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Fans Loved Darren Rizzi's Intense Approach to First Game as Saints Coach

Rizzi was named interim head coach after Dennis Allen was fired earlier this week.

Josh Wilson

Rizzi was with the team as assistant coach and special teams coordinator before being named interim head coach
Rizzi was with the team as assistant coach and special teams coordinator before being named interim head coach / Screengrab on X (@Saints)
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The New Orleans Saints clearly needed a vibe reset of sorts, and that's one of the reasons it was so obvious who should step in as interim head coach after they opted to part ways with head coach Dennis Allen. In Saints circles, Rizzi has gained a reputation as an intense, have-to-win, leader personality.

Over the last week, we've heard from Saints players who were complimentary of what Allen had done for the team, but sounded ready to run through a wall for their new leader.

"Rizz is the type of coach and the type of leader and the type of man that really can kind of command a man. I think he knows what buttons to push to motivate his guys," defensive back Tyrann Mathieu said.

During their first game under new leadership, cameras caught what Saints players have seen in the building for years now: Rizzi's unbridled intensity and enthusiasm.

Here was his reaction to a blocked field goal:

Cameras also caught him giving an earful to a sideline official:

Rizzi enjoyed a temporary bit of fame last year when the New York Giants and Tommy DeVito visited the Super Dome. DeVito's surprising (but still modest) success was a national storyline, and Rizzi, another Jersey Italian-American, attended a rival high school of DeVito's, pitting them as rivals in more ways than one.

After three quarters, the Saints lead the Atlanta Falcons 20-17.

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Josh Wilson
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.

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