Rob Ryan Fired as Saints Defensive Coordinator

Rob Ryan's job status varied from potentially fired to not fired to officially fired on Monday after New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton confirmed Ryan will no longer be the team's defensive coordinator.

"We made a change, and it just didn't time up with when I was meeting with the media," said Payton, per Joel A. Erickson of the New Orleans Advocate.

Dennis Allen will take Ryan's place on the sideline, per ESPN.com's Chris Mortensen (via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).

Earlier in the day, Payton refuted a report from FoxSports.com's Alex Marvez that stated Ryan was on the verge of being fired. Ramon Antonio Vargas of the New Orleans Advocate provided updates on the situation:

Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune didn't see Payton's comments as a ringing endorsement of Ryan or something providing the 52-year-old with much in the way of job security and was proved correct:

New Orleans is coming off a 47-14 defeat to the Washington Redskins on Sunday. Washington gained 514 yards as a team, and quarterback Kirk Cousins finished 20-of-25 for 324 yards and four touchdowns.

ESPN TV's Trey Wingo noted the Saints made the wrong kind of history:

New Orleans is allowing an NFL-worst 425.9 yards and 31.5 points per game. Football Outsiders also ranked the Saints last in the NFL in defense DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average). Little has changed from last year, when New Orleans finished 31st in yards allowed and 28th in points allowed.

Here's how the Saints defense has performed during Ryan's two-plus years on the sideline, per Pro-Football-Reference.com:

Season	Total Yards Allowed	Points Allowed	Takeaways	Rush. Yards Allowed	Pass. Yards Allowed
2013	4th	4th	29th	19th	2nd
2014	31st	28th	28th	29th	25th
2015	32nd	32nd	21st	29th	30th

It would be unfair to pin all of New Orleans' defensive problems on Ryan since he's not on the field. And general manager Mickey Loomis hasn't done a great job of building up the defense from a personnel perspective, either.

Still, Ryan deserves a share of the blame, and the issues plaguing the Saints were also problems at some of his previous stops, too. Just five times between 2004 and 2014 has Ryan coached a defense that finished in the top 20 in yards or points allowed.

Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com wondered if Ryan is coasting on reputation alone at this point:

Payton and Loomis needed to act sooner rather than later if they were having any questions regarding Ryan's future.

At 4-6, the Saints aren't out of the NFC playoff race, but they have a lot of work to do if they're going to secure a wild-card spot. One or two more defeats will all but eliminate them from the equation.

Plus, New Orleans has a bye in Week 11, so Allen will have a little more time to work with his players before implementing his system in a game.