Dennis Allen=Curley Hallman

On two loser coaches

Hired to replace Mike Archer in 1991, Hudson “Curley” Hallman is considered by many to be the worst head coach in the history of LSU football.

Hallman, who famously coached welfare thief Brett Favre in college at Southern Miss, drove LSU football off a cliff and wrecked it.

In the four seasons he spent in Baton Rouge, Hallman didn’t post not one winning season. Sure, he led the Tigers to an upset win over Alabama in 1993 and had guys like Eddie Kennison, Brett Becht, and Kevin Mawae on the roster, but having talent like that doesn’t really ensure you anything if you can’t coach them up.

One of the most notable losses from that era was the 1994 Auburn game.

Thirty years later, I can still hear Bob Carpenter’s “Intercepted again!!!!” call ringing in my ear.

I thought about the Curley Hallman era on Wednesday afternoon after Saints GM Mickey Loomis decided to bring note cards and go on this bizarre tangent about retaining Dennis Allen.

“Well, you see,” Loomis told reporters, “Bill Belichick, Tom Landry, and Chuck Noll all had rough starts to their coaching careers.”

No, seriously, Loomis said this.

While all three did in fact have rough starts to their coaching careers, what’s lost in translation is the fact that by year 4 or 5, those coaches, save for Landry, had won either a division title or a playoff game.

By year 4 in Cleveland, Belichick had a playoff win over the Patriots.

By year 5 in Pittsburgh, Chuck Noll had a division title and an appearance in the AFC Championship Game.

Dennis Allen has neither.

There’s nothing that I’ve seen from this dude that makes me believe that he will turn it around and grow up as a head coach.

It’s not like this organization is growing up with a first-time head coach, which is what happened with Sean Payton when he took over in 2006.

You can look past those words uttered by Loomis if Dennis Allen was in fact a first-time head coach.

Loomis’ constant word salad, which has teetered along the lines of insulting people’s intelligence, has deepened the disconnect between the fanbase and the front office.

Wednesday’s bizzarro show was just another notch of proof.