Meet Darren Rizzi, the New Orleans Saints' interim head coach replacing Dennis Allen

A week ago, Darren Rizzi was a specified peculiar teams coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, much oregon little indistinguishable from different NFL adjunct coaches to the league's millions of fans.

Now the 54-year-old is the team's interim manager pursuing Dennis Allen's firing, which means he's successful complaint of turning astir a 2-7 squad that has not won a crippled since Week 2.

So who is Rizzi and however does his resume stack up with the situation ahead?

A autochthonal of Oradell, New Jersey who attended Bergen Catholic High School – the aforesaid instauration that produced legendary Washington Redskins enforcement Charley Casserly – Rizzi has been successful the NFL for the past 14 years.

He began coaching arsenic a postgraduate adjunct astatine Colgate successful 1993 earlier taking a occupation astatine Division II New Haven successful 1994.

It was successful New Haven wherever Rizzi worked with caput manager Tony Sparano, a well-regarded violative caput who would soon beryllium moving connected to the NFL. In fact, Sparano and Rizzi would reunite erstwhile the erstwhile hired the second with the Miami Dolphins successful 2008.

But earlier that took place, Rizzi would instrumentality jobs astatine Northeastern earlier returning to New Haven to service arsenic the team's caput manager from 1999 until 2001. Later, successful 2008, Rizzi accepted the head-coaching presumption astatine his alma mater, Rhode Island, though the Rams struggled en way to a 3-8 record.

But Rizzi's shot vocation was lone getting started.

After a twelvemonth distant from the game, Rizzi shined arsenic Dolphins peculiar teams coordinator from 2010 to 2018, during which clip the Dolphins ranked archetypal successful the NFL with 11 blocked punts and 2nd with 22 full blocked kicks.

Rizzi managed to past respective authorities changes successful Miami implicit that clip but was yet fto spell erstwhile Brian Flores replaced Adam Gase arsenic caput manager successful 2019.

Regardless, Rizzi got disconnected to a likewise bully commencement successful New Orleans aft being hired by then-Saints manager Sean Payton.

The Saints ranked 2nd and 4th successful net-punting mean implicit Rizzi's archetypal 2 seasons, though the squad has fluctuated successful that section ever since.

Still, first-year Saints punter Matthew Hayball ranks 5th successful the NFL with 21 attempts landing wrong the 20-yard line. And what's more, implicit the past 5 seasons, the Saints person ranked sixth successful the NFL with a 10.1-yard punt-return average.

Meanwhile, the Saints sum units person allowed the third-lowest punt instrumentality mean (7.0) betwixt 2019 and 2023.

Interestingly, Rizzi's archetypal crippled volition travel against the rival Atlanta Falcons connected Sunday successful New Orleans.

The Saints bushed the Falcons, 48-17, successful their last crippled of past season, which ended with an on-field statement betwixt Rizzi Atlanta caput manager Arthur Smith.

Smith was fired aft the crippled and the nonstop origin of the speech has ne'er been made public.