A week ago, Darren Rizzi was a mere special teams coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, more or less indistinguishable from other NFL assistant coaches to the league’s millions of fans.
Now the 54-year-old is the team’s interim coach following Dennis Allen’s firing, which means he’s in charge of turning around a 2-7 team that has not won a game since Week 2.
So who is Rizzi and how does his resume stack up with the challenge ahead?
A native of Oradell, New Jersey who attended Bergen Catholic High School – the same institution that produced legendary Washington Redskins executive Charley Casserly – Rizzi has been in the NFL for the last 14 years.
He began coaching as a graduate assistant at Colgate in 1993 before taking a job at Division II New Haven in 1994.
New Orleans Saints Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi reacts during a 2023 game
The Saints ranked second and fourth in net-punting average over Rizzi’s first two seasons
It was in New Haven where Rizzi worked with head coach Tony Sparano, a well-regarded offensive mind who would soon be moving on to the NFL. In fact, Sparano and Rizzi would reunite when the former hired the latter with the Miami Dolphins in 2008.
But before that took place, Rizzi would take jobs at Northeastern before returning to New Haven to serve as the team’s head coach from 1999 until 2001. Later, in 2008, Rizzi accepted the head-coaching position at his alma mater, Rhode Island, although the Rams struggled en route to a 3-8 record.
But Rizzi’s football career was only getting started.
After a year away from the game, Rizzi shined as Dolphins special teams coordinator from 2010 to 2018, during which time the Dolphins ranked first in the NFL with 11 blocked punts and second with 22 total blocked kicks.
Rizzi managed to survive several regime changes in Miami over that time but was ultimately let go when Brian Flores replaced Adam Gase as head coach in 2019.
Regardless, Rizzi got off to a similarly good start in New Orleans after being hired by then-Saints coach Sean Payton.
The Saints ranked second and fourth in net-punting average over Rizzi’s first two seasons, although the team has fluctuated in that department ever since.
The New Orleans Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen after amid a seven-game losing skid
Still, first-year Saints punter Matthew Hayball ranks fifth in the NFL with 21 attempts landing inside the 20-yard line. And what’s more, over the last five seasons, the Saints have ranked sixth in the NFL with a 10.1-yard punt-return average.
Meanwhile, the Saints coverage units have allowed the third-lowest punt return average (7.0) between 2019 and 2023.
Interestingly, Rizzi’s first game will come against the rival Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in New Orleans.
The Saints beat the Falcons, 48-17, in their final game of last season, which ended with an on-field argument between Rizzi Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith.
Smith was fired after the game and the exact cause of the exchange has never been made public.
