Arthur Smith said he will define his own moves as the new Atlanta Falcons coach. But Smith and new general manager Terry Fontenot insisted that they will collaborate in deciding the composition of the Falcons list, while both report to the team’s chairman, Rich McKay.
Smith and Fontenot also insisted that it is too early to make any definitive statements about the future of players like Matt Ryan and Julio Jones during their formal presentation to the media on Tuesday by Falcons owner Arthur Blank.
The Falcons also did not announce any hiring of a technical assistant.
“I cannot give you any hasty judgment today because we are still at the beginning of this process,” said Smith, 38, who has spent the past 10 seasons working with four different Tennessee Titans coaches – including the final two as an offensive coordinator.
Smith emphasized that Ryan “has been an excellent defender 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 list, if you’re talking about Chris Lindstrom, Grady Jarrett … I mean, there are so many players.”
Smith also made it clear that he will build around the strengths of the Atlanta squad’s players, rather than trying to replicate the 2,000-yard running season that Derrick Henry just produced under his supervision in Tennessee. He pointed to the Cleveland Browns having a great pair on the running back, for example.
“We have adapted to Derrick, but there is only one Derrick Henry,” said Smith. “He’s like having Shaquille O’Neal at his peak. You have to feed the big guy. And we certainly did that in Tennessee. But you adapt to your strengths. There are several ways to do this.”
Blank and McKay emphasized throughout the hiring process that they would not dictate any casting decisions for the new GM and coach. Blank said he believes the Falcons can realistically jump from the worst to the first at NFC South after the team is more competitive than their suggested 4-12 record in 2020. But at the same time, he said they couldn’t ” fool us “thinking they were better than the team that went from 7 to 9 in 2018-2019.
They said the goal in Atlanta is to have “sustained success” after the team fired coach Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff – who took the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 2016.
Fontenot and Blank also said that “sustained success” is the main focus.
“We are not going to make decisions that will help us in 2021, but they will hurt us in 22 and 23,” said Fontenot, who has spent the past 18 years moving up the ranks in the professional personnel department of rival New Orleans Santos. “I know there are a lot of good players on this list and I know there are some areas that we need to address.”
Falcons are projected to be more than $ 30 million above the NFL’s reduced salary cap in 2021, with only 31 contracts on the list, according to ESPN’s Roster Management System – although the league has yet to announce a number official salary cap.
They also have choice 4 in the draft.
Fontenot and Smith did not know each other before – but both praised the impressions they gained during the hiring process. And Blank said that each recommended the other for their respective jobs.
Blank said he was impressed by Smith’s success in Tennessee; the fact that three new coaches chose to keep Smith on the team and really promote him along the way; and the recommendations he received from people, including Joe Gibbs. Smith was on Gibbs’ team in Washington early in his career.
“I couldn’t be more excited about Arthur Smith. He’s special,” added Fontenot. “I think the most important thing, the most critical factor with the right coach is having the right leader of the men. He is a good man, he can connect with the players, he can connect with everyone in the building, he will be a good communicator. He is very intelligent and adaptable. “
Fontenot interviewed four different teams for their jobs at GM this cycle, but said he knew the Falcons even better than most because he had been studying them closely for so long as a division rival. Blank praised the perspective Fontenot brought, as well as his winning record while working with demanding people like coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis. Fontenot was thrilled during his introductory videoconference when he talked about the opportunity that Loomis gave him to join the Saints scouting department when he was a 22-year-old marketing intern, fresh out of his days as a security guard at Tulane University in New Orleans. .
And the Louisiana native said his family is already “bleeding black and red” now, displaying their children in their Falcons outfits.
Fontenot, 40, is now the fourth black general manager of the NFL and the second hired in this cycle, along with Detroit Lions’ Brad Holmes.
“It’s really a blessing. But I don’t see it as an achievement, I see it as an opportunity,” said Fontenot. “And I take it as a challenge, because I need to succeed. I need to do things the right way, operate and succeed – or that’s not fair to the people who will come after me. You know, my 9 year old son and he’s going to be a GM. That’s what he already told me. So I need to make sure that I operate in a certain way and do things the right way so that he has a great opportunity when his time comes.