Another former Miami Dolphins assistant is getting his shot

Add another former Miami Dolphins assistant who is now a head coach in the NFL.

Darren Rizzi, who spent nine seasons (2010-18) as an assistant with the Dolphins, including the last two as associate head coach, has been named interim coach of the New Orleans Saints.

Rizzi replaces Dennis Allen, who was fired Monday morning after the Saints lost their seventh straight game, this time to the struggling Carolina Panthers.

Rizzi has been with the Saints since 2019, when he took over the position of special teams coordinator after leaving the Dolphins and added the title of assistant head coach in 2022.

Before leaving Miami, Rizzi interviewed for the Dolphins' head coaching position after the team fired Adam Gase but lost out to Brian Flores.

With the Saints, Rizzi inherits a team that not only suffered a slump after starting the season with two impressive wins – 47-10 against Carolina and 44-19 against the Dallas Cowboys – but also has the worst salary cap situation heading into 2025 ( currently forecast). More than $61 million according to overthecap.com.

In Rizzi's 14 seasons as special teams coordinator, his units finished in the top 10 of Rick Gosselin's annual rankings, based on 22 statistical categories, nine of 14 times. That includes five of his nine seasons with the Dolphins, who have finished in the bottom third of the league in four of the five seasons since Rizzi's departure.

In addition to his obvious talent as a coach, Rizzi is also known as a great motivator and it's no surprise that he gets a chance. It also says here that he will eventually become a good NFL head coach.

Rizzi is now the sixth head coach in the NFL to have previously worked as an assistant with the Dolphins, including his former Saints colleague Dan Campbell of the NFC-leading Detroit Lions.

The others are Zac Taylor of the Cincinnati Bengals, Brian Daboll of the New York Giants, Dan Quinn of the Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay's Todd Bowles, who like Campbell served as interim coach for Miami.

Additionally, there are six NFL defensive coordinators who are former Dolphins coaches: Lou Anarumo at Cincinnati, Matt Burke at the Houston Texans, Vance Joseph at the Denver Broncos, Patrick Graham at the Las Vegas Raiders, Vic Fangio at the Philadelphia Eagles, and Flores with the Minnesota Vikings.

There is only one offensive coordinator who previously coached in Miami, Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions.