Congrats to former Falcons falcon coaches - Mularkey, Koetter & Smitty

[g-dawg]

Just thought at this time of the year of reflection between Thanksgiving and Christmas - while we are all hopeful and encouraged by our beloved Falcons team - we should at least, on a much lower level (I grant you) say Congrats to some of our past coaches.

Mike Mularkey/HC-Titans- in his second season as head coach(first full season), he has led a Titans team that has not had a winning season in FOREVER - to an 8-6 record - and the team is beginning to assemble some decent talent.   There is no denying he has done a great coaching job in 2016.

Dirk Koetter/HC Bucs- YES he is the enemy.  I enjoyed Koetter's time in Atlanta and thought he did a reasonably good job with the Falcons talent.  My biggest criticism was he was not particularly good in establishing the run game - of course we did not have Alex Mack then either and our O-Line was hot garbage.  Bucs have found their footing at 8-6 and Koetter has been a positive influence and has really helped develop Jameis Winston.  kudos

Mike Smith/DC-Bucs - ah, ol' Smitty.  As much as anyone, I thought it was time for him to leave the ATL as the Falcons had grown stale under his tutelage.  While Tampa got off to a rough start, Smitty has found his way with a talented defense and much of Koetter's success can be tied to Smitty's defense.  It appears that Mike Smith will likely get a second crack at being a Head Coach as many think he is a shoe-in for the Jaguars job.  I will say this - you can do worse than hiring Mike Smith - he is good at establishing a positive culture and getting a team turned around - he did that here in Atlanta - I just question his ability at the playoff level - but first things first - the Jaguars just need to get to the playoffs.

 

Anyway, we have been so conditioned to when coaches/players leave the Falcons that they are never to be heard from again - here is three success stories.  Congrats to them all - although we are rooting against you Koetter and Smitty!!!

[Sergeant]

Matt Ryan is getting a lot of people promotions. Shanahan is next. 

[PeytonMannings Forehead]

Mularley has always been a better coach than he got credit for and ran into some bad luck his first two stints. He finished 9-7 his first season in Buffalo and barely missed out on the playoffs with Drew Bledsoe. The next year they cratered when he was forced to start J.P. Losman, their first rounder the year before. Then when new management tried to force him to make changes to his staff and he refused, he had to go.

In Jacksonville, he just never had a fair chance. The Titans were roundly ridiculed for removing the interim tag but I'm glad it's working out for him in Tennessee. Those players went to bat for him to keep that job at the end of last season.

[PeytonMannings Forehead]

And don't forget Terry Robiski. He's making the most out of that coordinator shot in Tennessee and has that offense playing with an identity.

I thought Mariota would struggle with the pro game. 

25tds to 9 ints... He's had a couple of ugly games but he's looked good overall in his second year. They've done a good job taking the pressure off him in that offense, and building around his strengths.

Edited December 19, 2016 by PeytonMannings Forehead

[raysnill1]

don't forget Bill Musgrave and to a lesser extent Hue Jackson, Mike Zimmer, but Bill has the Raiders and Carr looking real good.

[Jesus]

Koetter had three years to build the line he had. Why do Smitty and Koetter get a pass for the team their inability to develop talent while here?

[MACK4ttACK]

14 minutes ago, Jesus said:

Koetter had three years to build the line he had. Why do Smitty and Koetter get a pass for the team their inability to develop talent while here?

maybe bad luck

[Vandy]

28 minutes ago, Jesus said:

Koetter had three years to build the line he had. Why do Smitty and Koetter get a pass for the team their inability to develop talent while here?

Jesus!

It's kinda silly to lay the OL's lack of 'developed talent' solely at HC and OC feet....but if you must, our two bookend OT's were being developed under them ....no other real talent here to develop on the OL, unless you think Lamar Holmes and Peter Konz were talented guys who suffered from bad coaching?

[Jesus]

50 minutes ago, Vandy said:

Jesus!

It's kinda silly to lay the OL's lack of 'developed talent' solely at HC and OC feet....but if you must, our two bookend OT's were being developed under them ....no other real talent here to develop on the OL, unless you think Lamar Holmes and Peter Konz were talented guys who suffered from bad coaching?

Oh right they had no power in picking those guys.

[raysnill1]

15 minutes ago, Jesus said:

Oh right they had no power in picking those guys.

quite a few of them are with them in Tampa

[RING OF HONOR]

I will celebrate them after we get a playoff birth

[Vandy]

4 minutes ago, Jesus said:

Oh right they had no power in picking those guys.

So just so I understand where you are coming from Jesus, since you hold smith/Koetter responsible for the Drafting of Offense, you also give them credit For drafting all-pro LT Matthews and developing one of leagues best RT Schraeder, correct? So if Smitty had that kind of 'power' you speak of,  then he is one **** of a QB guru (Ryan) and WR whisperer  (Julio) 

you guys tickle me

[fuego]

Dang. That was all Stewart.

[JayOzOne]

I wonder how Hue Jackson and Mike Zimmer would have fared in Atlanta had they not been brought with Knobby ****staino?

[Jesus]

1 hour ago, Vandy said:

So just so I understand where you are coming from Jesus, since you hold smith/Koetter responsible for the Drafting of Offense, you also give them credit For drafting all-pro LT Matthews and developing one of leagues best RT Schraeder, correct? So if Smitty had that kind of 'power' you speak of,  then he is one **** of a QB guru (Ryan) and WR whisperer  (Julio) 

you guys tickle me

Ugh. It all makes sense for you when you put words in other people's mouths.  Oh wait I can do that too...see below.

I commented to the line "we didn't have Alex Mack and our O-line was hot garbage," as an excuse as to why Koetter didn't make it here. My response was that Koetter had three years to improve the line. He didn't do it. In the last year the Falcons had gone from a patchwork mess on the offensive line to one of the best units in the NFL last year. Of course that couldn't have anything to do with improved coaching, drafting/signing, and offensive scheming. Must be dumb luck. 

It is pretty obvious that during his tenure in Atlanta, Smith got the defensive talent he wanted for the scheme he wanted to run. As a result we had average at best defenses that failed when asked to do too much. For a defensive guru none of his leads were ever safe. Do you remember the 2013 NFCCG? Probably not.

Why are the Falcons still in the race this year despite injuries? Depth. Look at the cornerback depth this team has now. Tru goes down, Collins steps in. Collins goes down, UDFAs Goodwin and Poole step in. The GM and scouts are better at finding talent, the talent the coach wants. But it must be dumb luck.

As good as Smitty was at times as a head coach he and his staff were just as bad at developing talent. How many of those guys are still here or even in the NFL? Yes Ryan is of course and Julio and Matthews and Tru. But what about all the depth? Where is Smitty's depth? No one from the 2012 draft lasted two years in the NFL. How many starters are there on the Falcons from the 2016 draft? What about Schraeder? He didn't become a full time starter until...wait for it... 2015. After Smitty and Koetter were, how do you say, fired?

"But wait," you say in a fevered huff, "Koetter and Smith are amazing at spotting talent I mean they drafted Freeman, right. So that means something."

Sure they drafted him and let him sit. How would they know he was a future All-Pro?

"But...but," you stammer, "they did real good drafting Jaquizz Rodgers and then signing him this year in Tampa. I mean look he's the Bucs leading rusher right?"

You are right he is. But then again he was a healthy scratch last night against Dallas. That's right they benched him, 4.4 ypc for Doug Martin and his 2.9 ypc. Yea 2.9. That sound familiar?  Remember Steven Jackson? What a great signing!

What hurt the Bucs last night? They couldn't run the ball. 20 carries 52 yards as a team. That sound familiar? (29,32,24 are the offensive rushing ranks for Koetter in Atlanta. Last year the Bucs were 5 in rushing. This year 21.)  So that offensive genius Dirk Koetter, who had just the worst luck in Atlanta when it came to building his offense, who thought for two years that Steven Jackson had something in his tank, who thought sitting a future All-Pro because he can't see talent, continues to do the same things. But hey good for him the team is winning! Yay!

[Vandy]

10 hours ago, Jesus said:

Ugh. It all makes sense for you when you put words in other people's mouths.  Oh wait I can do that too...see below.

I commented to the line "we didn't have Alex Mack and our O-line was hot garbage," as an excuse as to why Koetter didn't make it here. My response was that Koetter had three years to improve the line. He didn't do it. In the last year the Falcons had gone from a patchwork mess on the offensive line to one of the best units in the NFL last year. Of course that couldn't have anything to do with improved coaching, drafting/signing, and offensive scheming. Must be dumb luck. 

It is pretty obvious that during his tenure in Atlanta, Smith got the defensive talent he wanted for the scheme he wanted to run. As a result we had average at best defenses that failed when asked to do too much. For a defensive guru none of his leads were ever safe. Do you remember the 2013 NFCCG? Probably not.

Why are the Falcons still in the race this year despite injuries? Depth. Look at the cornerback depth this team has now. Tru goes down, Collins steps in. Collins goes down, UDFAs Goodwin and Poole step in. The GM and scouts are better at finding talent, the talent the coach wants. But it must be dumb luck.

As good as Smitty was at times as a head coach he and his staff were just as bad at developing talent. How many of those guys are still here or even in the NFL? Yes Ryan is of course and Julio and Matthews and Tru. But what about all the depth? Where is Smitty's depth? No one from the 2012 draft lasted two years in the NFL. How many starters are there on the Falcons from the 2016 draft? What about Schraeder? He didn't become a full time starter until...wait for it... 2015. After Smitty and Koetter were, how do you say, fired?

"But wait," you say in a fevered huff, "Koetter and Smith are amazing at spotting talent I mean they drafted Freeman, right. So that means something."

Sure they drafted him and let him sit. How would they know he was a future All-Pro?

"But...but," you stammer, "they did real good drafting Jaquizz Rodgers and then signing him this year in Tampa. I mean look he's the Bucs leading rusher right?"

You are right he is. But then again he was a healthy scratch last night against Dallas. That's right they benched him, 4.4 ypc for Doug Martin and his 2.9 ypc. Yea 2.9. That sound familiar?  Remember Steven Jackson? What a great signing!

What hurt the Bucs last night? They couldn't run the ball. 20 carries 52 yards as a team. That sound familiar? (29,32,24 are the offensive rushing ranks for Koetter in Atlanta. Last year the Bucs were 5 in rushing. This year 21.)  So that offensive genius Dirk Koetter, who had just the worst luck in Atlanta when it came to building his offense, who thought for two years that Steven Jackson had something in his tank, who thought sitting a future All-Pro because he can't see talent, continues to do the same things. But hey good for him the team is winning! Yay!

I actually agree with you on some of this.....especially the part about our improved roster depth....although parts of it are embarrassingly simpleton thinking. 

Falcons last two seasons under smith sucked, a lot of reasons for that but bottom line it was time for a change in vision more than anything. But coaching was not the  biggest reason we got to where we were talentwise, If you think smith got everything he wanted talentwse on defense or OL or anywhere else you are incredibly naive. He had say so of course, but he never was running that part of the organization.  Ever.

Jaquizz Rodgers, who "stammered" or even mentioned him? You were talking about the offensive line. Are you off your meds? And FYI Schraeder became our starting RT game 8 of 2014. 

if anything, smitty is proving you and all his other naysayers here wrong as Tampa's young defense is showing he's a pretty **** good coach when given the right talent....be it vets or rookies or whoever.

To be frank, You pointing to Bucs losing Sunday night to 12-2 Dallas on the road as that being a coaching issue just makes you look dumb as ****.  I'm glad they lost, but they played a close game to a superior team talentwise on the road. The fact that the Bucs are still in the playoff chase last two weeks of season is a tribute to their coaching more than anything else.

Edited December 20, 2016 by Vandy

[JOEinPHX]

14 hours ago, g-dawg said:

Just thought at this time of the year of reflection between Thanksgiving and Christmas - while we are all hopeful and encouraged by our beloved Falcons team - we should at least, on a much lower level (I grant you) say Congrats to some of our past coaches.

 

C'mon G, you know those other guys are just the supporting cast to the real talent.

[g-dawg]

6 minutes ago, JOEinPHX said:

C'mon G, you know those other guys are just the supporting cast to the real talent.

I thought this was just understood.   The BUCS go as Weidinger goes! ☺

[kschreck]

Funny how you set out to take a moment to recognize the success of former Falcon coaches and it turns in to an argument that can never be settled.  same ole TATF

[Vandy]

3 minutes ago, kschreck said:

Funny how you set out to take a moment to recognize the success of former Falcon coaches and it turns in to an argument that can never be settled.  same ole TATF

Yeah, I should have let it go. 

My apologies @g-dawg for participating in hijacking your thread. 

[kschreck]

Just now, Vandy said:

Yeah, I should have let it go. 

My apologies @g-dawg for participating in hijacking your thread. 

lol, we've all been there. I haven't been on as much the last couple of years to get into these debates but after going around and around with DKB 30 times on Dunn v. Duckett you would have thought I'd have avoided #31....

[g-dawg]

29 minutes ago, Vandy said:

Yeah, I should have let it go. 

My apologies @g-dawg for participating in hijacking your thread. 

you did not highjack the thread - Jesus did.....

[QuinnTorris]

That picture of Smith and Grimes in Tampa gear....disgusting.