Ten Things Smitty Needs To Do In 2014

[FalconFanSince1970 24,785]

TEN THINGS SMITTY NEEDS TO DO IN 2014

10. Squelch the buzz words - he is known for dropping buzz words and phrases that come back to haunt him. Things like resiliency, grit, stronger, faster, tougher and explosive. And of course the infamous "sacks are overrated" bush it. These notions sound good at first but kinda make him a laughing stock when they backfire

9. Coach around the 2011 CBA - make no mistake the players got a decent deal in the most recent CBA. Things like limited practices and limited padded practices are laughed at by retired NFL players who were subject to two a days in full pads and hot, humid conditions. All coaches are faced with these challenges. Smitty needs to find ways around this. He already has brought in more tackling dummies and emphasized better tackling techniques. Hopefully the players benefit from this. He needs to find more creative ways to skirt the watered down CBA

8. Demand better execution from players and coaches - truth be told, in the last six seasons, Smitty had the players in position to win more games but was let down by shoddy execution. Things like whiff sacks, missed tackles, whiff blocks, dropped passes, dropped INTs, stupid penalties, overthrown balls, underthrown balls, fumbles, blown coverages, you name it. He needs to hold players and position coaches more accountable for this keystone cop activity. Make them put some skin in the game. Fines and benchings may be a good start

7. Coach up some mofos - there's no doubt Dimi hasn't dealt Smitty a full deck of competent players. Especially on the lines. That may improve this year with his offseason acquisitions of Soliai, TJax, Hageman, Asa and Jake, but he still needs to do a better job of coaching up some of Dimi's weaker players. Remember Archambeau? They coached that mofo up to double digit sack years. Or some of the Olinemen like McClure, Salaam, Forney and Shaffer. This may fall more on Tice and Cox, but Smitty is ultimately responsible for making sure this happens

6. Be agressive - from start to finsih. Press the opposing offenses and defenses. Blitz more, go deep, run trick plays and keep your foot on the pedal. From kick off until the clock hits 00:00. Even if you're up by 30 points. Drop the kindler, gentler bush it. Especially against teams like the Aints who would do the same thing to us in a heartbeat. Be ruthless and unrelenting. And throw that dam pad away. Especially when a player makes aggressive play or penalty, a la Asante against the Aints in 2012 or Alford @BUF last year

5. Defer on the coin toss - I know this may be a departure from your PMO but I think you should try it this year. Many coaches do this. Yes it might put our shoddy defense on the field first but this is the year we need the defense to RTFU and stop some dam body. I'm not sure what the stats are but I bet we have received the opening kick nearly 90% of our games under Smitty. I think this explains why we get trounced in the third quarter and end up scrambling in the fourth quarter

4. Make better half time adjustments - again, I think the main reason we get bounced in the third quarter is because we kick off and end up with one or two drives on offense. But we also seem to be getting out coached in the third quarter by coaching staffs that adjust well at halftime. We have to do better. Stay aggressive, change up the attack. Not all coaches are good adjusters so you may have to do this in pre-game planning

3. Gain one freaking yard - I don't know how many times we have failed on third or fourth and one in the last three years, but I do know it was way too much. Yes I know this might have been due to Dimi's Olinemen but it has to stop now! It may take more creative playcalling or better jumbo package substitutions but we need to gain one freaking yard by any means necessary

2. Beat the dam Aints - Come on man, we are 3-9 against them bastages over the last six years. That's the worst head to head record against the AInts of all the NFCS teams. This is unacceptable. Yes I know most of the losses were in close games, but that is no excuse. For some reason your players go keystone against them with whiff sacks, dropped TDs, phantom fumbles and more. This needs to stop in 2014. A minimum of a split is in order, but a sweep should be the goal

1. Win in the second season - first of all we need to get to the second season. Start now. Don't get punked by HOU or TEN in practice like CIN and TEN punked us last year. Win some dam preseason games. I believe we are like 1-11 in the last three seasons. Establish a winning attitude starting next week against MIA and carry it over to the Aint game. When we get to the post season, pull out all the stops. From the coaches to the waterboys. It should be win or go home in 2014

[Smiler11 6,293]

Better clock management.

[FuhRealDoh 233]

Ditch the notepad

[Supes™ 8,623]

#2 has to be moved to #1 when Sept. 7th gets here.

Well done, FFS70.

[CTann 2,823]

I want to see him throw down at least one more headset like old times.

[mc 777]

U take those phrases outof context and every coach has them.

[FalconDiddly18 1,254]

#1 Run the ball. You can't be tough and physical throwing the ball. Look at the top defenses/teams like the 49ers, and Seahawks. They run the ball on offense out of power formations to help set the tone for the game.

The Packers have the best QB in the league but their OL is spotty, they ran the ball last year with lacy to help protect Rodgers. They get it. We need to do the samething at least until our line gels.

[Lornoth 12,248]

I disagree with #1 but otherwise this is a very good list of things, even if you admit a lot of them may not involve him hahah.

[papachaz 19,305]

U take those phrases outof context and every coach has them.

have to agree with FFS70 on this one, I think the most resilient thing about this team has to be his cap, as many times as he's tipped it......

[Top Flight 1,017]

DEFER! DEFER DEFER DEFER!

[peoriabird 1,162]

Why not just get a new coach that already knows all of the above?

[Shoggoth42 139]

1 through 10: Pull his head outta his ***!

[falconidae 21,327]

Get number one done, none of the rest matters.

[Dominique is Manufique 638]

i've often thought the 3rd quarter was our nemesis because we do always receive to start our games. i think the general preference to receive the ball in the second half is a good one because generally you'd rather win the second half than the first half.

good insight on smith for sure. he hopefully has gone back to the drawing board on a lot of things after last year including his coaching style...

[Dominique is Manufique 638]

winning preseason games does matter. it shows that depth is there. but as the great marv levy said, "depth is great until you have to use it."

[falconidae 21,327]

i've often thought the 3rd quarter was our nemesis because we do always receive to start our games. i think the general preference to receive the ball in the second half is a good one because generally you'd rather win the second half than the first half.

...

Really don't understand the reasoning there- I've always thought the 3rd quarter woes came about because Falcons have had undersized linemen on both sides of the line of scrimmage and they simply wore down.

[shockerfalcon 1,934]

Not sure I agree with the defer thing. Maybe at home. Haven't the Falcons either led the league or been in top 3 in first possession scoring? When you're built around your QB don't you want to put the ball in his hands as much as possible

[Dominique is Manufique 638]

well, the idea to get an extra possession in the third quarter is what i'm considering. i have noticed just about every other coach out there defers...anyone who doesn't?

[blizzard_falcon 2,450]

winning preseason games does matter. it shows that depth is there. but as the great marv levy said, "depth is great until you have to use it."

Honestly, losing all the preseason games isn't what concerned me last year. It's that the first team offense and defense didn't look good at all, especially against Tennessee. That really opened my eyes to the fact that we may have had some problems... and then all the injuries happened in September to really sink any chances of a good season.

[rollo lawson 955]

#1 Run the ball. You can't be tough and physical throwing the ball. Look at the top defenses/teams like the 49ers, and Seahawks. They run the ball on offense out of power formations to help set the tone for the game.

The Packers have the best QB in the league but their OL is spotty, they ran the ball last year with lacy to help protect Rodgers. They get it. We need to do the samething at least until our line gels.

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^

[Tuggle'2 47,648]

Only one that I care about is #1. The rest I can agree with though.

[PrimitiveJN 1,379]

I want to see him throw down at least one more headset like old times.

He also should have fought Vaccaro like he tried to fight Hall

[KGrillz 438]

#1 Sweep the Saints

[CTann 2,823]

He also should have fought Vaccaro like he tried to fight Hall

THIS!

[falconcrest58 543]

TEN THINGS SMITTY NEEDS TO DO IN 2014

10. Squelch the buzz words - he is known for dropping buzz words and phrases that come back to haunt him. Things like resiliency, grit, stronger, faster, tougher and explosive. And of course the infamous "sacks are overrated" bush it. These notions sound good at first but kinda make him a laughing stock when they backfire

9. Coach around the 2011 CBA - make no mistake the players got a decent deal in the most recent CBA. Things like limited practices and limited padded practices are laughed at by retired NFL players who were subject to two a days in full pads and hot, humid conditions. All coaches are faced with these challenges. Smitty needs to find ways around this. He already has brought in more tackling dummies and emphasized better tackling techniques. Hopefully the players benefit from this. He needs to find more creative ways to skirt the watered down CBA

8. Demand better execution from players and coaches - truth be told, in the last six seasons, Smitty had the players in position to win more games but was let down by shoddy execution. Things like whiff sacks, missed tackles, whiff blocks, dropped passes, dropped INTs, stupid penalties, overthrown balls, underthrown balls, fumbles, blown coverages, you name it. He needs to hold players and position coaches more accountable for this keystone cop activity. Make them put some skin in the game. Fines and benchings may be a good start

7. Coach up some mofos - there's no doubt Dimi hasn't dealt Smitty a full deck of competent players. Especially on the lines. That may improve this year with his offseason acquisitions of Soliai, TJax, Hageman, Asa and Jake, but he still needs to do a better job of coaching up some of Dimi's weaker players. Remember Archambeau? They coached that mofo up to double digit sack years. Or some of the Olinemen like McClure, Salaam, Forney and Shaffer. This may fall more on Tice and Cox, but Smitty is ultimately responsible for making sure this happens

6. Be agressive - from start to finsih. Press the opposing offenses and defenses. Blitz more, go deep, run trick plays and keep your foot on the pedal. From kick off until the clock hits 00:00. Even if you're up by 30 points. Drop the kindler, gentler bush it. Especially against teams like the Aints who would do the same thing to us in a heartbeat. Be ruthless and unrelenting. And throw that dam pad away. Especially when a player makes aggressive play or penalty, a la Asante against the Aints in 2012 or Alford @BUF last year

5. Defer on the coin toss - I know this may be a departure from your PMO but I think you should try it this year. Many coaches do this. Yes it might put our shoddy defense on the field first but this is the year we need the defense to RTFU and stop some dam body. I'm not sure what the stats are but I bet we have received the opening kick nearly 90% of our games under Smitty. I think this explains why we get trounced in the third quarter and end up scrambling in the fourth quarter

4. Make better half time adjustments - again, I think the main reason we get bounced in the third quarter is because we kick off and end up with one or two drives on offense. But we also seem to be getting out coached in the third quarter by coaching staffs that adjust well at halftime. We have to do better. Stay aggressive, change up the attack. Not all coaches are good adjusters so you may have to do this in pre-game planning

3. Gain one freaking yard - I don't know how many times we have failed on third or fourth and one in the last three years, but I do know it was way too much. Yes I know this might have been due to Dimi's Olinemen but it has to stop now! It may take more creative playcalling or better jumbo package substitutions but we need to gain one freaking yard by any means necessary

2. Beat the dam Aints - Come on man, we are 3-9 against them bastages over the last six years. That's the worst head to head record against the AInts of all the NFCS teams. This is unacceptable. Yes I know most of the losses were in close games, but that is no excuse. For some reason your players go keystone against them with whiff sacks, dropped TDs, phantom fumbles and more. This needs to stop in 2014. A minimum of a split is in order, but a sweep should be the goal

1. Win in the second season - first of all we need to get to the second season. Start now. Don't get punked by HOU or TEN in practice like CIN and TEN punked us last year. Win some dam preseason games. I believe we are like 1-11 in the last three seasons. Establish a winning attitude starting next week against MIA and carry it over to the Aint game. When we get to the post season, pull out all the stops. From the coaches to the waterboys. It should be win or go home in 2014

No news here....but clock management needs to improve