New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen has large shoes to fill this upcoming season, there’s no doubt about it. So far, the early reviews are quite positive.
With minicamp officially in the books for the Saints, veteran running back Mark Ingram shared his thoughts on Allen.
Ingram believes promoting Allen from defensive coordinator to head coach was a smart move by the Saints.
“I think that was huge, keeping the DNA the same,” Ingram said, via the team’s website. “It’s not like it’s a full rebuild here. I think you have a team that can make a lot of noise and make a run at it. Obviously, we have to improve and get better and gel as a unit, but I think keeping the DNA of the team, the culture of the team the same, I think that’s huge and I think we’ll all benefit from it.”
While there are certainly differences between Allen and Payton when it comes to their coaching methods, Ingram likes what he’s seeing from his new head coach.
“Obviously, D.A. is different from Sean. But D.A. has done a great job of just trying to keep it as normal as possible and adding his own kind of flavor to it. I think the defense is more used to it, because they spent so much time with him in defensive meetings. We only saw him sometimes when he had to fill in. But I like him a lot.”
Allen was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 2012-2014. He had an 8-28 record during that stretch.
Considering he had the chance to learn from Payton for the past few years, Allen should be in a much better position this time around.
The Saints will start the 2022 regular season on the road against the Atlanta Falcons.