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For the first time since he was fired as head coach in 2014, Dennis Allen is coaching against the Las Vegas Raiders. After a successful stint with the New Orleans Saints as a defensive coordinator, the team decided to hire him as head coach this offseason after Sean Payton resigned. He’s seen similar struggles as he did when he was with the Raiders.
New Orleans is 2-5 and is on pace for their first double-digit loss season since 2005. While Allen is maligned by the Raiders fan base and was one of the worst head coaches in team history from a record standpoint, he was with the team during the 2014 NFL Draft when they brought in Khalil Mack and Derek Carr. Allen was fired four games into that season so he never got much of a chance to utilize the two emerging stars. Despite not being on the same team long, Carr revealed that he still keeps in contact with the coach.
“DA and I have a great relationship still to this day,” Carr said, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I still talk to him … obviously not this week … but we’ve always kept in contact. We’ve always been close.”
Allen Talks Raiders Tenure
The Raiders were not in a good situation when Allen took over as head coach in 2012. Legendary owner Al Davis died the previous year and his son Mark Davis took over the team. Hue Jackson almost led the team to the playoffs the previous year but gave up valuable draft capital and the team had one of the worst salary cap situations in the NFL.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for why his time with the Raiders was a disaster and he acknowledges that he deserves his fair share.
“We’re all learning on the job how to do our job,” Allen told NOLA.com in September. “I think that’s a hard situation to be in. I would say that we probably all made our mistakes in that situation.”
Allen believed he was equipped to be a head coach when he was hired by the Raiders but taking on such a messy situation may have been better for somebody with a bit more experience.
“I was probably ready to be a head coach,” Allen said. “But I probably wasn’t ready to be the head coach in that situation. I needed help.”
He was given a much better situation when he took over the Saints but he’s seeing similar results to his time with the Raiders. He may just be better suited to be a coordinator than a head coach.
Carr Is Thankful for Allen Giving Him a Shot
Carr and Allen couldn’t make much happen during their time on the same team but the quarterback is forever grateful to the coach. Heading into the 2014 season, the plan was for veteran Matt Schaub to be the starter. However, Carr outplayed him in the offseason so Allen made the call to start the rookie and now he owns every major passing record in franchise history.
“I mean, he gave me my chance in this league,” Carr said. “And I’ve told him 100 times and I’ll tell him 100 more times how thankful I am for the chance that he not only drafted me, but to trust me when he asked me if I was ready to start. And obviously, the rest is history.”
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