Why Lovie Smith may face an unfairly short leash in Houston, plus grading all of the NFL’s head coaching hires

Happy Tuesday, everyone.

Let’s get right to it.

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Good morning to everyone but especially to…

DENNIS ALLEN

The New Orleans Saints have their new coach, and it’s an old friend. Dennis Allen, who has spent the last six years as the team’s defensive coordinator will reportedly take over as head coach in the Big Easy. Allen has previous experience as a head coach.

He went 8-28 in charge of the Raiders from 2012-2014 and was fired after an 0-4 start to the 2014 season. It was a tough time in Oakland as the team was reeling from former owner and GM Al Davis‘ death. It’s Allen’s work as an assistant that earned this job. He returned to New Orleans in 2015 as a defensive assistant, was elevated to interim defensive coordinator late that season and served as full-time defensive coordinator since.

Over the last two seasons, Allen’s defense ranks:

• First in yards per rush allowed
• Tied for second in interceptions
• Third in yards per play allowed
• Fourth in passer rating allowed

The Saints have plenty of stalwarts on the defensive side of things, including defensive lineman Cameron Jordan, linebacker Demario Davis and cornerback Marshon Lattimore. They nearly made the playoffs in 2021 despite starting four different quarterbacks. Outside of that, there’s lots for Allen to tackle, writes NFL guru Cody Benjamin:

• Benjamin: “While Allen is vaunted for his defensive work, he takes over a roster with a number of big-picture questions following a 9-8 season… The Saints are currently projected to be at least $75 million over the 2022 salary cap, and they also have no clear answers at quarterback, where injured starter Jameis Winston is scheduled to hit free agency.”

Honorable mentions

• LaMelo Ball and Dejounte Murray earned All-Star nods as injury replacements.
• Reece Beekman nailed a game-winning three to help unranked Virginia beat No. 7 Duke 69-68 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was an absolutely awesome game (and yes, as a Virginia native, I’m a little biased).
• No. 20 Texas outscored No. 8 Kansas 7-0 in the last minute to earn a 79-76 win over the Jayhawks.
• The Packers hired Rich Bisaccia to coach their special teams, which, if you watched their playoff game, really needs fixing.

And not such a good morning for…

THE HOUSTON TEXANS

Listen, before I get too far into this, I want to congratulate Lovie Smith for getting another NFL head-coaching opportunity seven years after his last one. After all, there are only 32 of them on Earth, and Smith should be proud and excited to have one.

Having said that, the Houston Texans just finished one of the most perplexing hiring processes in recent memory, and the result is a guy who went 8-24 in his last head NFL gig (with the Buccaneers) and 17-39 in his last head gig anywhere (at Illinois) and wasn’t even in the running for this job until after Houston had reportedly narrowed it down to two finalists — neither of whom were him.

To recap, the Texans initially interviewed five candidates:

• Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores
• Florida Atlantic University special assistant Hines Ward
• Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi
• Former NFL QB Josh McCown
• Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon

They narrowed that field to three — Flores, McCown and Gannon — and then just Flores and McCown. But then the Texans ran into a conundrum:

• McCown has exactly zero head coaching experience at any level.
• Flores is currently suing the NFL (as well as the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos) for racial discrimination. On Monday, Flores’ lawyers said that’s the only reason he didn’t get the job.

So in comes Smith, who was the Texans’ associate head coach and defensive coordinator last season. This comes less than a month after Houston came under fire for firing David Culley after just one season at the helm. The Texans were likely looking for someone who could turn the page in what may be the post-Deshaun Watson era and kickstart a true rebuild.

Instead, they narrowed it down to two candidates, both of whom it couldn’t really hire, and backtracked to an experienced stabilizer who wasn’t on the radar for head-coaching opportunities elsewhere: basically what Culley was last season. Unfortunately for Smith (and Texans fans), I fear he may suffer a similar fate to Culley, too.

The Texans remain in the very early stages of a massive organizational overhaul, and unless Smith produces extraordinary results, he could face an unfairly short leash. For those reasons and more, the hiring earned a “D” grade from NFL expert Cody Benjamin; you can check out all of his grades here.

Not so honorable mentions

• Kyler Murray unfollowed the Cardinals on social media and deleted all Cardinals-related content on his Instagram. Not great!
• A Wizards assistant coach got into an altercation with a fan. Also not great!

Ranking the top players in the Super Bowl

Oh boy, Super Bowl week is here, and I’m ecstatic. I was particularly intrigued by Pete Prisco ranking all 46 Super Bowl starters — 46 because he includes the nickel cornerback for both teams. Remember, there’s no shame finishing 46th (hi, Hakeem Adeniji) on this list because… you’re literally starting in a Super Bowl. 

Anyway, we’ll start where any good list should, at 1:

• Prisco: “Aaron Donald — He might not be just the best player in this game, but in the entire league. He can wreck a game on his own and will be a tough handle for the inside players on the Bengals line.”

The Bengals don’t get on the board until Ja’Marr Chase at four. Then comes Joe Burrow at five:

• Prisco: “Joe Burrow — His cool in the big moments will be vital in this one. His accuracy and ability to navigate the pocket is as good as any young player in the league.”

Here’s the entire list. You can keep up with all of our Super Bowl coverage here.

To-do list for every MLB team when the lockout ends

The lockout will end at some point (right?), our Mike Axisa promises. In his latest piece, Axisa examines what every team’s first course of action should be when it does.

Let’s start in the Bronx, because the Yankees have a long to-do list, but it starts at one position.

• Axisa: “Get a shortstop. … Andrelton Simmons isn’t moving the needle and trade candidates like Paul DeJong and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are only going to leave the Yankees wishing they’d spent on Carlos Correa or Trevor Story. I don’t know who will be at shortstop for New York on Opening Day, but it seems pretty obvious that player is not in the organization right now.”

The Yankees, meanwhile, are expected to pursue Freddie Freeman, but Axisa claims the Braves shouldn’t even give them the chance.

• Axisa: “It should have happened before the lockout, but late is better than never. … Just pay the man, Braves. He’s great, he’s the face of your franchise, and you just won the World Series. Don’t pinch pennies with this guy.”

What we’re watching Tuesday

No. 18 Marquette at No. 24 UConn, 6:30 p.m. on FS1
No. 1 Auburn at Arkansas, 7 p.m. on ESPN2
Celtics at Nets, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
No. 13 Illinois at No. 3 Purdue, 9 p.m. on ESPN
Bucks at Lakers, 10 p.m. on TNT