New Orleans Saints Could Lose Two Key Assistant Coaches – Here’s the Latest

The New Orleans Saints had a tough 2021 season, missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons. But it was an injury and Covid-riddled year that the team nearly overcame to make the playoffs.

The bottom line is this team still has some great talent and some really good coaches.

The defensive side of the ball was definitely the majority of the highlights last season. As a result, some of the coaches leading the way have been making some noise in the offseason coaching carousel.

The latest news involves Saints DB coach Kris Richard. According to Ian Rapoport, the Steelers have requested an interview with him for their vacant defensive coordinator position.

Prior to his lone season with New Orleans, Richard coached the defensive backs in Dallas from 2018 to 2019. And before that, he held the defensive coordinator position for the Seattle Seahawks, where his defenses ranked first in points allowed for the 2015 season, third in 2016, and 13th in 2017.

Current Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has also been involved in a coaching vacancy interview process. According to reports, he is one of four finalists for the Chicago Bears head coaching position.

It appears that Allen is meeting with the team today.

Allen, along with Dan Quinn and Jim Caldwell, has prior head coaching experience. The 49-year-old was the Oakland Raiders' coach from 2012-14, but had little success and was fired four games into the 2014 season. Allen's overall record with the Raiders was 8-28.

Allen has been the defensive coordinator for the Saints since 2015.

In 2021, the Saints defense ranked fourth in the NFL in points allowed per game at 19.7 and 7th overall in yards (318.2/game).