Dennis Allen was formally introduced as New Orleans Saints head coach on Tuesday, and some changes are on the way as he evaluates his staff and considers possible shakeups. On Wednesday, Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan reported that two former Saints assistants could join Allen’s staff: Doug Marrone and John Morton, who have each worked with Allen under Sean Payton in the past. Marrone was Sean Payton’s first offensive coordinator, hired back in 2006, while Morton initially joined the staff as an offensive assistant in 2006 and returned as wide receivers coach in 2015.
Marrone is in a curious position. He worked as Alabama’s offensive line coach last season but was replaced by Feb. 1, leaving his current status unclear. It hasn’t been reported whether he was fired, asked to resign, or chose to move on. Either way, he’s a free agent. And as a former NFL head coach in his own right (going 38-60 between stops with the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars), he could be a resource for Allen to lean on, maybe as offensive coordinator. That just wouldn’t be the exciting outside-the-box move some have been hoping for.
As for Morton: he’s been working as a senior offensive assistant for the Las Vegas Raiders the last few years, but it’s unlikely he’ll be retained under the new Josh McDaniels regime. Duncan adds that Pete Carmichael Jr. is likely to step down to a less-prominent role rather than remain at offensive coordinator. These moves would line up with Allen’s comment about looking to tweak the Saints offense rather than introduce any serious changes.
But that might be a problem. Sean Payton saved the Saints in 2017 by firing his longtime friends on defense and replacing them with brand-new assistants: swapping Joe Vitt for Mike Nolan, Bill Johnson for Ryan Nielsen, and totally upending the special teams staff. There’s a very, very thin line between Allen hiring people he’s comfortable working with and looking for a way to get his old friends a paycheck. It’s a tough act to pull off.
Nepotism is a plague on NFL coaching staffs. Too often coaches keep a narrow view on who they want to surround themselves by, hiring their friends or friends of their father or guys who they owe a favor. If that’s the direction Allen wants to take, the most charitable way you could spin it is saying he thinks the best way to emulate Sean Payton’s success is by bringing back all of his old assistants.
If that’s the case, why stop with Marrone with Morton? What’s Joe Vitt up to? I hear Rob Ryan and Gregg Williams are looking for work. Let’s hope Allen ends up taking a fresher approach than this initial report suggests.
