Dennis Allen replacements: 3 candidates Saints should pursue for New Orleans' Head Coach role
Dennis Allen's New Orleans Saints were whispered about as potential Super Bowl candidates as the team ripped off a huge 2-0 run to start the season. Instead, the team now is closer in line to the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. With the team firing Dennis Allen, a vacancy has opened up for the Saints going into 2025.
Here's a look at three intriguing options the Saints should consider to replace Dennis Allen.
Dennis Allen replacements:
#1 - Bill Belichick, Ex-Patriots HC
The New England Patriots moved on from Belichick, but the head coach didn't appear to be ready to move on from the NFL.
Tom Brady proved he could win a Super Bowl with two different teams, so there is a reason for motivation with Belichick to prove the same.
Belichick loaded up on media jobs this fall, but as Sean Payton and Jon Gruden have proved, former head coaches can boomerang right back to the NFL after media stints. Belichick has won eight Super Bowls and getting a ninth could be the sweetest of them all.
With the Saints showing an interest in a defensive-minded head coach via the Dennis Allen hire in the first place, Belichick fits that mold.
#2 - Pete Carroll, Ex-Seahawks HC
Pete Carroll seemed to still have plenty of energy and fire left when he and the Seattle Seahawks effectively ended their relationship. Carroll may want to go for it one more time as he has remained with the team as an advisor.
While Carroll is still an advisor for the Seahawks, his teaching return to USC makes it clear that he's still got time to fill. What better way to fill it than by getting the Saints back on track? Carroll took the Seattle Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowls, taking a team from duds to studs almost overnight. The Saints wouldn't be crazy to hope for the same.
#3 - Mike Vrabel, Ex-Titans HC
The former Titans head coach was forced out the backdoor at the end of last season. Some believed it to be too rash a decision with Will Levis hardly out of his rookie year.
With Vrabel's replacement Brian Callahan not finding much such success either at 2-6 so far this season, it's clear that the head coach who took the Titans to an AFC Championship wasn't the issue. Vrabel has only missed the 2024 season and could be ripe for a return in 2025 to replace Dennis Allen.