Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

How much Dennis Allen knew of the New Orleans Saints bounty program during his time with the organization is still unclear. His name never came up in any of the reports and he’s certainly not talking about any specifics of his tenure under the now infamous Gregg Williams. But that doesn’t mean he can’t share his opinion of the fallout from Roger Goodell’s harsh punishment handed out.

Last night Allen finally spoke publicly about the scandal during an interview with Sirius radio. While he obviously feels terribly for his former colleagues in the Big Easy, Allen by no means gave his cohorts a pass. In fact Allen went as far as to give Goodell some props for his decision.

“In general, I feel badly for everybody that’s been involved with the whole situation. It’s kind of an unfortunate situation, but the commissioner has made it clear that those type of practices are not acceptable and I support his decisions and what he decided to do from a punishment standpoint.”

Allen also went on to say that he exchanged text messages with the now suspended Sean Payton. No doubt he offered his sentiments for Payton’s one-year exile from the game. Now mind you Allen didn’t go all Drew Brees and cry outrage at what has occurred in the wake of the entire incident. As a coach he’s got to see the big picture in the NFL’s changing climate.

Regardless of his connections to New Orleans, Allen is now his own man. He can be thankful to Payton for the opportunity provided but Allen’s own merit is what’s taken him from defensive assistant to NFL head coach in only a few years.

With all due respect to what’s going on with the Saints, Allen has his own team to be concerned with. No matter his feelings on the matter he’s now in a position to potentially accomplish what Payton has – winning a Super Bowl. In light of what we now know of that championship team in New Orleans you can expect Allen to go about building a winner in a much different fashion.

I think you have to always be forthright with your team and be kind of one step ahead of everything. I think you can play this game in a physical manner without the intent to injure and I think that’s really at the end of the day what the NFL is trying to accomplish.

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Dennis Allen was a defensive coach for the New Orleans Saints during the now infamous era of player bounties. This is a fact. How much he knew of or participated in said scandal is unclear. Allen has yet to comment on the situation but you’d have to imagine that will change soon.

Roger Goodell, in all his commissioner gangster, struck down on the Saints today with an Old Testament type of vengeance today. Saint’s head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for a year while the Saints have been fined $500,000 and will lose draft picks for the next two seasons.

The harshest punishment of all was handed down to the man Allen once directly reported to, Gregg Williams. Widely accepted as the architect of the New Orleans bounty system, Williams has been suspended indefinitely from the league.

Clearly the NFL was only interested in pursuing the men with direct links to the whole operation. That Allen has avoided penalty indicates the league investigation found no evidence of his involvement. In short the Raiders dodged a major bullet.

Williams is longer in New Orleans but that didn’t affect how Goodell saw fit to punish both him and his new employer the St. Louis Rams. Had Allen been found to have had any connection to the fiasco, then surely his status as the head coach in Oakland wouldn’t have made it so that he was out of the reach of the long arm of the NFL law.

This has got to be a bitter sweet moment for Allen. On the one had he’s surely saddened to see friends of his being given such a harsh penalty. On the other there must have been a massive sigh of relief that came with knowing his first year as a head coach can begin without a cloud of uncertainty hovering.

Though the bounty scandal has made plenty of headlines it is a little disconcerting for the punishment to be this harsh. I’m no advocate of internationally trying to injury another but since when is it wrong to try and inflict as much pain as legally possible in a contact sport? I mean, where will the line be drawn? If paying defenders millions of dollars to inflict pain isn’t already a bounty then a $1,500 bonus paid by teammates isn’t going to be much more than a source of pride. Last time I checked the Saints won a Super Bowl with the bounty system in place while the Patriots built a dynasty using a video camera.

Almost makes you wonder if the teams that are perennial losers are the only ones doing things the right way.

It is obvious that Goodell is using the Saints as a means to set an example. Fair or unfair there is no court of appeals in the world of pro football. Gangster Goodell is judge, jury and executioner. Luckily for the Raiders there is no collateral damage associated with Dennis Allen’s very loose connection to bountygate.

Call it whatever you will but Jackson’s efforts resulted in a minor miracle of sorts. That is precisely why McKenzie is said to be looking in all places possible to find the next ex-coach of the Oakland Raiders. That even includes trying to tap fellow AFC West rivals for potential candidates.

According to reports the Raiders are interested in both the defensive and offensive coordinators of the Denver Broncos. Both Mike McCoy and Dennis Allen have popped up on Oakland’s radar. The two men were responsible for coaching up the offense and defense respectively of the defending AFC West champs.

McCoy gets props for reinventing the Donkey offense on the fly when Touchdown Jesus ascended to the throne in Denver. Of course none of the success achieved by God’s Son would have been possible this year without Allen’s work with the Denver defense.

Perhaps just looking to pick the brains of a few rivals, McKenzie can’t possibly be considering installing an offense similar to the high school scheme the Broncos ran this year. However there is no reason why the silver and black wouldn’t be better served with a defensive mind installing a modern defensive scheme. At this point about anything would be better than Al Davis’ outdated, draw-it-up-in-the-dirt defense (with all due respect to what those defensive philosophies meant to the progression of the game).

Beyond the rival Donkeys, the Raiders are also said to be pursuing one of the hotter coaching commodities in the NFL.

New Orleans offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael is expected to interview now that his team is out of the playoffs. Not that he needs much selling but Carmichael has been working with Sean Payton in designing one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses. Safe to say the thought of a great offensive mind getting his hands on Darren McFadden has got to be very tempting. That is if Run DMC can remain healthy.
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