Todd Grantham’s responsibilities are changing under New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi. He’s moving from defensive line coach to a senior advisor role after the team dismissed Dennis Allen. Rizzi says Brian Young, a 15-year coaching veteran on staff as a pass-rush specialist, will run the defensive line room.
“It’s a shuffle. Shuffle the deck there a little bit on defense,” Rizzi told reporters Wednesday, when asked whether he would characterize these changes as a demotion and promotion. “You have to understand the workload change because Dennis got removed. Dennis was, daily, in the defensive staff rooms so we quote-unquote lost a defensive coach. Not only a head coach, we lost the play caller. Now Joe, who is doing his stuff, he’s now coordinating, his workload changes. His day-to-day workload the fans may not understand completely, we just re-divvy it up. I just felt this was the best way to shuffle the deck there.”
Grantham’s focus will be advising defensive coordinator Joe Woods as he begins calling plays in Allen’s stead; it’s a less hands-on role than what he’s had here before. That isn’t the only change on the defensive side of the ball, but it is the most notable. Young will work with linebackers coach Michael Hodges to coordinate the defensive run game each week.
But change was needed. The Saints were on pace to set an NFL record for the most yards allowed before contact on running plays, which was a direct reflection on Grantham’s unit. The defensive line was getting pushed off the ball and not making plays. The lack of development for young draft picks like Payton Turner and Isaiah Foskey speaks for itself, even if Rizzi took the high road here.
