Drew Brees Endorses Preferred Candidate for Saints Head Coach

Josh Wilson | 20 Hours Ago

Brees celebrates being inducted into the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame during a halftime ceremony at Caesars Superdome / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

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The New Orleans Saints are once again on the recruiting trail, looking for the next person to lead the football team as head coach. The iconic on-field leader of the last era and almost certainly the best player to ever don black and gold, Drew Brees, has made his choice clear.

Speaking to Crissy Froyd of USA Today, Brees said his top pick is Aaron Glenn, currently the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions.

Glenn would come in with plenty of experience, having spent his final playing season with New Orleans and circling back in his coaching career in 2016 a role before his time as a coordinator with Detroit. Glenn and his offensive counterpart, Ben Johnson, are thought to be two of the most coveted candidates in this year's coaching cycle.

While Brees has no official capacity with the Saints organization, his opinion is certainly revered at the very least as the franchise's all-time leader in passing yardage, passing touchdowns and approximate value.

Despite being under contract, Sean Payton retired as coach in 2021, taking a year off from coaching only to jump back in a season later with the Broncos. Meanwhile, New Orleans promoted Dennis Allen, then the defensive coordinator, into Payton's vacant role and Glenn was reportedly the runner-up, bouncing to Detroit for a promotion.

Allen was fired midseason this year, finishing with an 18–25 record at the helm.

In addition to Glenn, it seems likely New Orleans will strongly consider Darren Rizzi—among other candidates—who served as interim head coach after Allen was fired. Rizzi is the team's special teams coordinator.

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JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.