When Cam Jordan speaks, you listen.
When Alvin Kamara speaks, you listen.
And at the Saints training facility on the outskirts of New Orleans, two modern day team icons laid bare the effects of a tumultuous few weeks in the Big Easy.
“It’s night and day as far as energy goes. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rizzi came out with full pads on, trying to run drills and stuff with us,” Kamara said on the new man Darren Rizzi who is in interim charge in NOLA.
“He’s just that type of dude, and it’s organic, you know what I’m saying? Dudes feel it.
Jordan and Kamara were speaking at the Saints open locker room, the first time since Dennis Allen was fired after two and a half season in charge.
He was the man trusted to take the Saints forward as the Sean Payton dynasty ended.
Unfortunately for Allen – an impressive defensive coordinator – his head coaching record was not stacking up and one could argue with an 8-28 record in his time with the Raiders the warning signs were there.
After being appointing in 2022, he went 7-10 but last season was an improvement as the team went 9-8, but concerns had been raised about his position through the offseason.
He stayed in place and after two spectacular wins to start the season – including a 44-19 win over the Dallas Cowboys – the Saints were the surprise 2-0 nobody had predicted and Allen had won 6 of his last 7 games.
Hopes were high. Derek Carr was dealing, an explosive defense was shining and a big play offense racked up 91 points.
Since then, it’s been seven straight defeats, culminating in a home defeat to the divisional rival Carolina Panthers that had fans streaming towards the exits in the second quarter and chanting against Allen.
It was not nice to hear, and injuries have played a huge part in restricting a decimated depth chart, but general manager Mickey Loomis pulled the trigger.
Allen was fired on Monday morning and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi was placed in interim charge.
The time had come.
“You lose seven games in a row, the seventh one being to the Carolina Panthers with your starting quarterback back on the field, you kind of have to make a move at that point,” Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football told talkSPORT
“Just to preserve what you have in the locker room and not let it deteriorate too much. I thought Dennis Allen did some good things during his tenure, but it just kind of felt like it had run its course and it was time.
And the effect – at least for now – has been instant.
Little things in the locker room have made a big impact. The players have been empowered by Rizzi and have reconfigured the locker room to sit in position groups.
Playlists are the work of different groups on different days, Jordan’s words said it all.
“Serious energy,” Jordan said in response to a question about what coach Rizzi has brought to the team.
It was hard to disagree. Music roared out around him, defensive backs shot baskets into the plastic bucket in the middle of the room and the smiles looks to be back on Saints faces.
“I think as a collective, what we’ve wanted to do this week has been focusing on us. Have I talked? Of course I’m going to ask questions, inquire. But my place as a soldier is to try and win.
“At no one point have I ever thought I was a GM or a commander, so I’ve always cared about my D-line and what we can do and how we can affect the passer.
“It’s Atlanta, this is a perfect time to put all that energy into getting our first win in eight weeks and really focusing on what we can control.
“You can tell from practice the other day to practice today, the energy is intense, to say the least.”
While Jordan was every inch the team man, preaching accountability, Kamara told a similar story but in starker terms
“Could have been any week,” he said, speaking about why Allen’s firing came down this week..
The Saints, to be blunt, have sucked. The players know it, the fans know it, the waiters and waitresses, the taxi drivers, the men and women in the street know it.
The running back – who can make history in Sunday – needs just 12 yards to become the team’s all-time leading rusher.
Personal milestones were not on the agenda as he chose to focus on the job in had – the Falcons on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.
A fierce NFC South contest is just what the fans want, according to one taxi driver in the city, the perfect game.
It’s just what the players want and it might just be the catalyst for an unlikely push toward a playoff place.
But it’s small steps, one game at a time. And it just so happens to be the perfect game for a week where the messaging has been energy.
talkSPORT are in New Orleans as part of a visit organized by New Orleans & Company and the Super Bowl LIX Host Committee
New Orleans is hosting the Super Bowl for a record-equalling 11th time on February 9, 2025
