Turf Show Times
“He’s a first-down machine in the screen game and has evolved as a blocker,” says Canal Street Chronicles of Hill
Following a disappointing loss to the Eagles on SNF, the L.A. Rams can rebound against the New Orleans Saints in Week 13. New Orleans is coming off its bye and has brought a little momentum and swagger to Who Dat Nation under interim coach Darren Rizzi. Taysom Hill also played a sizable role in the Saints’ two-game win streak after his jaw-dropping outing before the break.
To find out more about what makes Hill so hard to defend and how Rizzi is nailing his audition for the full-time gig in NOLA, I spoke with Nic Jennings from SB Nation’s Saints blog Canal Street Chronicles.
Q - The Saints have won two straight since firing Dennis Allen. What have you noticed from New Orleans in those back-to-back wins and how has the team rallied around interim coach Darren Rizzi?
A - Rizzi taking charge has undoubtedly provided the team with a desperately needed spark in the midst of a catastrophic collapse. During his opening press conference upon being named interim HC, Rizzi made one promise to the Who Dat Nation moving forward: This team is not going to be boring to watch.
In his head coaching debut, Rizzi led a severely shorthanded Saints team in snapping their seven-game losing streak with a gritty win over their red-hot rivals, the Atlanta Falcons, who had won six of their last eight games, followed by a dominant 35-point performance against the 9th-ranked total defense at the time in the Cleveland Browns. He’s now just the second head coach in franchise history to begin his tenure 2-0, joining the one and only Sean Payton, who did the same in 2006. So, I’d say his promise is being fulfilled.
When it comes to his relationship with the players and how the team has rallied around him, there is a massive difference compared to what we saw during Dennis Allen’s disastrous 18-25 stint as head coach in New Orleans.
Given that Rizzi’s been the special teams coordinator for the Saints since 2019, he’s developed a relationship with every single player on the roster. This has been essential in getting them to buy into what he’s selling as a coach, and based on what we’ve seen so far, it’s evident that the players are fully bought in and ready to fight for their coach throughout the remaining six weeks. His passion for the game and emotion that he “wears on his sleeve” has been well received and contagious throughout the entire facility.
A word that has been consistently used to describe Rizzi within the building has been “authentic.” Former Kansas City Chiefs Willie Gay and Marquez Valdes-Scantling even compared his practices and coaching style to the likes of future Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Andy Reid, which is some pretty high praise for a first-time head coach. Derek...
