SmashMouth

It was three years ago this week at the Senior Bowl when the New Orleans Saints made two of their best hires of the past decade -- defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and assistant general manager/college scouting director Jeff Ireland.

The Saints should consider themselves lucky that they won't have to spend this year's Senior Bowl week interviewing potential replacements.

None of New Orleans' assistant coaches or front office executives were poached during this year’s NFL hiring cycle, despite the team's breakout 2017 season. But Allen, Ireland and others could emerge as hot commodities next year if the Saints have a repeat performance.

Maybe the rest of the league needs a "prove it" performance since the Saints had been struggling for the past three years before things finally came together in such impressive fashion this season.

Allen, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. and assistant head coach/tight ends coach Dan Campbell could all earn their way back into the head coaching mix with another good year. And several other assistants could become coordinator candidates (the NFL Network reported that secondary coach Aaron Glenn could still be in play this year for the New England Patriots' defensive coordinator vacancy when Matt Patricia is expected to leave in two weeks).

Likewise, in the front office, Ireland's outstanding work during New Orleans' past three draft classes should earn him another shot at a GM job at some point. And pro personnel director Terry Fontenot could continue to be a young front office name on the rise if the Saints can repeat the free-agent success that they had not only in the spring (Larry Warford, A.J. Klein, Ted Ginn Jr., Alex Okafor, Manti Te'o, etc.) but as the season went on and they had to fill in for 10 starters going on injured reserve.

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