Originally Posted by Mecca:
I was just reading a story that Arthur Blank was in a panic and freaking out because their HC search had gone terribly.
It has to be. I get keeping Bowles and Dennis Allen around because those teams are just keeping their pipes together with masking tape at this point. Knowing they can win a bad division if they just give it one last desperate gasp.
Atlanta is a really good team if they just plug in a good qb. Go get yourself a Kirk cousins and they’re in it to win a shit division. Go use your great draft capital to find a qbotf. Arthur blank is a good owner so this just blows my mind that they’ve sunk this low [Reply]
Before the Falcons even parted ways with Arthur Smith, there were murmurs that Arthur Blank was intrigued with the idea of bringing in Bill Belichick to replace him.
That was even before the Patriots and Belichick went their separate ways. Once both sides were available, national pundits one by one reported that Belichick was Blank’s top target.
At one point, it was basically assumed that Bill Belichick would be named the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. As of yesterday, they’ve satisfied the Rooney Rule and are free to hire whichever coach they please without any penalties, but they haven’t.
Most recently, Adam Schefter went as far as to say on Get Up that he shouldn’t be considered the favorite, considering the Falcons have only expanded their search, interviewing more than a dozen candidates with half of them already interviewed twice or scheduled to.
That’s quite a turn of events from the beginning of the process. So, what’s happened between then? Well, there’s clearly an internal power struggle going on within the Falcons organization.
Albert Breer pointed out on The Rich Eisen Show that the organizational structure component to bringing Bill Belichick into the fold with Rich McKay and Terry Fontenot could be a holdup.
To add even more context to the situation, Zach Klein recently expanded on the situation with Brian Barrett on the Off The Pike podcast.
Klein went as far as to say that Belichick would 1000% not be reporting to Arthur Blank via Rich McKay every single Monday after a game. Klein says that Blank has met with his head coaches every single Monday for the entirety of his tenure as Falcons owner, and as he’s aged, his confidant, McKay, has as acted a liaison of sorts.
None of this is new information, though. The organizational structure with Belichick and McKay was always thought of to be a hurdle that Blank would eventually have to get over. However, Klein did have something to add that was jarring. His sources around the league say that Arthur Blank is “panicking, in total disarray, doesn’t know what to do.”
“I have heard from so many people around the league that say Arthur Blank is panicking, in total disarray, he doesn’t know what to do,” the Atlanta-based reporter told Brian Barrett on the Off The Pike podcast.
Before that statement, Klein brought up Belichick working in Atlanta for three or so years and how he would impact the front office personnel, rhetorically asking if that’s what he (Blank) wants. Klein added that Blank wants Belichick but doesn’t want everything that comes with him.
Arthur Blank wants to have his cake and eat it too, which doesn’t seem possible with Bill Belichick, Rich McKay, and this Falcons head coaching search. He seems to be struggling with the decision. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
Seattle wants to stay relatively young with their hire it sounds like. A guy who has at least 10 years in the tank.
I'm sure he isn't going to find a place willing to meet his demands. He just probably isn't that coveted at 73 y/o with what the past couple years looked like.
I wouldn't want him to coach the Chiefs if Andy left.
Exactly.
Even after the year we had offensively, I'd promote Nagy before I'd hire Belichick. To say nothing of trying to pry Kafka out of NYG or something.
I just can't see a world where I'm interested in hiring Belichick. The Patriots Way has just become such a poisoned well. [Reply]
Arthur Blank wants to have his cake and eat it too, which doesn’t seem possible with Bill Belichick, Rich McKay, and this Falcons head coaching search. He seems to be struggling with the decision.
And that's the rub.
Would I rather have McKay and Fontenot with Morris in charge? Or Belichick and a couple of the inner circle lackies we all know he'll choose from?
I mean that's just not a question, is it? McKay is really good and Fontenot is highly regarded in his own right. That's the foundation for a long and productive front office. If you have that in place, you're only ever one hire (and a good QB) away from being a division winner.
You don't scuttle that for a coach with an expiration date. [Reply]
Even after the year we had offensively, I'd promote Nagy before I'd hire Belichick. To say nothing of trying to pry Kafka out of NYG or something.
I just can't see a world where I'm interested in hiring Belichick. The Patriots Way has just become such a poisoned well.
For a while I sure thought the Nagy promotion was a lock... then I forgot that both the HC and GM report to Clark. I'm sure Clark will hear Veach's argument for Nagy if he provides it, but will he follow through on it...
Do you try to maintain the culture by staying within the current staff, or do you just splurge on the most established HC available (like Reid in '13) again?
I think it has to be the former. Veach and Andy work so well together. That needs to be replicated as best as possible.
Nagy catches a ton of shit for a guy who led MITCH TRUBISKY and the CHICAGO BEARS to the playoffs 2/3 years. [Reply]
If Andy surprised everyone and retired Vrable would be an interesting choice. He would need to bring in a strong offensive coordinator but I think he got the most out of what he had in Tennessee. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
For a while I sure thought the Nagy promotion was a lock... then I forgot that both the HC and GM report to Clark. I'm sure Clark will hear Veach's argument for Nagy if he provides it, but will he follow through on it...
Do you try to maintain the culture by staying within the current staff, or do you just splurge on the most established HC available (like Reid in '13) again?
I think it has to be the former. Veach and Andy work so well together. That needs to be replicated as best as possible.
Nagy catches a ton of shit for a guy who led MITCH TRUBISKY and the CHICAGO BEARS to the playoffs 2/3 years.
I still think Nagy can coach. Others will disagree and this season did me no favors. I'd be plenty content with retaining him as a HC in 4 years when Andy finally retires.
But like you, I have ZERO interest in hiring some established veteran and blowing up a foundation that's been the most successful in football over the last decade or so. This isn't a solar system - Andy may be the Sun we orbit around but if/when he burns out, the rest doesn't have to be cast into the hinterlands.
You keep as much as your staff in place as is reasonable doable. Now if you could get a guy like Jon Harbaugh to come in as a CEO style coach and leave the rest of the guys in place (as a former Andy coach himself) - cool, consider that. But some hard-ass like McDermott? Fuck that. Or a complete pivot to someone like McCarthy? Pft.
Whoever comes in is a cog in the machine - not the conductor. [Reply]