Why did Saints fire Dennis Allen? Exploring potential reasons behind New Orleans' coaching decision

The Week 9 round of fixtures in the National Football League threw up a couple of surprises with the main one being the New Orleans Saints' loss to the then-one-win Carolina Panthers. With that loss, the Saints now have the same record as the Panthers with just two wins in nine.

The 23-22 loss appears to have riled up the ownership, who made the decision to fire head coach Dennis Allen on Monday morning.

---

What was Dennis Allen's record as Saints head coach?

In two and a half seasons with the Saints, Dennis Allen went 18-25 and failed to make the playoffs in both of his past two seasons.

Despite starting the season 2-0 and scoring 40+ points in both wins, including a pretty impressive Week 2 win over the Dallas Cowboys, the wheels came off the Saints' season in the weeks that followed.

The Saints were widely tipped to make a comeback in the second half of the season with Derek Carr back from an oblique injury but given Chris Olave's concussion and Rashid Shaheed still out injured, the Saints have backed themselves into a corner for the second half of the season.

---

Why did Saints fire Dennis Allen?

The numbers behind the Saints' loss to the Panthers on Sunday make for pretty grim reading.

New Orleans outgained the Panthers by 150+ yards, ran for 150+ yards and had fewer turnovers. Per ESPN, over the past 20 years, teams were 275-0 with those numbers before the Saints went marching down at the Bank of America Stadium.

The fact that the Saints also didn't make the playoffs appears to have played a part as well.

Soon after the loss on Sunday, a number of current and former Saints players tweeted in the aftermath. Ex-Saints playmaker Michael Thomas went on a rant against Derek Carr after Chris Olave suffered a concussion.

DT Khalen Saunders also took to social media platform X to throw a few tweets around. Considering Cam Jordan also cut a picture of frustration after the game, it appears head coach Dennis Allen lost the locker room towards the end of his tenure.

---

Who will be Dennis Allen's replacement?

Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak may be a popular option given how the offense looked early in the year. However, The Athletic's NFL insider Dianna Russini believes the franchise will turn to veteran special teams coach Darren Rizzi to take over as interim head coach.