The NFL Players Association made public a survey of the players on their treatment by the league’s teams for the second consecutive year, and there was a new category added to this year’s report card – head coach.
The ratings following the 2023 season give us a glimpse into how the players view their head coaches, and where they believe there are some deficiencies in how they go about their jobs.
Saints players gave head coach Dennis Allen a B-. While there were three other NFL head coaches who received that grade, there were only three who scored lower – the Atlanta Falcons (C+), Las Vegas Raiders (D) and Washington Commanders (C).
The Falcons, Raiders and Commanders all had changes at head coach following the start of the 2023 season.
The three other teams that gave their head coaches a B- were the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
According to information released by the NFLPA, the area that appeared to drag Allen’s rating down the most is his willingness to listen the locker room. The players’ feedback placed Allen at 28th out of 32 teams in that area.
The survey showed that 84 percent of Saints players believe that Allen is efficient with their time, ranking 22nd overall.
Sixty-seven percent of the Falcons players said head coach Arthur Smith, who was fired after the 2023 season, was efficient with their time. They ranked him 30th overall when it came to listening to the locker room.
Former Raiders coach Josh McDaniels got the worst rating of all NFL head coaches with only 39 percent of players believing he was efficient with their time. McDaniels ranked last in the league when it came to listening to the locker room.
The Saints finished 9-8 in 2023, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. Allen is 16-18 entering his third year as the New Orleans head coach.