Possible candidates to succeed Dennis Allen as Saints coach | Saints

The New Orleans Saints named special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi as their interim coach on Monday, but there's little doubt the Saints will go to great lengths to find someone to coach the team in 2025 .

From up-and-coming coordinators to retreads to college coaches, here are the names that could be in this year's coaching cycle and make sense for the Saints:

The climbers

Aaron Glenn, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator: Glenn will be a popular candidate given his ties to the Saints. In addition to playing for the franchise, he also served as the Saints' secondary coach from 2016 to 2020. While some may be hesitant to maintain a connection to the Sean Payton era (or even the Dennis Allen era), Glenn built an impressive resume in Detroit. The Lions allow the fifth-fewest points per game, and Glenn's unit ranks fourth in defensive DVOA, a metric that measures efficiency. Detroit's defense has improved in each of Glenn's four seasons.