New Orleans’s interim coach has proved to be adept in key areas, and it may be harder to fill one of the carousel’s least desirable jobs with a better candidate.
Since receiving the New Orleans Saints’ interim head coaching job Nov. 4, Darren Rizzi has proved adept at handling complex game-management situations in a league that is glaringly absent of that skill set. And, in a white-knickle ending against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, he also separated himself from other interim coaches in showing he is not afraid to eschew personal safety and cushy football platitudes to make a call of faith in a team on the heels of a tremendous upset.
Rattler sparked enough confidence to put the ball in his hands for a potential game-winning two-point conversion with no time left on the clock. I know that the Saints will not give Rizzi the full-time head coaching job simply because he’s performing better than Pierce, Ulbrich or Eberflus, which is a low bar to clear. But this was the kind of game that should at least remove Rizzi from the pool of interim coaches who are merely successful because the head coach no one could stand has been removed from the building and, thus, gets a mysterious tailwind behind the team for the remainder of the season.
Again, I’m not saying the Saints should simply hire Rizzi because no one else is going to want the job. But I am saying that he has already proven dynamism. His quirkiness and intensity are beloved, his painful honesty is appreciated and he’sonly for the best of reasons . A week ago, against the New York Giants, Rizzi was in the spotlight for shaking nearly every piece of technological equipment off his body while dressing down his punter, but we didn’t discuss.
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