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The New York Jets will have a new head coach for the 2025 season after the Robert Saleh regime failed to produce a winning record, let alone a playoff berth in four seasons.
Jets Wire will break down each candidate that receives an interview detailing their experience as well as the highs and lows of their coaching career. In the end, we’ll determine if the candidate is worth a shot or if the Jets should pass for someone better.
For the next spin on the coaching carousel, we take a look at New Orleans Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi:
A Relative Unknown
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Rizzi has never been a head coach in the NFL and his only experience as one was a year with the University of Rhode Island in 2008. His team wasn’t very good as the Rams finished 3-9 overall with a 1-7 conference record.
His NFL coaching experience centers primarily around special teams. He was special teams coordinator under the late Tony Sparano with the Miami Dolphins in 2010. Rizzi stayed on as special teams coordinator under Sparano’s replacement, Joe Philbin, as well as Adam Gase.
Rizzi interviewed for Miami’s head coaching job after the 2018 season but the job was ultimately given to Brian Flores. He joined Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints in 2019 after Flores elected not to retain Rizzi for his coaching staff.
After Payton temporarily retired from coaching in 2022, the Saints replaced him with defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Rizzi was retained by Allen and was named assistant head coach along with being special teams coordinator.
Allen was fired in November after New Orleans started out the 2024 season 2-0 and then lost seven-straight games. Rizzi was named the interim head coach for the final eight weeks, where he was 3-5 and finished in last place in the NFC South.
Would Jets Wire Hire Him?
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The Verdict: Not a chance.
Rizzi is an unknown with only eight games of NFL head coaching experience. While that technically makes Rizzi an experienced head coach, there is no way the Jets organization could ever sell Rizzi to their beaten down fan base as the savior of the franchise.