I know it's highly unlikely he's fired next Monday and we're going to waste another year "chopping wood", but lets not lie to ourselves hoping that 2024 is the season Dennis Allen will put it all together and shed his terrible career record as a HC and post his first career 10+ win season against a much harder schedule than he had this year. Not happening. He couldn't do it this year, he won't ever do it.
You could literally swap Allen and Kyle Shanahan at the start of this season and I'd bet my life on it that DA would still somehow find a way to screw up that 49ers team and nuke their season.
If I'm Gayle then Loomis makes a decision, either:
A.) Allen gets his walking papers next week and we actually do a comprehensive search for a new HC, or
B.) Allen is retained and Loomis' wagon now becomes hitched to Allen's based on the results of the 2024 season
Going even further if the choice is the latter, Loomis wouldn't be permitted to touch any additional future assets (salary cap or draft capital wise) without prior permission. Loomis has made this bed cap-wise and it'd finally be time for him to lie in it. You hired Allen after a series of sham interviews and whiffed at nearly every football decision trying to field a winning team and failed. I'm not going to allow you to handicap the new regime's future only to fail this last opportunity. Time to sink or swim.
You hired your friend, now you fire your friend or I fire both of you and y'all can job search together.
I agree with that...
for a first time HC. Not a retread HC with a career 23-46 record that was 8-28 when you hired him.
As for Payton, he was afforded an extended leash through those 2007 and 2008 seasons not only by advancing to the franchise's first NFC Championship appearance in his first year but also by showing he could field teams that could actually compete with good teams consistently; not just at the end of the season when they're beat up and missing stars.
Payton posted an 8-9 record against teams with winning records those first 3 years. Just during his Saints tenure, Allen is a paltry 2-8 against teams with winning records (2-17 for his career). In 3 years, Payton won 4x's the number of games against winning teams than Allen has in ~4.25 seasons. Tells you everything you need to know. If it takes an extra season and a quarter to only post 1/4th of those wins as your predecessor did then why should you wait? What could he possibly show you differently that proves he's
the guy?
Allen's lone wins came against a 13-2 Eagles team with their backup QB starting and an 8-7 Buccaneers team we beat today that isn't much better than our dumpster fire. He's 2-17 against teams above .500 in his career, he is what his record says he is. Terrible.
Allen isn't a "middle of the road" HC, he's an "off the road, careening off a cliff into a lake of fire" HC that has done nothing as a HC (here or period) that is deserving of patience.