Not long ago we wrote up a piece that suggested the Detroit Lions should bring in former Jets head coach Robert Saleh to be a part of their defensive staff as a consultant. It made sense considering the Lions have had consultants like John Fox and Dom Capers on staff recently.
While Saleh would be cool, a coach that makes way more sense just hit the open market on Monday. The New Orleans Saints have fired head coach Dennis Allen and he is now a guy that could be looking for a gig.
Much like Saleh, you turn to your friends in times like these and Allen has a lot of friends in Detroit. He just spent four seasons on staff on New Orleans with both Dan Campbell and Aaron Glenn from 2016 to 2020. They’re all a part of Sean Payton’s coaching tree.
Glenn was Allen’s defensive backs coach while Campbell was the Saints assistant head coach and tight ends coach. The pairing makes too much sense to ignore.
While Allen may not have succeeded as a head coach, he has always been a good defensive coordinator in the NFL. He was the Saints secondary coach when they won the Super Bowl in 2010, he then got hired by the Raiders to be their head coach after one year of turning the Broncos defense around and helping them get a win in the playoffs. Then he turned the Saints around and had them as a top 10 unit in 2019 and 2020 before accepting their head coaching job after Payton left.
What the Lions get here is an added great defensive mind in the building that can help this group stay on pace defensively and get ready for big challenges in the playoffs. The story really writes itself on this one.