NFL's Falcons Hire New Head Coach
Jacksonville Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith Hired by Atlanta
Jan 24, 2008
The Atlanta Falcons introduced Mike Smith as the team’s new head football coach Thursday afternoon at a press conference held at the team’s Flowery Branch, Ga., headquarters.
The NFL team’s new general manager, Thomas Dimitroff, himself hired less than two weeks ago, introduced Smith, the former defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"Mike possesses all of the key qualities we were looking for in a head coach," said Dimitroff, who previously served as the director of college scouting for the Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots. He described Smith as a man who "has strong experience with winning teams, a track record of success, a solid, smart approach to the game, and high character and integrity,“ according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Dimitroff said the team will retain assistant coach Emmitt Thomas, who will serve as assistant head coach. Thomas helmed the team as interim head coach for the team’s last three regular season games after former head coach Bobby Petrino bailed out after 13 games, abruptly leaving the Falcons a day after he assured owner Arthur Blank he’d be there for the long haul. Petrino immediately took the head football coach’s job with the University of Arkansas.
Smith, the 14th head coach in the Falcons’ history, is Blank’s third hire as head coach. After purchasing the franchise in 2002, the Home Depot magnate fired head coach Dan Reeves. Smith is the third consecutive coach Blank’s hired who lacks NFL head coaching experience. Jim More, now an assistant coach with the Seattle Seahawks, was the first coach Blank hired.
According to multiple sources, it was felt that Smith and Dimitroff were simpatico and would work well together. His hiring comes less than a week after Dallas Cowboys’ offensive guru Jason Garrett turned down an offer from Atlanta. In the wake of that, Smith was one of three finalists for the position.
Falcons’ quarterback Byron Leftwich – one of three QBs who started at that position during the team’s disastrous (4-12) 2007 season – spent four years in Jacksonville with Smith and spoke highly of him, telling the AJC, "I've played against his defense more than anybody in the world. I did it every day in practice for four years. I think he's a great guy for the job.”
Smith is a 25-year coaching veteran. After playing linebacker in the Canadian Football League he coached at San Diego State University, Morehead State and Tennessee Tech. Before serving as defensive coordinator for the Jaguars he was defensive line coach and linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Insiders said his four-year contract is between $8-$10 million.
A Franchise in Disarray
Atlanta wanted to interview defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo of the New York Giants, but would’ve had to wait until after the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. New York refused to allow the Falcons to speak with Smith before the end of the regular season.
However the franchise braintrust decided it needed to move more quickly to stabilize operations. Things started to go downhill for Atlanta last spring, when All-Pro quarterback Michael Vick was implicated in an interstate dogfighting ring. Ultimately, Vick pled guilty to a federal count of “conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture,” and was sentenced to two years in prison.
The same day Vick was sentenced was the day Petrino assured Blank he wasn’t going anywhere. Then – after team president/general manager Rich McKay was stripped of his duties as GM – former Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Parcells used the Falcons to weasel a better deal from the Miami Dolphins as executive vice president in charge of football operations, a mirror image of the job he was offered in Atlanta.
All of that occurred amidst criticism on the part of a slew of Falcon players, including tight end Alge Crumpler and All-Pro defensive back DeAngelo Hall.
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