The 2020 season is over. The Atlanta Falcons finished 4-12, last in the NFC South, and fired longtime general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Dan Quinn. It’s been a season to forget, and with the Hawks officially over, it’s time to look to the future.
On Monday, team owner Arthur Blank and team president Rich McKay held their end-of-season press conference to shed light on the upcoming off-season and where the team is looking for the next general manager and head coach.
Do not hire a fast head coach and GM hire
Arthur Blank says that the interviews conducted by HC and GM ‘went well’. He says the Falcons have a long list of interviews left this week.
– William McFadden (@willmcfadden) 4 January 2021
It has already been reported that the Hawks want to interview virtually San Francisco 49ers defense coordinator Robert Saleh and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemey on Monday morning. It seems the team has a list of other prospects they expect in the coming year. weeks. Although no further names have been provided, we expect them to speak with the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, Arthur Blank, with Todd Bowles, the defense coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the defense coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, Brandon Staley.
No further updates were given on the part of the general manager. It does look like the new general manager will talk about the future of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones in general, while Blank indicates he does not want to tie their hands to make important decisions on the roster. There was no clear question of who the next GM and head coach would be and how quickly we would expect them to be appointed.
Falcons will not use an offensive head coach
McKay says the Hawks made the mistake of utilizing an attacking coach with Petrino, a mistake he says he will own forever. The team will not make a dove hole themselves by focusing only on one side of the ball for their head coaching search
– The Falcoholic (@TheFalcoholic) 4 January 2021
The last time the Hawks appointed an offensive head coach was in 2007 with Bobby Petrino, one of the greatest coaching disasters in NFL history. McKay, who is in charge of the hire, implied during Monday’s press conference that he learned from the situation not to focus only on one side of the ball when looking for a potential head coach.
Although I understand the hesitation, the NFL quickly moved to an offensive league and the Hawks have followed the defensive path in their last two head coaches. Mike Smith won 66-46 with the team and won one playoff game, while Dan Quinn won 43-42 and won three playoffs. In my opinion, it’s time for an offensive spirit that will not be hired after a successful season.
Matt Schaub retires from the NFL
The only real news of the day was probably that Blank announced that longtime NFL fullback Matt Schaub is retiring from professional football. Schaub was drafted by the Hawks in the third round of the 2004 draft and spent much of his first period in Atlanta as the backup for Michael Vick. He returned to Atlanta in 2016 after spending time with the Houston Texans, Oakland Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. Schaub will emerge as the leading Texans forward in yards, tackles and wins.
White wants the team to be competitive every year
Blank says he does not want this organization to be Super Bowl or bust. It has to be competitive for the Falcons every year, not wanting to go through three consecutive seasons like they just did
– The Falcoholic (@TheFalcoholic) 4 January 2021
A pretty vague statement considering which owner does not want their team to be competitive every year, but that remains the goal in Atlanta. After the playoff rounds of 2016-2017, the Falcons entered a playoff drought with three consecutive seasons of 7 or fewer wins. Whether the new regime will be able to make that dream come true remains to be seen, but Blank indicated that he felt the team was closer to 0.500 than their 4-12 record in terms of talent, but it still is not good enough.
It basically sums up the press conference of the end of the season on Monday. Not quite exciting, but if you want to see it for yourself, click here.