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Arthur Smith has said he will call his own games as the Atlanta Falcons’ new coach. But Smith and new general manager Terry Fontenot have both insisted they will work together to decide the makeup of the Falcons roster while both reporting to team president Rich McKay.
Smith and Fontenot also insisted it was far too early to make definitive statements about the future of players like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones as they were officially introduced to the media on Tuesday by Falcons owner Arthur. Blank.
The Falcons have yet to announce an assistant coach hiring.
“I can’t give you instant judgments today because we are still early in this process,” said Smith, 38, who has spent the past 10 seasons working under four different head coaches with the Tennessee Titans – including the last two as offensive coordinator.
Smith said Ryan “has been a great quarterback, and I have all the respect in the world for Matt Ryan, and I look forward to working with him.”
However, Smith added, “It’s more than Matt and Julio. There are a lot of talented players on this roster, whether you’re talking about Chris Lindstrom, Grady Jarrett… I mean, there are so many players. “
Smith also made it clear that he would build on the strengths of players in the Atlanta roster, rather than trying to replicate the 2,000-yard running season that Derrick Henry just produced under his leadership in Tennessee. He pointed out that the Cleveland Browns have an excellent two-handed tandem, for example.
“We have adapted to Derrick, but there is only one Derrick Henry,” said Smith. “It’s like having Shaquille O’Neal in his prime. You have to feed the big guy. And we certainly did in Tennessee. But you adapt to whatever strengths you have. There are a number of ways to do it.”
Blank and McKay have stressed throughout the hiring process that they will not be dictating any roster decisions to the new GM and coach. Blank said he believed the Falcons could realistically go from worst to first in NFC South after the team was more competitive than his suggested 4-12 record in 2020. But at the same time, he did. said they couldn’t “go wrong” in thinking they were better than the team that went 7-9 in 2018 and 2019.
They said Atlanta’s goal was to “achieve lasting success” after sacking coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff – who led the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016.
Fontenot and Blank also said that “lasting success” was the main goal.
“We won’t be making decisions that are going to help us in 2021, but that are going to hurt us in 22 and 23,” said Fontenot, who has spent the past 18 years climbing the ranks in the rival’s professional personnel department. of New Orleans Saints. “I know there are a lot of good players out there and I know there are some areas we need to tackle.”
The Falcons are set to surpass $ 30 million more than the reduced NFL salary cap in 2021 with just 31 contracts on the roster, according to ESPN’s roster management system – although the league has yet to announce official salary cap.
They also have the No. 4 pick in the draft.
Fontenot and Smith didn’t know each other before – but both praised the impressions they got during the hiring process. And Blank said each recommended the other for their respective jobs.
Blank said he was impressed with Smith’s success in Tennessee; by the fact that three new coaches all chose to keep Smith on staff and promote him along the way; and by the recommendations he received from people including Joe Gibbs. Smith was on Gibbs Washington staff early in his career.
“I couldn’t be more excited about Arthur Smith. He’s special,” Fontenot added. “I think the most important thing, the most critical factor with the right head coach is having the right leader of the men. He’s a good man, he can connect with the players, he can communicate with everyone in the building, he’s going to be a good communicator. He’s very smart and adaptive. “
Fontenot interviewed four different teams for their GM jobs this cycle, but said he knew the Falcons even better than most because he had studied them so closely for so long as a division rival. Blank praised the perspective Fontenot brought, as well as his winning experience while working with demanding people like coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis. Fontenot choked on his introductory video conference when he spoke about the opportunity Loomis gave him to join the Saints Recognition Department as a 22-year-old marketing intern fresh out of his career. days as security at Tulane University in New Orleans.
And the Louisiana native said his family is already “bleeding black and red” now, showing off his children in their Falcons gear.
Fontenot, 40, is now the fourth black general manager in the NFL and the second hired in this cycle, along with Brad Holmes of the Detroit Lions.
“It’s really a blessing. But I don’t see it as an accomplishment, I see it as an opportunity,” Fontenot said. “And I take that as a challenge, because I need to be successful. I have to do it the right way, operate and be successful – or it’s not fair to the people who are going to follow me. You know, my son He’s 9 years old and he’s going to be managing director. That’s what he told me before. So I have to make sure that I operate in a certain way and that I do things right so that he has a good opportunity when it is his time.
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