Former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen joined Jay Glazer on Glazer’s ‘Unbreakable’ podcast, where Allen reflected on the day he was informed he was being relieved of his duties.
The most interesting tidbit of the story was Allen mentioned Mickey Loomis “was not really in favor of this move.” That was evident by Loomis insisting Allen was a good coach after the firing. While there’s something to be said for not kicking a man when he’s down, this felt sincere.
The assumption has floated around since the decision, but Allen’s comments all but confirms this was a Gayle Benson call.
Loomis broke the news to Allen the Monday after the Carolina Panthers loss. Allen said Loomis “came into my office, closed the door, said let’s talk.”
From there he was only able to tell his staff. It was the one request he asked of Loomis. It was important to Allen to do that, because he understood the rest of the staff’s job is dependent on him.
Word of a firing tends to spread quickly. Allen says his pride kept him from wanting to walk to his car with a bunch of cameras in his face from local media, so he wasn’t able to say his goodbyes to the players face to face. Instead, it was mostly over text and on the phone.
