Nick Underhill: Saints Might Not Move on from DA

Hedon James said
Normally, I'd agree with you. He should have been fired after Year 2. But it's become apparent in the middle of Year 3 that was a mistake. So here's a list of reasons why it would be a positive move, rather than a negative:

in an emergency situation, step #1 is ALWAYS "stop the bleeding" ASAP; Saints need to stop the bleeding, or at least MAKE THE ATTEMPT

it's pretty obvious the players aren't giving their best effort. firing the HC mid-season sends a message that things are going to be different. for those who WANT to be here, it's a message of encouragement.

for those who are "coasting" through the season, they're being served notice that their game film will be auditioned by a NEW (to be determined) staff. they'll be playing for their jobs. I expect the team will play better because anyone "going through the motions" won't want a new regime making decisions based off less-than full effort

can't speak for others, but I'm under no delusions of turning things around and competing for NFCS division title this season. my eyes are on the 2025 season, and getting the right coach and players to play from that point forward.

As to the 4th bullet point, I'd even CONSIDER eating as many bloated "dead money" contracts as I could in 2025, with the understanding we would be terrible in 2025; but with hope for 2026 and beyond. if we're bad enough in 2025, I think Arch Manning will be within reach for our 2026 draft position. If that's the direction we're going, I'd add one more year to a new coaches contract so that he has THREE YEARS of HIS REGIME and HIS PLAYERS, not including the "dead year" of all the purges. For me, this scenario is preferred over retaining DA ad nauseum, because THIS scenario has hope in my eyes. It's no guarantee of future success, but it's only the 2nd-worst scenario I can envision. Retaining DA is the doomsday scenario, IMO.

So that's my list of reasons why it could be a GOOD thing to fire the HC mid-season. We missed the end-of-season window, so mid-season is the next best thing. and I DO think it's gotten critical.

I get it, it just doesn't seem logical to me for a few reasons. Just to get the Arch Manning concept out of the conversation, he's a redshirt freshman. His family, especially Eli, have been pounding it into his head to stay in college and not entire the draft until after his senior year, which so far, he's been listening to their advice (look back him considering entering the transfer portal and Eli telling him no, to stay as Ewers backup). So it could be till 2028 when Arch enters the draft. None of us have a crystal ball so its hard to say.

To the rest of the post, the players have checked out, its true. We all see it. But the cap is in shambles. We have no draft capital. Its hard to imagine what good potential coach would want to come here next season even if we wait till the offseason to fire Dennis Allen. We'd likely end up with another below average or bottom of the barrell coach.

To top that off I think you're greatly misunderstanding what "the message" your sending impact really has. The players have "silently quit" already. Firing a head coach mid season is also incredibly dramatic. I think its unreasonable to expect people who have silently quit, to be introduced to a turmoil of drama and expect them to re-engage with any enthusiasm. Yes, it seemed to occur with the Raiders last year when Pierce took over, but its also having a negative impact on the Jets this year. And from what we've seen in the past, it rarely, if ever, has a positive outcome.

And again, you're adding an additional factor for the next head coach to consider when accepting the job. Why would Ben Johnson, or Aaron Glen accept this job when there are more stable front offices, with less drama and better cap situations pining for em? Anyone who comes in after DA will be set up for failure.