METAIRIE, La. -- The New Orleans Saints are promoting assistants Ryan Nielsen and Kris Richard into the roles of co-defensive coordinators under new head coach Dennis Allen, sources told ESPN's Adam Rittenberg.
Allen previously served as New Orleans' defensive coordinator under Sean Payton, while Nielsen was the assistant head coach/defensive line coach and Richard was the secondary coach.
Allen hinted at his introductory news conference that he will likely continue to call plays for the defense, though he hasn't made that official yet.
The use of co-defensive coordinators is much more common in college than in the NFL.