New Orleans Saints hire Dennis Allen, reportedly bring in Jeff Ireland
By John Hendrix
After the New Orleans Saints parted ways with three assistant coaches on January 2nd, things have been relatively quiet for the black and gold in the coaching department in terms of additions. While other teams have made strides with personnel moves, the Saints only had firings of wide receivers coach Henry Ellard, tight ends coach Terry Malone, and assistant defensive backs coach Andre Curtis to show for.
The Saints announced that they were committing to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and retaining secondary coach Wesley McGriff afterwards, but none of the moves were necessarily ones that many Saints fans were anticipating.
All that changed this morning, as the Saints are bringing back a familiar face to the organization, Dennis Allen.
Former Raiders HC Dennis Allen is re-joining Saints in a senior defensive role, not heading to Chicago. Allen will work with NO DC Rob Ryan.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 20, 2015
Allen spent four years with the Saints from 2006-2010. His trek was spent all on defense, and most notably coaching the secondary from 2008-2010. Allen was tied to joining the Chicago Bears as a defensive coordinator, but obviously went another route. One could see Allen succeeding Rob Ryan should he not make a drastic turnover early in 2015.
The team also made a giant leap to replace Ryan Pace, who accepted the Chicago Bears general manager position.
It's not just Dennis Allen joining Saints. Former Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland is being hired to do college scouting for Saints, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 20, 2015
After Pace left for Chicago, he took Saints regional scout Josh Lucas with him. Jeff Ireland is reportedly being brought in to aid with college scouting, and it couldn’t come at a better time.
With the Senior Bowl events occurring in Mobile, Alabama over the next several days, the addition of Ireland is sure to be welcomed with open arms. The Saints will need to comb through the prospects to land some defensive talent through the draft this season.
Perhaps these are the first of several moves by the Saints to give Rob Ryan the full array of weaponry needed to help him succeed in 2015.
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