The last thing the Atlanta Falcons need is Greg Knapp at offensive coordinator

[Geneaut 5,506]

https://www.thefalcoholic.com/2018/12/19/18147541/the-last-thing-the-atlanta-falcons-need-is-greg-knapp-at-offensive-coordinator

The last time Greg Knapp was the offensive coordinator for a top 10 offense, I was in my senior year of high school. George W. Bush was president, Hey Ya! by Outkast topped the charts, and the final Lord of the Rings movie landed in theaters. It was a long, long time ago.

What I am unsubtly suggesting is that Greg Knapp has not been a good offensive coordinator, if he ever was, in well over a decade. It’s true that he presided over the #1 rushing attack in the NFL for three consecutive years whilst in Atlanta, but it’s also true that he had Warrick Dunn, T.J. Duckett and Michael Vick all three of those years. His only truly great offenses were in San Francisco in 2001, 2002 and 2003, which has in typical NFL fashion led to him getting job after job after job. He’s comfortable, experienced, and knows his way around a quarterback room, at the very least.

Those qualities make him a fine quarterbacks coach, the position he’s held since 2013. Knapp seems to be a solid dude, but solid dudedom is not the sole qualification to be an offensive coordinator, and D. Orlando Ledbetter’s guess/report that Knapp could be in the running if/whenSteve Sarkisian is fired inspired immediate alarm and disgust in Falcoholic HQ.

This is not to suggest that Sark is definitely gone, mind you, but it has appeared likely for weeks and the talk is not slowing down.

I can’t be emphatic enough here: Hiring Greg Knapp would prove that Dan Quinn is incapable of learning the right lessons. It would signal to me that after tasting Super Bowl success in large part due to Kyle Shanahan’s creativity as a playcaller, and seeing a relatively untested Steve Sarkisian largely fall flat with the same (or even, at the skill positions, better) players and a similar scheme. It’s not about the scheme so much as it is maximizing the talent of this offense’s best players and disguising the weaknesses of the rest, something Shanahan for all his arrogance and Super Bowl mistakes understood quite well. Under him, the offensive line looked brilliant, role players were top performers, and Ryan was an MVP.

 

Replacing Sarkisian with Knapp would signal that Quinn thought Sark’s issues and this offense’s failings were due more to a lack of experience than brilliance. In reality, Sark called some fine games along the way, and Ryan is having a quietly tremendous season despite a doomed offensive line. To hire Knapp—and to a slightly lesser extent, someone like Darrell Bevell—would be to bring aboard a housekeeper to a brilliant old mansion with no floorboards. Someone has to do the hard work, and if you’re going to go with an experienced candidate, you could at least push hard for someone with a long track record of success. Knapp, if we’re being blunt again, simply does not have that.

I’m hoping that this proves to just be a guess, not a prophecy. We know that Dan Quinn is going to survive, and none of us really want to see him fail, whatever we may think of him. If he’s content to sweep out his coordinators but not seek to make smart, well-reasoned hires to replace them, he’s putting all of his hopes into the Falcons being light years better with another draft class and better health. There’s enough talent in Atlanta to believe that might happen, but it’s not a bet I’d want to make if I was in his shoes.

Knapp could preside over a perfectly successful Falcons offense, due to the talent on hand, but he has always been and would remain incapable of elevating it the way your best offensive coordinators do. After falling just short of the team’s first championship two years ago and suffering a humbling season in 2018, it would a potentially fatal mistake for Atlanta.

 

[FalconFanSince1970 21,390]

I didn't read all of that but I totally agree with staying away from Knapp as an OC. Got my vote.

[celtiksage 749]

Heck yeah. No Knapp for me either. We already beat that horse to death years ago. We don't need conservative. If we blow it up, then blow it up all the way. 

[Spts1 4,768]

But I thought most of yall wanted Sark gone...

[Sidecar Falcon 5,799]

Clean sweep of the coordinators and overhaul the assistants/positional coaches. No retreads. Bring in fresh blood and hungry coordinators. 

[Brewcrew 2,656]

I do hope if we bring in another OC that Knapp stays as QB coach to ease the transition.  It’s a role I think suits him fine.

[Rise 636]

Now, I know its going to be Knapp as OC

 

[falcons007 18,242]

I agree, they better find some experienced OC. Not a college guy or OC from 15 years ago.

[falcndave 3,918]

Too many words stuffed into that soapbox. The title was sufficient. I think we are all in agreement.  Beat a dead horse much?

[Jesus 19,449]

So who is the magical OC everyone wants?

[Dirtybird3 2,402]

4 hours ago, Geneaut said:

 

Knapp could preside over a perfectly successful Falcons offense, due to the talent on hand, but he has always been and would remain incapable of elevating it the way your best offensive coordinators do. After falling just short of the team’s first championship two years ago and suffering a humbling season in 2018, it would a potentially fatal mistake for Atlanta.

 

 

 

Idk man Bevell might be the worst Lmao 

[Rise 636]

4 hours ago, celtiksage said:

Heck yeah. No Knapp for me either. We already beat that horse to death years ago. We don't need conservative. If we blow it up, then blow it up all the way. 

Matt can't handle a wide-open offense. Koetter tried it here, and lost to 49ers with 2 bad records to follow. Shanahan and Ryan leaned on the running game in 2016.

Conservative, and game-managing a power running-game to protect a bad defense may be the way to go now.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Rise

[ATLFalcon36 2,165]

1 hour ago, Jesus said:

So who is the magical OC everyone wants?

Kubiak or bust

[Jesus 19,449]

9 hours ago, ATLFalcon36 said:

Kubiak or bust

He really isn't available.

[Duff_Man 11,485]

Feel like we've been here before...

[mqg96 2,147]

15 hours ago, slickgadawg said:

But I thought most of yall wanted Sark gone...

What does that have to do with not wanting Knapp as the OC? Completely irrelevant to the topic. 

[etherdome 4,879]

I prefer keeping Sark over hiring Knapp.  

Honestly, I would concentrate on the OL (personnel and coaching).  This mediocre-to-poor OL is killing the team.  

[Spts1 4,768]

44 minutes ago, mqg96 said:

What does that have to do with not wanting Knapp as the OC? Completely irrelevant to the topic. 

Has everything to do with the topic.  There is no guarantee that the next coordinator is gonna do better than Sark and most likely they will do worse.  Sark is a good coordinator...

[mqg96 2,147]

10 minutes ago, slickgadawg said:

Has everything to do with the topic.  There is no guarantee that the next coordinator is gonna do better than Sark and most likely they will do worse.  Sark is a good coordinator...

LMAO, you have got to be trolling here....

[celtiksage 749]

 

14 hours ago, Jesus said:

So who is the magical OC everyone wants?

I don't really know. Find someone from Andy's tree. Who is KC's QB coach? No way we lure Kubiak away from Denver. 

[Spts1 4,768]

1 hour ago, mqg96 said:

LMAO, you have got to be trolling here....

No. I'm pointing out the facts.  People ASSUME there is a coordinator out there that will make that offense perform better than what Sark did.  Also, there are worst coordinators in the NFL than Sark.  The Falcons have numerous problems but folks act like Sark is one of the main ones when he is not. 

[fuego 13,672]

18 hours ago, Geneaut said:

I can’t be emphatic enough here: Hiring Greg Knapp would prove that Dan Quinn is incapable of learning the right lessons.

 

18 hours ago, celtiksage said:

Heck yeah. No Knapp for me either. We already beat that horse to death years ago. We don't need conservative. If we blow it up, then blow it up all the way. 

 

17 hours ago, Sidecar Falcon said:

Clean sweep of the coordinators and overhaul the assistants/positional coaches. No retreads. Bring in fresh blood and hungry coordinators. 

THIS. 

[jlrfalcon 3,301]

Sark's biggest problem is his inability to adjust - note how our offense can never come back in games because the offense cannot make adjustments when an opposing defense is beating us a certain way.  Note that it took almost 2/3 season for him to realize that Schraeder was not performing like his prior years and replace him.  Note that our offense played well through week 9 against the Redskins but when opposing defenses learned to play us differently, our offense collapsed until maybe this past week or 2 (way too long to adjust to the new coverage).  Note that it took almost a whole season for Sark to supposedly adjust the playbook from the way Shanahan had it.

Perhaps we can find an OC who is a quick adapter and that this offense can quickly adapt back to its 2016 levels.

[shc 1,933]

1 hour ago, jlrfalcon said:

Note that it took almost 2/3 season for him to realize that Schraeder was not performing like his prior years and replace him.

Is that a Sark issue or a Quinn issue

[FinalScore2.0 956]

1 hour ago, shc said:

Is that a Sark issue or a Quinn issue

Really it's a Schraeder issue but yeah, Quinn and Dimi decides the roster and the Oline coach should be the first to say it's time to make a change.