Blinded by affection, Arthur Blank makes a major mistake - Mark Bradley

[fuego]

Let’s parse Arthur Blank’s statement, shall we? 

“I understand our fans’ disappointment and frustration,” he’s quoted as saying in one of those enlightening Falcons releases. Got that? Uncle Arthur understands your angst. He’s just not prepared to do anything about it. 

Also: “I have long believed that continuity in leadership is important in all businesses.” Because, you know, businesses never change underperforming executives, do they? 

Also: “Our focus must be on giving this franchise the best opportunity to win.” This despite an inconvenient truth: The Falcons haven’t had a winning season since 2017; the calendar is about to turn to 2020. Over five seasons under this administration, they’ve broken .500 twice.

Also: “In my time as owner, and particularly since 2008, we have been one of the winningest teams in the NFC ranking fourth in wins, and across the NFL, tied for seventh in wins, and that remains the only acceptable result for us now and in the future.” So: Does Mike Smith, head coach for the majority of those successful seasons, get his job back? 

This is a mistake. You know it, and surely the high-profile owner knows it. But he loves Dan Quinn, and apparently his affection for Thomas Dimitroff knows no rational bounds. The famous businessman has allowed himself to be swayed by emotion and, worse still, recency bias.

He’s taking the Falcons’ past seven games as the truth. He’s dismissing those first eight as the aberration. You know better. He probably does, too. He’s keeping the gang intact anyway, with one twist, that being … 

Rich McKay. 

Since lobbying for the hiring of Bobby Petrino, another fine-feathered choice, McKay had been charged with getting a new stadium built. That came to fruition in the summer of 2017 – apart from the retractable roof, which took a while longer – and it led many to ask: “What’s Rich McKay doing now?” We have our answer. He was resting up so he could become another layer of bureaucracy. 

When Quinn was hired in February 2015, he answered not to Dimitroff, then as now the retainer of his GM job, but to the high-profile owner. Now Quinn and Dimitroff will report to McKay, who will report to Blank, who reports to nobody. This in itself should lead to 13 wins next season, easy. Yes, I’m kidding.

In his affection for this coach/GM and his overvaluing of the past seven games, Blank is seeing something that isn’t there. It was for a while, but then a 28-3 lead went away and nothing since has been very good. He’s seeing the Falcons who led the Patriots by 25 points. Nobody else has seen those Falcons since the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 51. The date on that: Feb. 5, 2017. 

It beggars belief – the Falcons throughout their existence have beggared belief – that this regime has been granted another year after a 1-7 start that may have marked a franchise nadir in coaching, which is saying something. From the first quarter of the opener in Minneapolis to the first half of Game No. 8 against Seattle, the Falcons had no idea what they were doing.

This was made evident when the subsequent bye week saw Quinn essentially fire himself as defensive coordinator. Somehow, though, he remains indispensable as head coach. 

What Blank is doing reminds us of what, four years ago, Greg McGarity didn’t do. The 2015 Georgia Bulldogs were embarrassed at home by Alabama. They followed that by losing to Tennessee, as coached by champion of life Butch Jones. They then beat Missouri 9-6 in the worst game ever played. They then were routed by Florida as Mark Richt, for reasons forever unknown, chose to deploy third-stringer Faton Bauta at quarterback. They were 5-3 and headed nowhere worth going. 

But wait. They won their final four regular-season games, an overtime victory over Georgia Southern (!!!) included. They were 9-3, and the belief in some circles was that McGarity, Georgia’s athletic director, would take that finish as reason to give Richt another shot. The AD did not. Two hours before kickoff against Georgia Tech, McGarity’s closest confidante sidled up to this correspondent and said: “What’s that definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?” 

McGarity did not do the same thing. He fired Richt 22 hours later. He hired Kirby Smart. Two seasons later, Georgia was playing for the national championship, the one thing Richt’s teams could never manage. McGarity endured a vicious backlash for firing the nice guy Richt, but his decision has been validated by time. He didn’t fall victim to recency. He saw the forest, not the trees. 

Blank made his billions by co-founding Home Depot. Among other things, Home Depot carries chainsaws. Someone needs to box one up to his office off Howell Mill. The high-profile owner looked upon consecutive losing seasons and saw not 18 L’s but five cosmetic W’s. In a word, he saw trees. Now he’s hoping that Rich McKay, builder of stadiums, is Paul Bunyan. Good grief.

https://www.ajc.com/blog/mark-bradley/blinded-affection-blank-makes-major-mistake/RLntxXWXA6O4zbxx4CAxsM/

[octoslash]

Media have it so easy. Always pissing their pants with the problems, never guts enough to suggest the solution.

[Dirtybird56]

Lol I go to UGA, you can’t use Kirby as an example of some genius decision especially when you’re talking about “difficult decisions” - i.e. keeping Fromm and letting Fields walk. Bulldogs and Falcons both were close for two seasons with yet again nothing to show for it 

[marvinthemartian]

Journalists have the luxury of sitting back and pointing out everyone else’s perceived flaws while never having to actually prove themselves by putting on a jock strap or leading a board meeting. 
 

Those who can either play, coach or own. Those who can’t go to journalism school. 

[TheUsualStuff]

8 minutes ago, marvinthemartian said:

Journalists have the luxury of sitting back and pointing out everyone else’s perceived flaws while never having to actually prove themselves by putting on a jock strap or leading a board meeting. 
 

Those who can either play, coach or own. Those who can’t go to journalism school. 

or pontificate on message boards

[EpicBird]

I don’t see the point in insulting the messenger. He’s paid to be an opinion columnist and is doing his job. I agree that Blank is overvaluing the 5 wins in 7 games and isn’t seeing the whole body of work.
 

I don’t know enough about the situation at Georgia to compare it much less comment but if the point is that the DQ/TD record says exactly what they are - mediocre - then it’s hard for me to argue with that. I though that Bradley did offer his solution - get rid of the GM, coach, and McKay on the basis that you’ve seen what they have and it ain’t nearly good enough. 

[octoslash]

5 minutes ago, TheUsualStuff said:

or pontificate on message boards

But there's a big difference between being passionate fans and newspaper whores.

[stingbee]

Mark Bradley is spewing content for click bait purposes. You don’t fire a coach and a GM with a long track record of success. 
 

We just need to forget this season and move forward. You are either with the team and the organization or you move on. It is what it is— fans always assume they know a lot when they don’t know jack. 
 

The 2nd half performance is a key indicator for the team going forward. This team is not draft hungry as some of you think- they already have the core pieces. This team is not a rebuild team, but a team that needs some tweaking. 

[marvinthemartian]

1 minute ago, TheUsualStuff said:

or pontificate on message boards

You can opine to your heart’s content. I simply find it funny how media members often feel that they can say anything they like and not be called on it by people who disagree with them. 

[EpicBird]

Can we pump the brakes on the insults and name calling? I don’t have a strong feeling about Bradley or his profession one way or the other so I’d like to hear from other posters what, substantively, Bradley got wrong. 

[Stray Dog THA GAWD]

If PSLs didn't kill this fanbase, Blank certainly will. F'ing moron.

[marvinthemartian]

I have not made a single insult to anyone. I try not to do that. However, Mark Bradley has about a 40 year history in Atlanta of less than stellar commentary. Anybody who has lived here for a long time knows that. The only thing that bothers me is when media feel they can critique others in their chosen professions but then get all in their feelings when people do it back to them. 

[Pacific_Falcon]

16 minutes ago, TheUsualStuff said:

or pontificate on message boards

ZING!

[Stray Dog THA GAWD]

Blank clearly doesn't give a sh*t anymore.  F em.

[MAD597]

Quinn has only had 2 winning seasons, Smith was fired for having only 2 losing seasons. TD in 12 years has not been able to assemble a decent OL or DL for 2 consecutive seasons and the trenches are always our weakness.

Reason enough to fire both after both have been given more than a fair chance.

[Ergo Proxy]

AJC still exists?

[Jesus]

Man I wish I got paid to complain about things I can't control. Dang I do this for free.

[marvinthemartian]

52 minutes ago, Jesus said:

Man I wish I got paid to complain about things I can't control. Dang I do this for free.

Lol I’m in the wrong line of work. They actually expect me to produce results in my job. 

[shc]

Mark Bradley should appreciate an organization that believes in continuity. 

[marvinthemartian]

1 minute ago, shc said:

Mark Bradley should appreciate an organization that believes in continuity. 

Lol no doubt

[andrews31cain21]

1 hour ago, stingbee said:

Mark Bradley is spewing content for click bait purposes. You don’t fire a coach and a GM with a long track record of success. 
 

We just need to forget this season and move forward. You are either with the team and the organization or you move on. It is what it is— fans always assume they know a lot when they don’t know jack. 
 

The 2nd half performance is a key indicator for the team going forward. This team is not draft hungry as some of you think- they already have the core pieces. This team is not a rebuild team, but a team that needs some tweaking. 

Please explain how DQ has a long track record of success?  He's had 2 winning seasons out of 5. If that's a long track record of success then you have pretty low standards and expectations

[Ergo Proxy]

24 minutes ago, shc said:

Mark Bradley should appreciate an organization that believes in continuity. 

[2_legit_2_legit_2_quit]

1 hour ago, marvinthemartian said:

I have not made a single insult to anyone. I try not to do that. However, Mark Bradley has about a 40 year history in Atlanta of less than stellar commentary. Anybody who has lived here for a long time knows that. The only thing that bothers me is when media feel they can critique others in their chosen professions but then get all in their feelings when people do it back to them. 

Explain how Mark Bradley is wrong in what he said. I think his piece is spot on and grounded in truth. Quinn has underperformed and has been rewarded with another season for failure. 

[marvinthemartian]

Not particularly saying he is wrong in this case.  My disdain for him could be better categorized as a “lifetime overall dislike of his work and style” 

[Ghosts of Glanville]

57 minutes ago, shc said:

Mark Bradley should appreciate an organization that believes in continuity. 

. . . And doesn’t expect quality results