The easy thing to do is to promote Allen and keep everyone else. Slide Richard or Nielsen into the DC role and trust Carmichael to call plays.
I think that's the wrong move.
Do I think there will be a HUGE dropoff in play calling with Carmichael? No.
But Payton is much more than a play caller. He brought the intangibles: confidence and swag to the team.
He was the emotional leader.
That is not easy to replicate. Maybe DA calls ambush in the SB. But do the players believe it's going to work like they did with Payton?
Loomis is in a really unenviable position. Bring in a new coach, who will likely want to bring in his own guys and force you to get rid of some very good coaches, or roll it out with the same crew minus Payton.
Keep in mind, that WITH Payton, we have struggled in the playoffs and couldn't get it done.
I think Payton is a great coach but there's no doubt we've underachieved. Sean McVay has been to as many SBs and NFCCGs as Payton did in like 1/4 the time.
It's time to start over.