The New Orleans Saints have fired coach Dennis Allen after losing their seventh straight game on Sunday, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Monday.

Special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi has been named interim coach, sources told Schefter.

The Saints won their first two games this season but haven't won since. The last defeat was against the Carolina Panthers with a 23:22 defeat.

“I'm going to continue to come here every day and work my ass off, just like I've done every single day I've been here,” Allen said Sunday when asked about his job status.

This is the first midseason firing for the Saints since Tom Benson purchased the team in 1985. The last firing of the season came when Dick Nolan was fired after an 0-12 start to his third season in 1980.

Allen, who replaced Sean Payton as the team's coach in 2022, coached the team in 18-25.

“That's a message that's heard loud and clear,” one player told ESPN regarding Allen's firing.

This is the first time since 1999 that the Saints have lost seven games in a row. The team went 3-13 that season and fired coach Mike Ditka and general manager Bill Kuharich.

Saints general manager Mickey Loomis defended Allen in January after the Saints finished 9-8, citing several Hall of Fame coaches who had slow starts to their careers. Instead, the Saints made sweeping changes to the offensive staff, parting ways with longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael.

While Allen inherited much of former coach Payton's staff when he took over in 2022, the majority of the coaching staff had already been hired by Allen in his third season. Quarterback Derek Carr, signed by the Saints in 2023, was also an Allen selection in the 2014 draft when Allen was with the Raiders.

Allen coached the Raiders for 8-28 and was fired after an 0-4 start to his third season with the franchise in 2014.

Loomis also recently defended Allen again, saying everyone needs to look “beyond the results,” alluding to the significant number of injuries the Saints have had this season. Those injuries included Carr, several offensive linemen and top wide receivers Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave.

Olave suffered his second concussion of the season in Sunday's loss, prompting a tirade from former Saints receiver Michael Thomas, who appeared to blame Carr for Olave's injury in a series of posts to X.

However, Loomis was unable to defend Allen after a loss to the Panthers, who were coming off a win in Sunday's game. The Saints fell to last in total defense before the Panthers game.

The Saints fan base, which expressed its displeasure by leaving the Caesars Superdome in droves during a 33-10 loss to the Denver Broncos and former coach Payton in Week 7, again called for Allen's firing on social media .

Players also took to social media to express their frustration.

“We just lost to the Panthers…I love you all. New Orleans truly had higher expectations and the best hopes for us, you all deserve it,” veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan wrote on X after the game, prompting a heated back-and-forth between Saints and Panthers players over their respective 2-7 records.

Allen spent most of his professional career in New Orleans. He was hired by Payton as an assistant defensive line coach in 2006 and was the secondary coach of the 2009 Super Bowl-winning team.

Allen left the team for a year as the Broncos' defensive coordinator in 2011, but returned to New Orleans in 2015 after being fired from Oakland. Allen took over the defensive coordinator position for Rob Ryan during the 2015 season and remained in that position until he was promoted to head coach following Payton's resignation following the 2021 season.