flexible let alone competitive. If ownership cared enough he’d of been gone with Payton.
I don’t know if Loomis is a bad GM necessarily, but I can say that a good GM can’t also stand-in for bad coach.
You don’t have said HOF QB without Lions taking the gamble on Brees. He was no sure thing when he became a free agent and Chargers even thought he wouldn’t return to a high-level and pivoted. Credit where credit is due. I agree on the cap stuff, we lived through it with Pace in Chicago, always mortgaging the future for the present is no way to run a team.
Oh no, Loomis lost his scapegoat!
In the majority of cases it’s best if owners don’t start meddling but I think it was pretty obvious that the players simply weren’t going to play for Dennis Allen. Perhaps Loomis is just presenting himself as a loyal guy so he can attract the top candidates for the vacancy.
My goodness the writers on this page need an editor.
But then your username would be edited to:
LubbaWubbaDubDub or
WubbaDubLubbaDub or
LubbaDubDubWubba or
DubLubbaDubWubba or
etc. 🙂
Loomis didn’t want Allen fired cause it tightens the noose around his own throat. Who hired coach ?