New Orleans Saints: Tony Oden Promoted To Replace Dennis Allen

New Secondary Coach Tony Oden (Source: www.bw.edu)

It appears the Saints will use an internal canidate to replace departed secondary coach Dennis Allen, who accepted a position with the Denver Broncose to become their new defensive coordinator a few weeks ago.

Brian Allee-Walsh, of NewOrleans.com, confirmed with head coach Sean Payton that the team did promote assistant secondary coach Tony Oden to replace Allen effective immediately.

The Saints had confirmed all along, after the departure of Allen, that they would take their time in selecting a new secondary coach and woulf not be rushed when coming to a decision. It’s unclear if the team held interviews with outside canidates but Oden’s promotion makes sense.

Oden was hired in Febuary of 2006 to his original postions of defensive assistant/secondary coach after a successful stint with the Houston Texans from 2004 – 2005 in the same role.

Last season the Saints boasted a top five pass defense under the tuteladge of  Allen and Oden both, and after five years on the coaching staff, he was long overdue for a very warranted promotion. He will now work closely with defensive coordinatoor Gregg Williams to continue last season’s success for the forseeable future.

No plans have yet been made to replace Oden with a new assistant coach but it’s likely another internal canidate will get their shot to move up the coaching ranks.

Tags: Dennis Allen, New Orleans Saints, Sean Payton, Tony Oden