MUST READ: In Atlanta, Dan Quinn Is Ready to Show Off the Falcons’ Coaching Overhaul

[vel 29,702]

Man, I always love the inside info we get on the Falcons. This article by MMQBSI, as usual, paints a very clear picture on how DQ feels about the coaching staff going forward. Some of us speculated on the positions, roles, etc. on the coaches that have been added. Some were right, some were wrong, but it's clear DQ is no fool and has no ego when it comes to errors he's made and looking for ways to correct them so he doesn't double down on them, making them worse. He's not infallible, but when I tell you he's one of the best coaches in the league, that is one of the reasons why. He's always looking to improve and surround himself with people who feel the same way and aren't above acknowledging they have room to improve as well as holding him accountable. He's not looking for a room full of yes men, and he dam sure got it right from the sound of this article. 

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The Falcons kick off training camp on Monday, and their head coach can’t wait to uncover the changes he’s made this offseason. Also, the latest on Tyreek Hill (and what the NFL should have done), Melvin Gordon’s and Ezekiel Elliott’s contract situations, where the CBA negotiations stand and much, much more.

It was a simple, subtle sign that affirmed Dan Quinn’s offseason decision to overhaul his coaching staff back in January and reset the Falcons ahead of his fifth year at helm. Quinn saw it in game-management meetings, and it brought energy to what would seem to be pretty mundane, it’s-only-spring tasks for the head coach.

And it was written all over the faces of his assistants.

“I’ll say something, and I see Dirk [Koetter] or Mike [Mularkey] or Raheem [Morris] look down and smile,” Quinn says Sunday, just before his players were to report at 1 p.m. ET. “I know they’re reflecting, and they’ll nod their head, like, ‘Yes.’ Those are the moments I know not only do they understand it, but behind the scenes, they’re going to help me share that message with the staff. Those are the things, I know when I hit something and I see the head nod, it’s, ‘I know exactly what you’re saying.’”

Atlanta’s loss to New England in Super Bowl LI is now more than two years behind the team. Since then, the Falcons knocked on the door again in 2017, then didn’t in ’18, spurring Quinn to flip two coordinator spots and take the reins as defensive play-caller, replacing a third fired coach himself.

If you think all those terminations were a shifting of responsibility, or a passing of the buck, in the wake of an injury-marred, 7–9 season, the above moments that Quinn describes—those head nods and smiles—illustrate the rest of the story. Quinn knows that he doesn’t have all the answers. Turning his staff over is representative of that.

He’s also not hiding the specific reasons for making these changes.

“We lost in the divisional round to Philadelphia [in 2017], and that hurt because we had a chance to win it at the end of the game, to go to NFC championship again,” he said. “And when you didn’t get it done, you feel disappointed. For that two-year block [2016-17], one included, offensively, Kyle [Shanahan], and one didn’t. I was impressed by the team, the resiliency to keep going. And so, I fully expected us to reset from that and go battle for it again. 

“I felt like last year, some things that happened for us, not playing to the standard that we’d set for ourselves, in some instances, a reset was needed. Had I not thought that, I wouldn’t have made the changes, because I think [ex-OC Steve Sarkisian is] a fantastic coach, and certainly [ex-DC] Marquand [Manuel], I love him, I worked with him for so long, and same with Keith Armstrong. So those three leadership spots had people I respect, I know, and were good coaches. But sometimes change is needed.”

The Falcons now carry, by Quinn’s count, 400 years of combined coaching experience on the payroll. Koetter, Mularkey and Morris, a holdover from the old staff, have all been NFL head coaches. New senior assistant Bob Sutton was a head coach at Army in the ’90s, and has worked in the NFL in the 19 years since. Greg Knapp, now in his second year back as quarterbacks coach, has coached more than two decades in the NFL, and played in it, too.

Going into the offseason, Quinn couldn’t wait to tap into all of that experience—and he has. In those game-management meetings, they’d watch tape of Koetter in Tampa, of Mularkey in Tennessee, of others in the room as play-callers. They’d trash-talk each other. They’d poke at one another. Most of all, they’d learn, which brought Quinn to a level of vulnerability you don’t always see in NFL head coaches.

“All of them have perspective that I appreciated,” Quinn said. “For me, I asked the question, ‘What does support from me look like for them? How can I help support them?’ And they were just the opposite—‘No, no, no, Q, my job is to support you.’ And that’s exactly what you want to hear, sitting on the other side of the table as the head coach. That’s the whole thing—how can we do it better? And if we can, let’s go for it hard as **** and see where it takes us. Having their influence and experience, that helps a ton, man.

“People who can give and receive feedback, that’s a big thing, especially among peers. It’s one thing for me to give you feedback, and you take it or not. You being able to give it back to me, that’s a big thing. Not everybody wants to do that back to the head coach. I wanted them to know, I really need it.”

And it’s one reason why the eternally-optimistic Quinn can’t wait to take the field on Monday.

 

---

 

From the outside looking in, the Falcons are pretty fascinating. They’ve long had a strong offensive core—Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Jake Matthews are still around, second-year receiver Calvin Ridley looks like a legit breakout candidate and a ton of resources have been poured into the offensive line. A young defensive group has come of age alongside it, and the massive contracts for Grady Jarrett and Deion Jones are proof of that.

Even Jones’s desire for a new deal is being handled peacefully; Jones and Quinn have talked through the break and spoke again on Saturday night about it. Jones reported on time for camp on Sunday, something that didn’t seem like a sure thing just a few weeks ago.

Expectations internally are high, and everything about the Falcons offseason reflects it.

With due respect to the o-line renovation and defensive players cashing in, nowhere is it clearer than in Quinn’s detonation of his coaching staff, with a rare level of unforced change coming from a sitting head coach with a recent Super Bowl on his resume. The time, as Quinn sees it, is now, and last year’s hiccups only crystallized that for him. These changes, accordingly, reflect that.

“When you go through a difficult space, what were the lessons learned?” Quinn asked. “You want to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. What I would say is I’m as motivated to begin a season as I’ve ever been in my life, because I know who the players are, what they stand for, how they work, what the staff’s about. And when I feel that way, you can probably feel the energy in my voice for this team and what I think we can be.”

How’d he go about making these critical changes in what he considers a critical year? Let’s dive in.

He used his own experiences to find an offensive coordinator. Or, as he sees it, two offensive coordinators.

“Going against Dirk, the way that he attacks defense has been very difficult to prepare against,” Quinn said. “And then on the other side, I’ve worked one year with Mike [in Miami in 2006], but through the years, going against him and teams he was involved with, the toughness, the attitude, the physicality, those were things I always admired with Mike. So I thought if we could partner some of that concept up together, along with the group of guys, and the vision for the players, that would be really important.”

Initially, Quinn interviewed each of them for the vacancy created by Sarkisian, thinking he wouldn’t be able to get both. When he figured out that might be possible, he had the two of them in, together, for a second interview to see how they’d interact with one another. And he knew there was a nice bonus out there, especially for Ryan—Mularkey was his OC from 2008-11, and Koetter was his OC from ’12-14, so both had standing relationships with the quarterback.

Quinn was selling the idea of Koetter melding his pass-game expertise with Mularkey’s run-game knowhow. But someone was getting the title and the ability to call plays—and that someone was Koetter.

“Mike had to make the bigger sacrifice, because he also had opportunities elsewhere to coordinate,” Quinn said. “So you can imagine how that made me feel, and how excited I was for him to say, ‘I’ve had those opportunities before, and I’m really looking for the right environment for me.’ That meant the world to me.”

This is different, of course, than a couple years ago, when Sarkisian was expected to run a version of what Shanahan had before him. There’s been more change, but there’s also going to be carryover, Quinn told me, with some Shanahan/Sarkisian concepts that worked for the players in-house.

He used his relationships to prepare to juggling calling plays and running the team. Shanahan, in fact, was one of the first that Quinn went to on this—the two former staff-mates talked at the combine. And when Quinn traveled to the owners meetings a month later looking to gather more information, he got a vivid picture of how doable it would be.

“It happened to be a little more common than I thought,” Quinn said. “At the owners meetings, you look around, and you’re like, ‘O.K., offensively, he calls plays, and he calls plays, and he calls plays.’ And I went to the defensive side, and it was, O.K., ‘he does, he does and he does. It was a common conversation, even starting with Kyle. … Mainly, what I was looking for, I was really looking for any blind spots.”

Being able to maintain game management was a big subject in those talks, hence the meetings in the spring. And Quinn had a feel for that, since he called the defense down the stretch and into the Super Bowl in 2016.

What he also knows is, like he said earlier, he will need help. That’s why he refers to linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich as “a de facto” coordinator, calls pass-game coordinator Jerome Henderson’s influence “big”, and says of Sutton, “he’s been such a valuable piece for me.”

“Those three guys, I lean on them a lot for different reasons,” Quinn said. “Sometimes I just want another point of view or good perspective on things.”

He ensured the staff was aligned. With so many new faces, this was important to Quinn. He had the group, including new special teams coach Ben Kotwica, spend a lot of time together, both inside the building and out to grow the synergy he was looking for.

“I know who’s a good golfer. I know who’s a good volleyball player. I know a lot,” said Quinn, laughing. “But more than anything, we connected. And that’s really important, because they’re all recognizing they’re an extension of each other. That, to me, is a big piece of it. I enjoy spending time with those guys, but I also have trust in them, and that trust, like in a lot of relationships, grows stronger the more you’re around them.”

Now, with urgency comes pressure—and while there’s been no indication that Quinn’s coaching for his job in 2019, NBC’s Peter King wrote that Falcons owner Arthur Blank is growing “restless” in May, and that kicked up the kind of hornet’s nest that could make things awkward for a coach. So I asked Quinn directly about it at the end of our talk.

“I didn’t see it. I know of it. And I know the people whose opinions really matter to me, and Arthur’s one of them,” Quinn said. “I know exactly where I stand with him. For me, having that kind of relationship helps, so if there was something that came out that was different than what I’d thought, I could easily call him. But that wasn’t the case. I didn’t need to. And there didn’t need to be any retraction or anything like that, because I do communicate with him and know where we’re at, with the things we talk about on a regular basis.

“So it didn’t make me feel one way or another, thank goodness, because of that relationship. If I didn’t have that, you do get into your own head sometimes—What does he mean by that? But let’s be honest, being a head coach, or probably a quarterback, there’s criticism from outside the organization and inside the organization, it goes with the territory.”

And besides, looking at his roster, Quinn doesn’t see any reason why the Falcons wouldn’t be able to shut down that talk over the next six months anyway.

“Every once in a while, things line up for you like you’d like it to, because of what you feel from the team,” he said. “When that happens, it’s hard not to feel a certain way. It’s not just optimism. My glass is usually half-full anyway. It goes deeper than that. When you feel all those things connecting together, and having Deion and Grady signed prior to them getting started for camp, all those things matter, man. Everything matters.

“Staff-wise, new players, new group, my excitement for being involved in the defense and calling some things, those things light me up. I’m definitely ready to get rolling.”

Which is good, it being Day 1 of a totally new year in Atlanta.

The part about Koetter and Mularkey got me most excited, because we've all speculated it. But the concerns DQ had about Koetter's propensity to want to go pass happy were clearly considered, which is exactly why he brought Mularkey, who we all know can create a running game out of thin air. That's what I'm talking about. DQ isn't arrogant or some fool. He sees what we see, and more, and works to make sure he can win with it. Koetter and Mularkey should be able to dismantle defenses on a regular basis with their football knowledge and the talent on the team. 

I can't wait. FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!

[falcons007 18,259]

The key part was these coaches supporting Quinn rather than Quinn baby sitting the OC and DC. Kudos to DQ for getting in previous HC on his staff. Most HC would probably feel insecure to hire former HC who could take their job.

May be will see some Gadget plays dialed up by Mularkey with Sanu. Mularkey didn’t earn the name inspector Gadget for nothing with steelers. 

[papachaz 15,886]

very good article, thanks for posting Vel!

 

[vel 29,702]

3 minutes ago, falcons007 said:

The key part was these coaches supporting Quinn rather than Quinn baby sitting the OC and DC. Kudos to DQ for getting in previous HC on his staff. Most HC would probably feel insecure to hire former HC who could take their job.

May be will see some Gadget plays dialed up by Mularkey with Sanu. Mularkey didn’t earn the name inspector Gadget for nothing with steelers. 

Exactly. He's got legit, HC capable coaches on his staff everywhere. 400 years of experience is ridiculous. And like you said, Mularkey is one of the more creative OCs in the league. I'm excited to see what he and Koetter can come up with. 

[falconidae 21,087]

Great read, know this is about Quinn and the coaches, but I think your observation about Quinn being  willing to surround himself with good people and being willing to change the way he goes about things also applies to TD.

 

400 years of coaching experience, lots of physical talent throughout the roster, a veteran QB in his prime, a HOF WR in his prime, this could be  very good year to be a Falcons fan.

[falconsd56 18,793]

30 minutes ago, vel said:

Exactly. He's got legit, HC capable coaches on his staff everywhere. 400 years of experience is ridiculous. And like you said, Mularkey is one of the more creative OCs in the league. I'm excited to see what he and Koetter can come up with. 

Just don't ask Mularky to call a screen pass

[Schwarzwald 18,311]

All that’s left is for them to give it all they’ve got. Proof will be on Sundays; usually.

[No.11 6,926]

27 minutes ago, vel said:

Exactly. He's got legit, HC capable coaches on his staff everywhere. 400 years of experience is ridiculous. And like you said, Mularkey is one of the more creative OCs in the league. I'm excited to see what he and Koetter can come up with. 

That's saying something, because that's not the impression I got when he was OC in Atlanta. Granted, the coordinator is an extension of the head coach, so I believe that's more so the influence of Smitty and his conservative style. DQ is much more aggressive and I think he'll let MM and DK push the envelope and do whatever it takes to win, and I don't think they'll hold back.

They know the weapons they have. They know Ryan and how good he was and has become since they were last in Atlanta. It'll be interesting to see what they dial up on Sundays with a HC that (no offense to Smitty) won't force a conservative game plan on them.

[Goober Pyle 4,486]

Awesome read Vel! 

[vel 29,702]

Just now, No.11 said:

That's saying something, because that's not the impression I got when he was OC in Atlanta. Granted, the coordinator is an extension of the head coach, so I believe that's more so the influence of Smitty and his conservative style. DQ is much more aggressive and I think he'll let MM and DK push the envelope and do whatever it takes to win, and I don't think they'll hold back.

They know the weapons they have. They know Ryan and how good he was and has become since they were last in Atlanta. It'll be interesting to see what they dial up on Sundays with a HC that (no offense to Smitty) won't force a conservative game plan on them.

I think the bolded part is the key. DQ is gonna let them push the envelope. Mularkey's passing attack wasn't the most creative in Atlanta, but his run game was consistently near the top of the league. 

[Cole World 4,670]

Thanks for posting @vel

Not mentioned in the article but I like @atlbaby guy Jess Simpson. I think he will do some good things with the D-line.

[Draftnut57 3,548]

   For us to get Koetter and Mularkey just blows my mind.. added to the best draft in the History of this team. The stars are lining up for the Falcons... As I've said many times,, the very least we will be in the top 4, but I don't know how we could  miss not makeing it to the SB with the most stacked NFL team I've ever seen in the 50 years I've been a Falcon Fan.

[PokerSteve 23,910]

Great article! Thanks for posting!

The four key words that should give all of us great comfort are, "Quinn is no fool." He also has little to no ego. Literally every thought he's had since firing most of the big dogs on his staff at the end of last season has been how to get this team everything it needs to win a Super Bowl.

His coordinator replacements are unquestionable improvements over all those who left. He's gotten a group who will work together without jealousy or personality clashes. The players on this roster are talented and willing to work hard for each other.

I sense a quiet confidence coming from the locker room in the amount of talent, mixed in with a determination to show the league that 7-9  record last season is not nearly an accurate indicator of where this team is at and what its capabilities are for this year.

All things considered, I honestly feel like Quinn has got this team back on track and This could really be THE YEAR.

 

 

[falcons007 18,259]

39 minutes ago, PokerSteve said:

Great article! Thanks for posting!

The four key words that should give all of us great comfort are, "Quinn is no fool." He also has little to no ego. Literally every thought he's had since firing most of the big dogs on his staff at the end of last season has been how to get this team everything it needs to win a Super Bowl.

His coordinator replacements are unquestionable improvements over all those who left. He's gotten a group who will work together without jealousy or personality clashes. The players on this roster are talented and willing to work hard for each other.

I sense a quiet confidence coming from the locker room in the amount of talent, mixed in with a determination to show the league that 7-9  record last season is not nearly an accurate indicator of where this team is at and what its capabilities are for this year.

All things considered, I honestly feel like Quinn has got this team back on track and This could really be THE YEAR.

 

 

This off season reminds me of the 2012 off season. Get the number 1 seed and win it all. 

[gazoo 19,514]

1 hour ago, vel said:

Exactly. He's got legit, HC capable coaches on his staff everywhere. 400 years of experience is ridiculous. And like you said, Mularkey is one of the more creative OCs in the league. I'm excited to see what he and Koetter can come up with. 

This NFL experience on offense, Keotter, Mularkey, Knapp, Morgan and Morris, combined with our star players familiarity with them, along with 5 preseason games to work kinks out, is why I think it won’t take long to get the offense firing on all cylinders and not shooting itself in the foot with penalties and mistakes. 

There will be a little bit of growing pain early on, but I don’t think enough to be the cause of us losing games early in season. 

Im so freaking geeked up about this new OL as it relates to its impact on Ryan’s accuracy, our overall lethality, our ability to play smash mouth and push defenses around when we need to, and our star packed roster on offense.....man oh man is this exciting.

[wnyfalconfan 113]

2 hours ago, vel said:

Man, I always love the inside info we get on the Falcons. This article by MMQBSI, as usual, paints a very clear picture on how DQ feels about the coaching staff going forward. Some of us speculated on the positions, roles, etc. on the coaches that have been added. Some were right, some were wrong, but it's clear DQ is no fool and has no ego when it comes to errors he's made and looking for ways to correct them so he doesn't double down on them, making them worse. He's not infallible, but when I tell you he's one of the best coaches in the league, that is one of the reasons why. He's always looking to improve and surround himself with people who feel the same way and aren't above acknowledging they have room to improve as well as holding him accountable. He's not looking for a room full of yes men, and he dam sure got it right from the sound of this article. 

The part about Koetter and Mularkey got me most excited, because we've all speculated it. But the concerns DQ had about Koetter's propensity to want to go pass happy were clearly considered, which is exactly why he brought Mularkey, who we all know can create a running game out of thin air. That's what I'm talking about. DQ isn't arrogant or some fool. He sees what we see, and more, and works to make sure he can win with it. Koetter and Mularkey should be able to dismantle defenses on a regular basis with their football knowledge and the talent on the team. 

I can't wait. FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!

Great post. Thanks for sharing that article

[Stray Dog THA GAWD 4,205]

He better show out, or he's toast!

[FalconsIn2012 24,542]

@vel

If this doesn’t get you excited about 2019, nothing will.  Thanks for the bolded cliff notes.

Koetter, Mularkey, Knapp & Morris represent every offensive system in football.  Morris is our Joker IMO. I don’t think people recognize how important he is to the offense and the team as a whole.

So long as those 4 can speak with a single unified voice on Sunday’s, we should be able to impose our will on any defense we see. Once again make teams play on our terms.  

[Brewcrew 2,695]

56 minutes ago, FalconsIn2020 said:

@vel

If this doesn’t get you excited about 2019, nothing will.  Thanks for the bolded cliff notes.

Koetter, Mularkey, Knapp & Morris represent every offensive system in football.  Morris is our Joker IMO. I don’t think people recognize how important he is to the offense and the team as a whole.

So long as those 4 can speak with a single unified voice on Sunday’s, we should be able to impose our will on any defense we see. Once again make teams play on our terms.  

 

This is what I’m excited to see.  Idealistically, we have the collective experience on offense to create specific game plans to go against any defense.  Sark was too one-dimensional and didn’t adjust well enough.

[FalconsIn2012 24,542]

16 minutes ago, Brewcrew said:

 

This is what I’m excited to see.  Idealistically, we have the collective experience on offense to create specific game plans to go against any defense.  Sark was too one-dimensional and didn’t adjust well enough.

Great points.  Forget scheme.  We will build specific scheme diverse gameplans each week.  Very Patriots like.

[Brewcrew 2,695]

8 minutes ago, FalconsIn2020 said:

Great points.  Forget scheme.  We will build specific gameplans each week.  Very Patriots like.

I remember a few years back in the first rd of the playoffs they ran the ball 12 times and 6 of those were Brady scrambling.  They had 14 total rush yards.  The next week in the second rd they ran it like 40-times for 175 yards.  That’s the scheme flexibility that has made them so great.

[falconidae 21,087]

12 minutes ago, Brewcrew said:

I remember a few years back in the first rd of the playoffs they ran the ball 12 times and 6 of those were Brady scrambling.  They had 14 total rush yards.  The next week in the second rd they ran it like 40-times for 175 yards.  That’s the scheme flexibility that has made them so great.

So, it only takes 4 coaches with 120+ years of experience to equal Belichick.

And, I'm only half joking.

[ButSkiuup 283]

Can they manage the clock, know when to run the ball, and how not to give up games on final plays though 

[Brewcrew 2,695]

6 minutes ago, falconidae said:

So, it only takes 4 coaches with 120+ years of experience to equal Belichick.

And, I'm only half joking.

Sounds about right 

[thamill 1,157]

4 hours ago, Draftnut57 said:

   For us to get Koetter and Mularkey just blows my mind.. added to the best draft in the History of this team. The stars are lining up for the Falcons... As I've said many times,, the very least we will be in the top 4, but I don't know how we could  miss not makeing it to the SB with the most stacked NFL team I've ever seen in the 50 years I've been a Falcon Fan.

The only thing I worry about is all these chefs in the kitchen.  DQ is going to need to make sure everyone understands their role or this could get ugly(a team pulled in different directions offensively from game to game or series to series).