Saints sound like they might not need a coaching search after all

The New Orleans Saints are precisely in the same situation the Las Vegas Raiders were a year ago. Like Vegas, the Saints made a midseason coaching change amid a disastrous year, with interim Darren Rizzi taking over for the fired Dennis Allen. And like Vegas, the Saints haven’t lost since: With wins over the Atlanta Falcons and the Cleveland Browns, Rizzi has already matched Allen’s win total this season in just two games.

But more than the wins, he's done so much more to recapture a locker room Allen had seemingly lost. The faith he has restored within the Saints program might be enough for New Orleans to follow the Raiders' footsteps all the way, pausing the coaching search and handing the job to Rizzi full-time after the season’s over.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Rizzi has made a rock-solid case to be promoted. He's done everything right so far to recapture a locker room and fan base on the brink of collapse. But is that enough to truly deem him the best person to lead the Saints after this season?

Is Darren Rizzi really the right choice for the Saints?

But for as easy of a decision as that would be, it also may not be the most ideal situation moving forward.

Just look at Las Vegas. The Raiders promoted Antonio Pierce after he helped Vegas turn things around toward the end of the 2023 season. But having the head job, full stop, is a different animal, and sure enough the team doesn’t look anything close to what they did last year. 

Sure, the roster bears some of the blame for that, but Pierce hasn't done a ton to get the most out of the players he has. He was the locker room’s choice because he was able to regroup a team that was fractured; they had something to believe in after he took over, and that helped spur them to some success in the midst of a lost season. This year, things haven’t gone quite as smoothly.

Pierce will probably get leeway and get at least one more year to turn things around, but it’s a stark reminder that recency bias is a real thing. Just because you can rally a team looking for a reason not to quit doesn't mean you can lead an NFL team through an offseason program and a full 17-game schedule. Who knows though; maybe Rizzi is simply a better coach than Pierce. If the locker room and team put pressure on the front office to promote Rizzi like the Raiders did, then the team could be forced into hiring him.