Jeff Schultz notes - some good stuff in here Part 2

[The Don™]

Jeff Schultz of the Athletic went on a local Falcons podcast during the midpoint of the season and I made thread summarizing it...Well, I'm bored and he did another recently so here's Part 2

• Arthur Blank doesn't put up with poor performance for very long. Reeves, Mora, Smith gone after a season or two of losing seasons in a row.
• Quinn was pretty much gone after the Rams game. There was discussion internally when to schedule the Quinn firing press conference during the bye week.
• Blank was talked out of firing Quinn. To wait until after the Saints game at least if things went wrong.
• The turnaround game was the SF game. It cemented Quinn staying.
• Blank pays close attention to what players say and what they think, especially about Quinn. Called him "players owner".
• "This isn't the same Arthur Blank". He has more patience and some say he's gone "soft". 
• Blank not going to be as patient next year though.
• Rich McKay told Blank to slow down about firing Quinn in week 8 or 9 and there was nothing to be gained doing that. 
• People like blaming TD but the problem wasn't personnel or lack of talent during the second half resurgence, it was coaching.
• The main issue was coaching, motivation and some players came into season thinking they were better than they were.
• It took the players seeing the 1-7 record and the threat of their "close buddy" being fired to wake up and do something.
• Players got psyched for NO game and a "light switch went on".
• Jeff S. doesn't think the second half record is necessarily going to impact next year. Cites the end of the '18 season "momentum" not carrying over into '19.
• Cites players he respects like Grady, Julio and other leaders that say seasons are independent of each other. 
• However, he thinks the players that were complacent in the beginning of this season won't get "drunk on success" going into next year.
• Said TD admitted to him that they got comfortable and lackadaisical after the '12 season. Same thing happened among the players after the '16 season.
• Salary cap is going to be a problem. They banked on a lot of these big resignings and FA guards and they went 7-9 still.
• Doesn't think Campbell is returning. Will be overpaid on open market.
• They like Hooper but it's going to be hard to pay him 10 million or so a year.
• Concerned about Neal's back to back injuries and safety depth.
• Will have to hit on draft picks. Probably won't be able to make an Alex Mack type signing. Low budget signings only.
• Hates the Jamon Brown contract.
• They need more/better leaders in the locker room. Certain guys never stepped as leaders. It's always the same guys. Allen, Grady, Ryan and Julio.
• They need people in the locker room for when things go bad, there's someone to turn to. It isn't there consistently right now.
• Will need some budget, veteran leadership type FA signings. They're cheaper.
• In '16, defense was really young but guys like Freeney and Tyson Jackson would call out and correct bad play/behavior. 
• Lacked leadership in '17 as well...hence the inconsistencies that season as well.

That's it. Hope you enjoyed.

Link to podcast

[JD dirtybird21]

Thanks for sharing. Here's where I have questions. There's lots of "veterans" on this team now. Mack, Julio, Ryan, Clayborn, etc. How is this team truly deprived of veteran leadership? It kinda speaks volumes of the current "leaders" on this team now...

[FalconsIn2012]

I agree with much of this.  Just not the momentum piece.
 

 Momentum from 2018 would never carry over when all three coordinators were fired and we switched both offensive style and defensive scheme on the front end

[Lethal]

Thanks for the link and comments.  Reading through them all, there is a lot there to be concerned over...at least for me...and doesn't exactly give me warm and fuzzies going into next year.

[Boise Falcon Fan]

Seems like a lot of what he said is what has been said on these boards. That article isn't really a revelation.

[The Don™]

8 minutes ago, JD dirtybird21 said:

Thanks for sharing. Here's where I have questions. There's lots of "veterans" on this team now. Mack, Julio, Ryan, Clayborn, etc. How is this team truly deprived of veteran leadership? It kinda speaks volumes of the current "leaders" on this team now...

He's also saying certain guys just have not stepped up in the leadership role like they should have and not taking enough of a personal responsibility in their play until the Quinn firing rumors started swirling. The complacency has been an issue. He cites it was an issue after the '12 season as well.

[KRUNKuno]

My biggest issue with this whole “continuity” thing is that, just as Shultz infers, if another poor start occurs then blank will more than likely end Quinn’s tenure here.

That is the total opposite of continuity.  Blank kept speaking of “history” showing success the longer you keep a coach around.  But all that alleged continuity that Blank covets will be thrown out the window with another lackluster season.

Makes no sense.

[The Don™]

8 minutes ago, FalconsIn2012 said:

I agree with much of this.  Just not the momentum piece.
 

 Momentum from 2018 would never carry over when all three coordinators were fired and we switched both offensive style and defensive scheme on the front end

True that firing all three coordinators would definitely take time to adjust to but he's saying some players or coaches are drinking their own kool aid.

It took a 1-7 record and Quinn firing scare to wake them up and put down the koolaid. Like I said before, there was reported complacency after '12 and '16. Players thinking "we'll be alright next year because we made a championship run" type of thing. It's been a repeat pattern but he thinks they won't be "drunk off their success" going into next season. We'll see.

[JD dirtybird21]

4 minutes ago, The Don™ said:

He's also saying certain guys just have not stepped up in the leadership role like they should have and not taking enough of a personal responsibility in their play until the Quinn firing rumors started swirling. The complacency has been an issue. He cites it was an issue after the '12 season as well.

I know that. It just annoys me because Matt, Julio, TD, and Koetter were all here after the 2012 season. The experience right there should bring some discipline to them as well as leadership and accountability on the others. 

[The Don™]

43 minutes ago, KRUNKuno said:

My biggest issue with this whole “continuity” thing is that, just as Shultz infers, if another poor start occurs then blank will more than likely end Quinn’s tenure here.

That is the total opposite of continuity.  Blank kept speaking of “history” showing success the longer you keep a coach around.  But all that alleged continuity that Blank covets will be thrown out the window with another lackluster season.

Makes no sense.

It's if they got off to another historically bad start again. Blank essentially said that Quinn should have made those coaching changes sooner (Morris, Ulbrich).

I guess Blank is trying to get better at being a more patient owner and trusting the process more instead of looking at records and fan attendance and making rash decisions. Let's see if the gamble pays off.

[1989Fan]

13 minutes ago, Boise Falcon Fan said:

Seems like a lot of what he said is what has been said on these boards. That article isn't really a revelation.

Other than to the TD haters claiming the roster lacks talent because “Gel Boy” can’t draft...

[Boise Falcon Fan]

Just now, 1989Fan said:

Other than to the TD haters claiming the roster lacks talent because “Gel Boy” can’t draft...

True, but there have been many of us that have said TD is not the problem.

[The Don™]

3 minutes ago, JD dirtybird21 said:

I know that. It just annoys me because Matt, Julio, TD, and Koetter were all here after the 2012 season. The experience right there should bring some discipline to them as well as leadership and accountability on the others. 

You would think. I mean, signing an aging Stephen Jackson and luring Tony G out of retirement and they thought that was enough while ignoring the defense. That was an all round poor offseason and draft as well. 

[Falcon Freddie]

18 minutes ago, FalconsIn2012 said:

I agree with much of this.  Just not the momentum piece.
 

 Momentum from 2018 would never carry over when all three coordinators were fired and we switched both offensive style and defensive scheme on the front end

I concur. I rolled my eyes when I read the "momentum 2020" statement. 

[1989Fan]

1 minute ago, Boise Falcon Fan said:

True, but there have been many of us that have said TD is not the problem.

I agree completely, and am stating that for the select crowd that doesn’t get that he isn’t a terrible GM.

[The Don™]

1 minute ago, Falcon Freddie said:

I concur. I rolled my eyes when I read the "momentum 2020" statement. 

He never said they're rolling over momentum into the 2020 season. Seasons are independent of each other. It's been a problem in the past according to Schultz but he thinks players/coaches/FO have finally learned their lesson.

[Geneaut]

36 minutes ago, JD dirtybird21 said:

Thanks for sharing. Here's where I have questions. There's lots of "veterans" on this team now. Mack, Julio, Ryan, Clayborn, etc. How is this team truly deprived of veteran leadership? It kinda speaks volumes of the current "leaders" on this team now...

My guess is that some of those guys just aren't vocal in the way they need. I mean JJ is pretty quiet for example. Not everyone is a leader.

[Dirtybird56]

I worry the falcons are going to attribute the 1-7 start to “Dan taking on too many duties” and “the players were drunk on success” (after a 7-9 season). Our problems ran far deeper than that 

[The Don™]

11 minutes ago, Dirtybird56 said:

I worry the falcons are going to attribute the 1-7 start to “Dan taking on too many duties” and “the players were drunk on success” (after a 7-9 season). Our problems ran far deeper than that 

The bolded part holds true looking at the second half of the season. Night and day defense. Ill give them that. 

But the other things Schultz pointed out in this podcast and the other one he did during the bye week are revealing the deeper issues. There's been too much complacency, lack of challenging leadership and personal accountability. Heck, an example during the last podcast that was pointed out was that Bryan Cox was fired because he was too hard on the players and not encouraging enough. There's not enough strain and challenging among players and coaches that's been going on. Hence the bouts of complacency/losing streaks. Players getting too comfortable, especially when they win. And they get too down when they lose until something or someone wakes them up. Not enough personal responsibility being taken.

[SPITFIRE]

41 minutes ago, Geneaut said:

My guess is that some of those guys just aren't vocal in the way they need. I mean JJ is pretty quiet for example. Not everyone is a leader.

They are likely talking about Debo, Cambel, Vick, Freeman, and Trufant

[Geneaut]

Just now, SPITFIRE said:

They are likely talking about Debo, Cambel, Vick, Freeman, and Trufant

I've seen Debo mentioned in this same discussion before. I don't think he's a vocal leader in that fashion. 

[SPITFIRE]

1 minute ago, Geneaut said:

I've seen Debo mentioned in this same discussion before. I don't think he's a vocal leader in that fashion. 

Yea agreed but you dont have to be load to be a effective leader i believe we let to many of these guys off the hook by giving them the silent leader label. The true problem is they have not learned to be a leader in the capacity the team needs. You dont need everyone to be a highly vocal and loud leader but you need someone who is the leader of each position group ad position pair  in order to have effective leadership across the team. 

[k-train]

Since the wheels fell off a year ago I've been saying that a lack of leadership has seriously been detrimental to this team because there are so many younger players who had success early & just seemed to expect that to be the norm.

Between the comments Roddy White made about a month ago & now what Schultz is saying, it seems that was unfortunately pretty accurate.

[The Don™]

6 minutes ago, SPITFIRE said:

They are likely talking about Debo, Cambel, Vick, Freeman, and Trufant

Yeah in the last podcast, Debo, Campbell and Vic were specifically mentioned.

[FalconFanSince1970]

There may have been some complacency after the 2012 season but the 2013 cap purge of Grimes, Abe, Mud Duck, Clabo, Turner, RobbinUs and Vance had a bigger impact. Dimi replaced them with Tru, Osi, King Konz, Puddin, SJax, Alf and Travian. That's a recipe for disaster.