How fired Dennis Allen, others helped Saints' Darren Rizzi earn first win as head coach

Shortly after the New Orleans Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following a seventh straight loss that dropped them to 2-7 on the season, New Orleans promoted special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi to the role of interim head coach. 

It turns out one of Allen's final tasks with the Saints involved helping Rizzi assemble the defensive coaching staff and create the defensive scheme that resulted in New Orleans earning a 20-17 upset win over the rival Atlanta Falcons (6-4) on Sunday afternoon. 

"At the end of the day, we’re friends," Rizzi said about Allen while speaking with NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. "He's going to keep coaching. Someone's going to hire him as a defensive coordinator. Who knows, we could be together on staff one day. When he left, we both said this isn't a goodbye. It's, 'I’ll see you around.'" 

While the Saints began the season with impressive back-to-back wins, they seemingly needed a new voice in the locker room amid the club's woes, considering it was suggested last week that Allen first lost some of his players as far back as this past January. 

During a post-victory chat with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Rizzi explained how he received advice from coaches such as living legend Bill Parcells, Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions and Todd Bowles of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of Sunday's matchup in New Orleans. 

"'Number one, be yourself; number one, be yourself,'" Rizzi said about the messages he received from those coaches. "...Just to be yourself and be authentic. That was really it but, you know, an Italian from North Jersey is going to be that way anyways."

Rizzi may have revealed a little too much about himself when he shared a story about his use of the toilet in the head coach’s office before he got a win in his debut performance. 

He and the Saints will next host the 2-7 Cleveland Browns this coming Sunday. As of late Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed New Orleans as a one-point favorite for that contest. 

"Just as I said to the team after the game, I’ve never been a part of something like this," Rizzi told Breer. Perhaps Sunday's result will prove to be the start of something special for Rizzi and the Saints.