In response to mounting calls for the firing of Coach Dennis Allen, New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis defended the decision to retain Allen during an end-of-season briefing at the team’s headquarters on Wednesday. Loomis urged critics to look beyond the season’s results and consider the collective responsibility shared by players, coaches, and management.
“The easy thing to do is blame the coach or the quarterback when the season doesn’t go well,” Loomis stated. “But it’s a collective effort. It involves players, coaches, myself, our personnel staff, our roster, and variables beyond our control. My assessment is that Dennis Allen is a good coach.”
Loomis, one of nine GMs in NFL history with over 200 victories, highlighted examples of successful coaches like Chuck Noll, Bill Belichick, Tom Landry, and Bill Walsh, who experienced multiple losing seasons before achieving championship success. Even Sean Payton, who led the Saints to a Super Bowl victory, faced subpar records in his second and third seasons.
“I knew we had a good football coach,” Loomis emphasized. “Sometimes the hard thing to do is to be patient and recognize your other shortcomings and get those fixed.”
Loomis praised Allen as a fantastic defensive coach but acknowledged the team’s playoff drought since the 2020 season, following the retirement of quarterback Drew Brees. Despite disappointing seasons in 2022 (7-10) and 2023 (9-8), Loomis noted that two playoff teams, Tampa Bay and Green Bay, also had 9-8 records, but the Saints lost out on tiebreakers.
Acknowledging the frustration of fans, Loomis admitted, “If I was in the stands, there’s a couple of times I might have booed.” He suggested that winning crucial games, such as the one against Green Bay where the Saints blew a 17-0 lead, could have altered the season’s narrative.
Despite retaining Allen, the Saints made a significant coaching change by firing offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. Loomis praised Carmichael’s contributions but indicated a need for change due to offensive struggles in crucial moments of close losses.
“We just felt like we can perform better, and we needed a change in that area,” Loomis explained. He declined to name potential candidates for the vacant position, emphasizing the importance of making the right hire rather than a rushed decision.
During the hour-long briefing, Loomis expressed eagerness and a desire to inject enthusiasm and energy into the organization. He took responsibility for the team’s recent complacency and vowed to recalibrate the focus on winning.
“I hate doing these press conferences. Typically, I’m very stoic and unenthused. But I think we need enthusiasm. I think we need a boost in energy and excitement in our building,” Loomis said. “That stuff starts with me.”
Loomis blamed himself for allowing the team to become too comfortable in recent years, pledging to make it uncomfortable and refocus on the necessary elements for success in the highly competitive NFL.
“Sometimes we’re not doing the things that are necessary to win – and that’s on me. I’ve got to hold our guys to a standard, and I think that I probably let that slip a little bit over the last few years,” Loomis admitted. “We’re going to get that recalibrated.”
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