By CJ Carlson
Throughout the 2023 season, the New Orleans Saints had two things on their mind. The first was how they could improve the offense, and the second was how they might manage under head coach Dennis Allen. Well, both of those will be discussed here.
Many were hoping that Allen wouldn’t be coming back as the team’s head coach, but there is clear faith in him from management to get the job done. Plus, when asked about it, the players had Allen’s back. There isn’t any question that he won’t be on the hot seat this season, because if New Orleans has another down year, he’ll likely be out of a job. So, there’s a lot of pressure on his end to succeed. With that pressure has come a change at offensive coordinator.
Longtime coordinator Pete Carmichael has been calling the plays since Sean Payton left, and both years were mediocre, to say the least. Sure, statistically they weren’t terrible. The problem was that there was a clear lack of innovation. The rest of the league (specifically Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams) has been moving towards a significant amount of motion in the offense. Any trick that coordinators can come up with has gotten used in games these last few years. As for the Saints and Carmichael, there was very little motion at all.
Dennis Allen Speaks On New Offense
With Carmichael out, the team went ahead and brought in Klint Kubiak. It was reported that the Saints offense looked different in training camp. Cornerback Alontae Taylor made sure to mention that the defense has had to put in extra work due to how much they have to think about this offense now. Not only will this unique new offensive scheme help the offense put up more points, but it will also help the defense improve against teams that use similar stunts. And, for those who don’t know, Kubiak is coming straight from the San Francisco 49ers. That’s an offense that has been flying high these past couple of years.
When talking about the new offense and how it’s been implemented so far, Dennis Allen had a straightforward answer. He said, “Happy would be the right word, but satisfied would not be the right word.” To put it simply, he’s happy with how the new offense looks, though he doesn’t think that it’s at the level the team needs it to be at to win a Super Bowl just yet. This doesn’t mean that he believes the offense just isn’t good, the implication is that he knows there’s a lot of room left to improve before the season begins and hopes that they can work to that point.
At the end of the day, it wouldn’t be a great sign to hear him say that they’re totally satisfied with the offense already and plan to make no further improvements. You want the team to strive for greatness and to consistently improve, regardless of the schedule ahead. Allen also made sure to point out how integral it is for Derek Carr to make this offense shine, stating that the quarterback has been performing well in the two-minute drill so far during camp. At least for the time being, this offense has been trending upward.