As Darren Rizzi takes over as interim head coach of the New Orleans Saints, he pledges to be accountable.
The day still was swirling around Darren Rizzi by the time he stepped behind a podium and addressed the media as the Interim head coach of the New Orleans Saints on Monday afternoon, hours after the team relieved Dennis Allen of his duties.
But if anyone appeared equipped to be calm amid the storm, it was Rizzi, New Orleans’ associate head coach and special teams coordinator since 2022, after serving solely as special teams coordinator from 2019-21.
The Saints (2-7) have lost seven straight games entering Sunday’s matchup against NFC South Division-leading Atlanta (6-3) in the Caesars Superdome, the latest being a 23-22 decision to Carolina that snapped Carolina’s five-game losing streak.
“Tough day for me, tough day for this profession,” Rizzi said. “It kind of just gives you the reality of the situation.
“Dennis did a lot for this organization, and I consider him a close personal friend, so it’s obviously a little bit of a tough situation. As I told the team earlier today, we’ve all had a hand – me included – in where we are right now. And we’re all going to have a hand in digging us out of this hole that we’re in.
“It’s a situation I’ve been through before a couple of different times. We need to circle the wagons right now, get everybody on board. The only way I know how to do it is to fight and work out of it. That’s what we’re g
oing to do.”
Rizzi has helped groom two All-Pro returners (Deonte Harty and Rashid Shaheed) and an All-Pro special teamer (J.T. Gray) during his tenure with the Saints.
Players said he is up to the task of leading the entire locker room.
“He is an unbelievable leader of men,” tight end Foster Moreau said. “I sit in his special teams meetings every day. I’m not really on too many special teams, but there is something about him and the way that he coaches, the way that he leads, the way that he demands execution from his players. He has a pretty interesting opportunity.”
It comes at a time when the Saints are at their lowest point in decades. New Orleans last lost seven straight games in 1999 under Mike Ditka and hasn’t lost eight straight since 1980, when the team opened 0-14 under Dick Nolan and Dick Stanfel. Nolan was dismissed when the team was 0-12.
“I think you’ll see us come closer, I think we’ll be way more accountable,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “I actually believe in Rizz. I think Rizz is the type of coach and the type of leader and the type of man that really can command the room.
“I think he knows what buttons to push to motivate his guys, and he’s a straight shooter. And I think you need that sometimes. I think guys need to be called out sometimes, and I think Rizz is going to provide us with that sense of reality.
“I’m just looking forward to playing for him because he’s a special teams coach and I don’t spend a lot of time with him, but we have a great relationship. And I think that says a lot about who he is as a coach. I’ve been on a few teams where special teams coaches don’t really talk to guys that they don’t need. He’s a guy that has a really good relationship with a lot people, as far as players goes.
“On another note, this is an opportunity for him, too, to make his make his mark and show the rest of the league that he can command a team and push those guys in the right direction.”
Rizzi traveled a circuitous route to Monday.
He was a walk-on player in college at Rhode Island and began his coaching career at Division II New Haven in 1994. He worked up to head coach at New Haven (1999-2001) and Rhode Island (2008) before receiving a call from Bill Parcells, who was the executive vice president in Miami, to become assistant special teams coach with the Dolphins in 2009.
“I’ve really never been handed anything,” Rizzi said. “I’ve had to work for everything I’ve gotten and this is no different. I’m going to show up here every day of the week and work my ass off, and we’re going to try to change the product on the field.
“This is not a day for celebration. This is a tough day. But at the same time, there’s only one way to fight through this and that’s through hard work and showing up every day.
“It’s the reality of the situation: This is where we’re at, and so I have no choice but to stand up here and be the leader. I think one of my strong suits is I’m a leader of men. I think that in tough situations, leaders really show their true colors and I think the rest of the team is the same. We’re going to find out right now who’s going to fight.”
Rizzi said he plans to stress accountability and evaluate and re-evaluate everything the Saints do, but that change can’t be overly drastic this late into the season. However, change will occur.
“There’s a bunch of different ways to do it,” he said. “I think we’ve been doing things around here the same way for a long, long time and maybe some are good, maybe some aren’t. But there’ll be some different things that we do, for sure.
“Change doesn’t have to be negative, it doesn’t have to be positive. It doesn’t mean easier, it doesn’t mean harder. It just means different. And I just think for us, we all know the definition of insanity – keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.
“There needs to be some difference. Is it going to be drastic? No. there’s only so many things you can do at this point in the season. The focus still needs to be on Wednesday when we walk in, it needs to be the Atlanta Falcons. That’s the No. 1 thing we’ve got to be focused on. With that being said, I think there’s a different way to get to the end result. That’s where I think my personal touch will come in.”
