Saints GM explains retaining HC Dennis Allen for another season

New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis spoke with reporters Wednesday and detailed why the franchise is running it back with head coach Dennis Allen for another season even though the Saints missed the playoffs in each of Allen's first two campaigns in charge. 

"The easiest thing to do is look at the results and say, 'Oh no, we’ve got to have a change,'" Loomis explained, as shared by Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. "You’ve got to look beyond that. What are the reasons why we were 9-8 instead of 13-4? It’s collective. It’s the players, it’s the coaches, it’s me, it’s the personnel staff, our roster, it’s variables sometimes we don’t have any control of. My assessment is Dennis Allen is a good coach."

Loomis offered his comments one day after it was learned the Saints were parting ways with longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. and multiple assistants. Carmichael first joined the Saints in 2006 and had served as the club's offensive coordinator since 2009. 

While the Saints finished this past regular season at 9-8, they lost out on potential playoff berths to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers due to tiebreaker advantages. Somewhat interestingly, both Green Bay and Tampa Bay advanced to the divisional round of the postseason tournament. 

Meanwhile, Loomis compared Allen's tenure to Sean Payton's early days with the organization. Payton, of course, guided the Saints to a Super Bowl XLIV victory in February 2010.

"With Sean Payton, we went 10-6 the first year, but then we were 7-9, 8-8, I heard some of the same noise, but at the time I knew we had a good football coach," Loomis added. "I think sometimes the hard thing to do is be patient and recognize some of your other shortcomings and get those fixed. That’s what we’re doing."

Loomis may ultimately regret hoping Allen follows in the footsteps of a franchise legend considering the executive didn't interview big-name coaching candidates such as Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel this offseason.