The New Orleans Saints have already missed out on Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson for their head coaching role. But the team’s standout offensive weapon, Alvin Kamara, has had his say on who the next Saints head coach should be.
Kamara, the Saints’ all-time leading rusher in both yards and touchdowns, took to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Jan 21, to publicly endorse his preferred candidate.
Alvin Kamara Announces His Preference for Next Saints Head Coach
Missing Out
The Saints have so far missed out on both Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson, now of the Patriots and Bears respectively. Those two were arguably the top two candidates on the head coaching market and New Orleans barely had a sniff at either of them.
Now it appears that the Saints are playing from behind when it comes to their number one target, Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Glenn has been heavily linked with both the Saints and the Jets in recent weeks, but it appears that the Jets have the upper hand. Glenn had his second interview with New York on Tuesday Jan 21 and it’s widely expected that the Jets will get their man.
A monumental day: Top target Aaron Glenn visits the #Jets & the goal is to keep him from leaving the building, sources say.
The deal isn’t done & there are still some particulars to discuss. But if all goes well, he could end today as HC of the NYJ. If not, the #Saints await. pic.twitter.com/70yHBb5Rel
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 21, 2025
Kamara Casts His Vote
It would appear though, that inside the Saints locker room, another candidate is highly thought of.
Few players carry as much weight in the Saints locker room as Alvin Kamara. The all-time franchise leading rusher has amassed 11,541 total yards for the Saints, along with 85 touchdowns since being drafted by the team in 2017. After another impressive individual season, Kamara appears to believe that the team should be looking a little closer to home for their next permanent hire.
In a less-than-cryptic tweet, Kamara wrote: “Aite my vote for head coach rhyme wit Fizzi…”.
Aite my vote for head coach rhyme wit Fizzi…
— Alvin Kamara (@A_kamara6) January 21, 2025
Special teams coach Darren Rizzi has been manning the ship in New Orleans since Dennis Allen’s firing. Rizzi failed to mount a playoff push as interim head coach though, ending the season with four straight defeats.
But things could easily have been very different. After he was appointed interim head coach, the team won three of it’s first four games under Rizzi. The final four defeats came after starting quarterback Derek Carr was injured in week 14 and was unable to see out the year. Neither rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler nor third-string Jake Haener were able to carry the team to a win in Carr’s absence.
In addition, the team finished without it’s top two receivers in Chris Olave and Rasheed Shaheed, or their versatile offensive weapon Taysom Hill. The team also traded away their star cornerback Marshon Lattimore to the Commanders the day after firing Allen.
Man In Demand
If the Saints ignore Kamara’s wishes and opt to go in a different direction, Rizzi is already being eyed up for a job with the Bears. In fact, according to this tweet from Adam Schefter, Rizzi has “over a half-dozen” teams interested in his services.
Bears also are heavily pursuing former Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi as their special teams coach, per sources. He has interest from over a half-dozen teams but if Rizzi doesn’t land a head coaching job, Chicago is his potential landing spot. https://t.co/ErIQmZ3te9
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 20, 2025
If Rizzi does land in Chicago, he could be reunited with the man he replaced in New Orleans, Dennis Allen. Allen is reportedly top of Ben Johnson’s list for the Chicago defensive coordinator job, as the former Detroit man gets to work building his coaching staff.
Things are starting to speed up around the NFL, with Detroit’s exit from the NFL playoffs on Saturday appearing to get the dominos falling. Glenn definitely seems to be top choice for the Saints, but Rizzi could well be in the mix if Glenn ends up in New York.
Main Photo: Matthew Hinton – USA Today Sports
