Who will win Coach of the Year?
By: Jake Rajala
The New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen is out for blood in his second stint as a head coach. With that said, I’m going to simply untwine three reasons why the Sean Payton disciple could even win Coach of the Year in 2022.
Improvement from 2021
The Drew Brees-less Saints didn’t make the playoffs last season, but I really believe the Saints will have a significant turnaround and three to four more victories than the 2021 season. I expect a healthy Jameis Winston and a highly motivated Michael Thomas to wreak havoc against opponents on a frequent basis. Kev Stefanski was COTY in 2020 for leading the Browns to 11 wins in 2020 — after CLE had a mere six victories in 2019. I believe Allen will receive a lot of buzz after jolting the Saints team in 2022.
Buccaneers
I recently wrote about why the Buccaneers could *finally* beat the Saints next season. Although, the Saints still have the upper hand at this point in time. It should be noted that DA caught a lot of attraction for shutting out TB12 in their last match-up. If the Saints can have a successful season, while ousting a dominant victory (or two) against the Bucs, there should be very high praise for the Saints HC.
Defense
Allen’s baby is clearly the defense — as he plans to retain play-calling. I expect the Saints defense to be a Top-3 unit and they could potentially be the utmost best defense next season. Allen will garner heaps of glory for pressing the right buttons with a Saints defense that added the Honey Badger this off-season. Marshon Lattimore, Mathieu, Demario Davis, and Cameron Jordan will delight in dismantling under Allen opponents moving forward.
