METAIRIE, Louisiana — Tyrann Mathieu stated that he sensed something different about New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen this spring.
He tried to place his finger on it A renewed confidence? A spring in his step? Something about how he addressed the squad at an early offseason meeting impressed Mathieu.
Mathieu, a team captain this season, shrugged when asked where that feeling originated from, assuming it stemmed from Allen’s competitive mentality and the conversation surrounding him in Year 3 as coach.
“I assume it’s like he was tired of getting pushed around,” Mathieu said. “Tired of people not giving you the respect you deserve. So, I think as a man, an alpha, I think he’s handled it the way he should handle it. It’s like, ‘Come in, get your chest out, speak up.’ … I think we’ve all kind of seen [it]. … We’ve been impressed with that.”
Allen has a 16-18 record as Saints’ coach and 24-26 record dating to his stint as coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2012-14.
Even though he registered his first winning season as a head coach last season (9-8), Allen’s future was scrutinized after the Saints missed the playoffs for the third straight season. It’s the team’s longest postseason drought since a string of 7-9 seasons from 2014 to 2016.
Putting an end to that drought could start Sunday when the Saints host the Carolina Panthers (1 p.m. ET, Fox).
“I’d say everyone has an idea of what type of team they think they have a chance to be, and then that gets defined over the course of time,” Allen said. “In that regard, yeah, I’m excited to see exactly what we have and over the course of time, we’ll define what kind of team this is really going to be.”
Allen, who was rehired by New Orleans as a senior defensive assistant in 2015, says he doesn’t think about the outside expectations for this team, nor does he spend a lot of time talking about it.
“We have a profession where everything that we do is lived out in the public eye and everybody has opinions on what we’re doing well or what we’re not doing well. That just comes with the job,” Allen said last week.
Allen might not talk about it, but players can sense the heightened sense of urgency to win. Some, like defensive end Cameron Jordan, see it in subtle changes to Allen’s demeanor, even if he also couldn’t pinpoint it exactly.
“He’s been as consistent as they come,” Jordan said. “I think it was more of an urgent sense. … Confidence is always high, but it was like a sense of pure urgency, like we have to be great, now.”
That urgency isn’t unusual in any team that has missed the playoffs. Saints tight end Juwan Johnsonsaid everyone’s job is put on the line in those scenarios, especially for an organization that is accustomed to success.
“They’re either going to try to keep you in or push you out. That’s just the reality of it,” Johnson said. “If we’re not doing our jobs, they’re going to try to find a way to push you out. So, we know what’s at stake for ourselves, for him, for the organization. We don’t want another year of not making the playoffs. It’s been a long time. That’s kind of foreign to the Saints.”
It lies within Jordan and linebacker Demario Davis, who are both 35, and even in running back Alvin Kamara, who turned 29 this summer.
Kamara said he feels as if there’s no time to waste, pointing out he could be halfway through his career at best or on the back end of it in his eighth season.
“I don’t want to sit here and say, ‘I’ve got time.’ There ain’t no time. So, I’m trying to run it up. I’m trying to do what I can to have the most success,” Kamara said. “In this league, we measure success by a Super Bowl we’re playing in February. That’s what I’m trying to get to.”
But have Allen and the team learned from the mistakes of last season? That’s something they can’t answer until this season begins.
“You know obviously we’ve got to go out there and do it on Sundays. That’s what it’s all about,” Allen said.
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