MOBILE, Ala. -- It was three years ago this week at the Senior Bowl when the New Orleans Saints made two of their best hires of the past decade -- defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and assistant general manager/college scouting director Jeff Ireland.
The Saints should consider themselves lucky that they won't have to spend this year's Senior Bowl week interviewing potential replacements.
None of New Orleans' assistant coaches or front office executives were poached during this year’s NFL hiring cycle, despite the team's breakout 2017 season. But Allen, Ireland and others could emerge as hot commodities next year if the Saints have a repeat performance.
Maybe the rest of the league needs a "prove it" performance since the Saints had been struggling for the past three years before things finally came together in such impressive fashion this season.
Allen, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. and assistant head coach/tight ends coach Dan Campbell could all earn their way back into the head coaching mix with another good year. And several other assistants could become coordinator candidates (the NFL Network reported that secondary coach Aaron Glenn could still be in play this year for the New England Patriots' defensive coordinator vacancy when Matt Patricia is expected to leave in two weeks).
Likewise, in the front office, Ireland's outstanding work during New Orleans' past three draft classes should earn him another shot at a GM job at some point. And pro personnel director Terry Fontenot could continue to be a young front office name on the rise if the Saints can repeat the free-agent success that they had not only in the spring (Larry Warford, A.J. Klein, Ted Ginn Jr., Alex Okafor, Manti Te'o, etc.) but as the season went on and they had to fill in for 10 starters going on injured reserve.
Allen and Ireland are the two most prominent names in the bunch -- but they probably also require the most image rehab after they struggled in their first big opportunities (Allen as head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 2012-14 and Ireland as GM of the Miami Dolphins from 2008-13).
Both have been thriving again in New Orleans now that they've gotten back to what they do best.
Allen, who was originally hired as a senior defensive assistant before replacing Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator late in the 2015 season, helped orchestrate one of the biggest turnarounds of any unit in the NFL this season.
The Saints' defense, which had ranked 27th or worse in yards and points from 2014-16, tied for 10th in the NFL this season in points allowed (20.4 per game) and ranked 17th in yards allowed (336.5 per game). They ranked in the top five in both categories from Weeks 3-16.
Ireland, meanwhile, has helped streamline the Saints' college scouting process since being hired in January 2015. And together with GM Mickey Loomis, coach Sean Payton and others, he has helped guide one of the best two-year draft performances in recent NFL history (DT Sheldon Rankins, WR Michael Thomas, S Vonn Bell, DT David Onyemata and RB Daniel Lasco in 2016; CB Marshon Lattimore, OT Ryan Ramczyk, S Marcus Williams, RB Alvin Kamara, LB Alex Anzalone, DE Trey Hendrickson and DE Al-Quadin Muhammad in 2017).
Carmichael has never gained much traction as a head coaching candidate, with only two or three interviews in his 12 years with the Saints. But offensive coordinators seem to be a hot commodity right now in the wake of Sean McVay's success in Los Angeles, and with quarterback development as important as ever. And there aren't many guys with more experience with elite offenses than Carmichael.
Ireland was part of a pretty major overhaul of the college scouting department that took place over the past few years. The coaching staff saw a similar overhaul last January, when Payton fired longtime assistants Joe Vitt, Greg McMahon and Bill Johnson, among others.
No such turnover is expected this year, though Payton was quick to stress last week that no "Utopia" exists and the Saints will continue to explore every way in which they can keep getting better and avoid the mistakes that led to three straight 7-9 seasons from 2014-16.
But they're lucky, for now, that they don't have to make any unwanted staff changes.
