Report: Loomis expected to hire coach ‘he knows’

By Ross Jackson

NEW ORLEANS — Continuity and familiarity have been a running theme of the New Orleans Saints throughout the Mickey Loomis era.

To expect that to change as the head coach job re-opens this offseason would be a mistake. A sentiment followed up by a recent report from NFL Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. 

“The feeling in league circles,” the report says. “Is that general manager Mickey Loomis will lean towards someone he knows…”

Now to be fair, Loomis “knows” a lot of potential candidates. But three stand out as candidates he has worked with in the past. Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy. 

Glenn being the one of that group that makes the most sense. His former player experience, leadership ability and relationship with the organization make him a unique blend of familiarity and change. 

The general manager has believed strongly in the crop of coaching candidates and roster personnel the team constructed during its decade-and-a-half run with former head coach Sean Payton. 

That much was evidenced by the hire of Dennis Allen in 2022, who was Payton’s defensive coordinator and served as a secondary coach and defensive assistant before there. That hire was then followed up by Darren Rizzi as interim head coach, Payton’s 2019 special teams coordinator hire. 

Certainly the Saints will cast a wide net. Meaning they could end up hiring a coach with which they are currently unfamiliar, but wins them over in the interview process. 

But reports like this are multiplying and even former Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma dropped Glenn’s name in a recent interview. It all feels like a soft opening for a likely, though not definite, hire.