The fallout: Dennis Allen expects to stay but knows he wasn’t ‘good enough’ in Year 2; players insist there was no ‘mutiny’ behind final TD; draft slot and opponents set

Dennis Allen confirmed Monday that he expects to be back for a third season as New Orleans Saints coach. But he also confirmed that his performance in Years 1 and 2 “hasn’t been good enough.”

“Obviously as the head coach the last two years at 7-10 and 9-8, it’s not what we aspire to be here. And so I have to do a better job. And I accept that responsibility,” Allen said during a lengthy postseason wrap-up press conference.

He said his message to the team in their morning meeting was essentially the same.

“What I said to the team was I was proud of the way that our guys continued to fight. I was proud of the way that we finished the season, but I’m pissed that we put ourselves in that position,” Allen said. “And when you look at where we’ve been the last three years at 9-8, 7-10, 9-8, it’s not good enough. And everyone in the building is part of the culpability of that. All of us, coaches, players, everybody. So we need to look at, ‘What do we have to change?’ And I'm not gonna go into any of those details in terms of what changes will occur. But there are things that have to be different.

“Players, coaches, front office, everybody. I think we just gotta look at, ‘What are we gonna do differently?’ Because we’re all part of the problem, and now how are we gonna figure out how we can all be part of the solution?”

Saints HC Dennis Allen on the amount of criticism QB Derek Carr faced throughout the seasonFull Interview: ⬇️ https://t.co/QjdHawhEIs pic.twitter.com/8WrpAnjIww— NOF (@nofnetwork) January 8, 2024

Allen said Monday wasn’t the time yet to get into each specific evaluation — including the big one about whether offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. and other offensive assistant coaches, along with the offensive scheme and approach itself, will be retained.

Allen agreed Saints decision-makers have to weigh the improvements they saw over their 4-1 finish against the overall inconsistency that has stalled the offense dating back to Sean Payton’s final season as coach in 2021.

“That’s why you don’t jump to any judgments on anything 24 hours after the last game,” Allen said. “You gotta look at the whole season in its entirety, the last few years in its entirety, think about the direction we want to go, think about where are the areas we need to improve, and then make whatever decisions we need to make to give this organization the best chance to have success.”

As I wrote following Sunday’s 48-17 romp over the Falcons, the decision to replace Carmichael isn’t as black and white as it seemed a couple of months ago. He and quarterback Derek Carr and the rest of the offense have made good strides during the second half of the season. However, this is a team that is desperate for some sort of change to shake itself loose from this cycle of mediocrity – and a revamped offense feels like the most obvious place to make such a change.

Sources downplayed the significance of a dinner that team officials had with former Raiders and Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden in Tampa last week that was first reported by NOLA.com Monday. They described the dinner to NOF as being more about their friendly relationship than a specific job discussion. However, the idea of Gruden joining New Orleans’ staff is an obvious possibility that can’t be dismissed if there is mutual interest going forward, especially considering his relationships with Carr and the Saints and the work he did as a consultant this past year.

Kudos to Pete Carmichael Jr., Derek Carr for Saints’ offensive makeover, but was it too late to avoid overhaul?✍️: https://t.co/iU1EN79TPq https://t.co/iU1EN79TPq— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) January 8, 2024

Regardless, the best news to come out of Allen’s press conference, as well as discussions with players in the locker room and discussions with sources behind the scenes, is that it sounds like this organization is well aware the status quo won’t cut it. Nobody has been trying to sell the idea they were good enough in 2023 and just needed a little more luck with health or the ball bouncing their way in a few more games.

There is recognition that the schedule and division were softer than usual in 2023. And Allen talked openly about the need for a culture change Monday after he privately demanded more from players in recent weeks in terms of approach and commitment.

“Yeah, I do think there’s some things that our mindset needs to be different,” Allen said. “I’ve been here for a lot of it, and we’ve had a lot of success around here (since Payton first arrived in 2006, with Allen as an assistant coach on his staff). I think sometimes you can kind of get a little comfortable with that. And so I just think we need to reevaluate what we need to do to win games at the level that we need to win games at. That will be a big part of what we do this offseason.

“A commitment from everybody that we can't fall back on what we did in '17, '18, '19, '20. There was a lot of hard work that went into that. We’ve gotta get back to the grind a little bit. That’s what happened here in '06, and I think that’s what happened here in '17, '18, '19. And we’ve gotta get back to that.”

Two things Allen specified that he is excited about going forward are the play of Carr down the stretch and the performances of young offensive building blocks like Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, A.T. Perry and Kendre Miller in the final game in particular.

When asked if the amount of outside criticism he and Carr faced this year was fair, Allen said he doesn’t pay attention to the criticism he receives from outside the building. But he doesn’t think the criticism of Carr was a fair amount.

“He’s one element of 11 guys that are out there on the field. And I don’t think everybody ever fully understands what goes on inside an NFL building and what needs to happen to have success,” Allen said. “I thought Derek Carr played well this year, in particular over the stretch run. When we had to have it to give ourselves a chance, I thought he played some of his best football. So I’m excited about Derek being our quarterback going forward, for sure.”

🆕: Did Saints-Falcons game reveal something about Dennis Allen’s relationship with team?📌: Reaction to the Jamaal Williams garbage time touchdown📌: Little too late to play dominant game📌: What to expect from Miller and Perry going forward?🔗: https://t.co/YxLgcTCTLM pic.twitter.com/04Wz1jRboo— NOF (@nofnetwork) January 8, 2024

NO ‘MUTINY’ ON FINAL TD?

The Saints’ controversial final play from Sunday's game was still a hot topic of discussion Monday — especially as it pertained to the notion that players undermined Allen by overriding his decision to kneel the ball.

Former players like Lance Moore and Benjamin Watson were among those who speculated that it showed a lack of respect for Allen and the coaching staff when players went rogue and called for a handoff to running back Jamaal Williams in the huddle instead. And it’s hard to ignore the way so many players kept doubling down on that decision by supporting quarterback Jameis Winston in postgame interviews and on social media over the next 24 hours.

Get off @Jaboowins back. This man is the best teammate I’ve ever had. Loves this city, this game and embodies everything you can ask for in a leader. Was a rare situation and we all take responsibility. Nobody thought it would get blown out of proportion. Also f*ck the falcons pic.twitter.com/nUMQQPX1M6— Jimmy Graham (@TheJimmyGraham) January 8, 2024

And he got my guy @jswaggdaddy a td! uplift a Tmmate! @Jaboowins That’s my Tmmate!! https://t.co/ayTop4gsAZ— Cam Jordan (@camjordan94) January 8, 2024

However, several players insisted Monday that it was all about their desire to get Williams his first touchdown of the season after he played such a selfless blocking-first role all year long.

“It was a decision made very quickly. It was a very emotional decision because we were just trying to do something for a teammate and a friend,” guard James Hurst said. “It wasn’t meant in any way to undermine or overrule anyone. … Definitely not any sort of mutiny or any other word. From a player’s perspective who was in the huddle, it was just about Jamaal.”

“I think it came from a great spot in someone’s heart to get my guy a touchdown,” added defensive end Cameron Jordan — who was asked directly if the team still believes in Allen.

“Does this team believe in DA? I mean, DA is our head coach. So as long as that is the same sentence, it’s gonna be the same sentence. Of course we believe we’re gonna get our things together. At the end of the day, it’s on the players. As much as DA puts a great game plan together or whoever puts a game plan together, sometimes we don’t execute to the highest of our abilities, and you see the flaws that happen. It’s a players’ game.”

Allen, meanwhile, said, “What I will say is this. Those players went out and played their tails off in the last five games of the season. And I've been on teams where that doesn't happen. And so, no, I don't believe there’s any fracture.”

WILLIAMS ADAPTING

I also spoke with Williams himself on Monday, who said he appreciated his teammates' gesture.

“I love my brothers. I love my family. I love my teammates. All that is literally just them just showing respect and respecting me as a teammate. So I appreciate them for who they are,” Williams said. “And Jameis, the line, everybody just wanted to get me a touchdown. So I appreciate them.”

This was a tough season for Williams, who went from an NFL-leading 17 touchdown runs in 2022 with the Lions to zero touchdowns in 2023 until that final moment. And teammates pointed out how much they respected the way he handled it — especially when he was needed so much in both pass protection and, at times, as a part-time fullback.

Williams said he remains confident in himself going forward and just believes this season was God’s plan for his journey, and “it’s all about just adapting and learning what you need to do for your team.”

“It depends on how you get the ball, the opportunities you get, what’s your role on the team. That’s just how it goes. But at the end of the day, I’m always a professional, I know how to adapt. I always learn that it’s more than myself on the team, so I do my job. That’s all you can do,” Williams said. “Nobody can say, ‘Jamaal is selfish, only cares about himself, only thinks about his numbers,’ when I literally go and … if you really watch the games, what I really did this season was things that I didn’t have to do none of the other seasons of my life. So it’s just me doing what I need to do for my teammates to put us in the best situation.”

JORDAN HAS MORE ‘JUICE’ TO GIVE

I’ll write more extensively soon on some individual players’ futures that could lead to big decisions for New Orleans this offseason. But I have to include Jordan’s response when someone jokingly asked if he planned to retire since he said this would be his last interview. (He meant for the 2023 season only.)

“I love the Saints too much to retire. I love this locker room. I love everything about it. I’ve got too much juice to give,” said Jordan, who then went on to talk at length about how much this season ate at him – and later said he even plans to be less adventurous when it comes to things like offseason travel because, “I’m already looking forward to a revenge arc. That villain arc might be coming soon.”

“I hate that the last seven weeks of the year I was fighting a whole ankle, hobbling around on the field like a frickin’ shell of myself. I hate that we lost to the Packers; I hate that we lost to the Texans; I hate that we lost to Atlanta in Atlanta, and I love that we beat Atlanta the way that we did this last time. I love the way we finished the last two games offense and defensively. I hate that we didn’t play that way the whole season,” Jordan said. “There are ups and downs in every season, and I like each and every moment of fighting with your teammates knowing that we’re trying to get better. I hate that I finished the year with two sacks. It’s terrible in terms of stats. At the same time, you just gotta embrace the role. Even if that’s what it was, I could still actively play the run.”

DRAFT SLOT AND 2024 OPPONENTS SET

The Saints will pick 14th in Round 1 of the NFL Draft since they “won” the tie-breaker against all the other 9-8 teams based on strength of schedule. They don’t have their own pick in Round 2, but they will get the Broncos’ No. 45 overall pick from last year’s Payton trade.

And since the Saints finished second in the NFC South, they will round out their 2024 schedule by playing second-place finishers from the AFC North, NFC North and NFC West — assuming the NFL continues its normal scheduling formula. That means they will play:

Home: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers, Commanders, Eagles, Rams, Broncos, Raiders, Browns

Away: Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers, Cowboys, Giants, Packers, Chargers, Chiefs