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Former Chiefs Player Compares Darren Rizzi to Andy Reid

The Saints won their first game under the interim coach on Sunday.

Madison Williams

New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi reacts to a play.
New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi reacts to a play. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
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The New Orleans Saints won their first game under interim coach Darren Rizzi on Sunday, and the team's vibes already appear better than they were with coach Dennis Allen.

Receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling has only played two games with the Saints after being acquired from the Buffalo Bills. Before his stint with the Bills, he played for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022 and 2023, both seasons resulting in Super Bowl titles.

Valdes-Scantling knows what it's like to play for a championship team led by legendary coaches, like Andy Reid in Kansas City. He's now compared Rizzi's style of coaching to Reid's twice since Sunday's game.

"[Rizzi] holds everybody to the same standard, he's passionate, he holds people accountable," Valdes-Scantling told Kay Adams. "I think that's something that you just don't see a lot because when you get to the higher level of the NFL, everybody gets treated differently. But, he's one of those coaches like how coach Reid was, hold everybody to the same standard. I love that about him."

The receiver repeated this message when speaking to Audacy Sports' Jeff Nowak.

"Coach Reid does a good job over there of keeping everybody—the standard being the standard, and I think Rizz has taken that and really made it a thing, because no one is getting coached any differently, everyone is getting coached hard, everyone is getting held accountable and I think that's important."

The 3–7 Saints are unlikely to win a Super Bowl title this season like Reid and the Chiefs have the past two seasons, but it sounds like things are definitely improving in New Orleans if Valdes-Scantling is emphasizing Rizzi and Reid in the same sentence multiple times.

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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

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