Sources: Bears and Darren Rizzi not expected to happen. Bears expected to keep respected Richard Hightower as ST coordinator.
Lends lil more hope Broncos can land Rizzi but nothing imminent or decided. Rizzi in play for HC with Saints and possibly Raiders. Has other STC options.— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) January 23, 2025
After the hiring of Ben Johnson to be head coach of the Chicago Bears, there was speculation going around that New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi was the target of interest to join Johnson’s new staff. However, that development has stalled out, as Rizzi works to make his case for the Saints head coaching job as we speak.
Rizzi is competing with some strong candidates for the Saints job, including Mike McCarthy, Joe Brady, Kellen Moore, Anthony Weaver, Mike Kafka, and maybe Kliff Kingsbury. While he does have the upper hand of being in the Saints system for years now and having the interim head coach experience, it also has to be factored in that his head coaching stint was not particularly fantastic. The team went 3-5 with Rizzi after their 2-7 start to the season.
He is also not the only coach among the list with ties to the Saints, so it is going to be an intriguing hire one way or another based on who they decide on. With that said, Rizzi is pushing all his chips into the center of the table on the head coaching gig, as it is hard to pass up a spot with Ben Johnson and crew.
