Thomas Dimitroff on the season, ‘underperformance,’ jobs on the line

[Goober Pyle]

https://theathletic.com/1984507/2020/08/09/schultz-thomas-dimitroff-on-the-season-under-performance-jobs-on-the-line/

 

The Falcons are five weeks away from their season opener against Seattle, assuming there is a season to be played. It will be a pivotal year for coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who teamed up for a Super Bowl run in 2016 but have followed that with a second-round playoff exit in 2017 and postseason misses the past two seasons.

The Falcons went 7-9 last season but had their playoff hopes buried early by a 1-7 start that nearly cost Quinn his job and prompted a midseason shuffle in the defensive coaching staff and significant roster changes following the season. Key decisions included cutting Devonta Freeman and Desmond Trufant despite salary cap hits, not re-signing Vic Beasley or De’Vondre Campbell, declining the fifth-year option on Takk McKinley, signing Todd Gurley and Dante Fowler and acquiring tight end Hayden Hurst to fill the free-agent loss of Austin Hooper.

What that leads to is uncertain. The Falcons have been wildly inconsistent the past three seasons, which is not a positive reflection on either the players or Quinn, who needs to turn things around during this highly restrictive time of a pandemic. The NFC South also now includes Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski in Tampa Bay. I spoke to Dimitroff on his outlook for this year, what he would consider a successful season and his perception of what it would take to save jobs, including his own.

Do you believe there is going to be an NFL season?

Yes.

A full season?

I can’t give an answer on that. I don’t know. There’s a lot of complications in this, and we have a lot of people who are working diligently on it. I can only speak to our own operation in the building, and I really appreciate what we’ve done there. The logistics of the building are completely different, and it’s been encouraging to see how our players have been mature and handled it with focus and consistency. Like I’ve told you many times, that’s what this team needs this year.

Given baseball changed its structure and protocols, and some teams are still struggling, do you understand why some would doubt football, a high-impact sport, can pull it off?

I can understand why people on the outside looking in would have their doubts, with an 80-to-90-player roster and 25 to 30 coaches and 30 other administrators. That’s a lot of people to be working through. So, of course, I see the complications.

Let’s go on the assumption for the rest of this discussion that there’s a season. How would you define success?

There’s no question that this needs to be a winning season, and we need to continue to improve in a lot of different areas.

A winning season technically could be 8-7-1 and you miss the playoffs.

We need to be back in the playoffs. We’re a talented football team. We need to get back to where we know we can go. We’re a talented, confident football team, and that’s what’s expected. No question about it. Our owner has high expectations, as do I and Rich McKay and Dan Quinn.

What was closer to reality last year: The 1-7 start or the 6-2 finish?

The 6-2 finish.

Why?

Because we’re a good football team. We have a good talented group of coaches. We have vision. We’re a thoughtful organization. We started off slowly, of course, but we have a lot in our quiver to be much more of a 6-2 team.

As you and Quinn drilled down, what were the core issues for what happened last year and for that matter the year before? Was it only because of staffing and coaching mistakes or was there something going on in the locker room?

There was nothing else going on in the locker room. We had to adjust what we needed to adjust. Dan adjusted our coordinator situation, and I thought that was a major move in the right direction. At the beginning of the year, there was too much uncertainty with regard to how the defense was operating and we did a really good job of recovering from that. Putting Raheem (Morris) in that spot, a man who is a very good defensive-minded person, the way he interacts with the players, I thought that was a big part of our recovery. He and Dan work well together and can communicate with each other, and I thought that was a difference-maker.

Do you believe the team is better than it was last year?

I do.

Because?

Because I believe we have a lot of talented football players, and I believe we’ll be that much more focused and that much more accountable and consistent. I’m seeing that, and I believe it. We’ve stressed it. There are certain people here, and there are certain people not here anymore, and it all folds into what I believe will be an all-around better football team and a full package.

So you would agree that focus and accountability was a problem last year?

Any organization that starts out 1-7, there are focus issues and concerns, and they need to be fixed. Unfortunately, it took us a while to get to that spot, but we did it. Dan did a marvelous job with resurrecting this team at the back end because we did become that much more focused, not only on the field but off the field. Navigating this offseason, I just feel like there’s that much more focus now, and that’s an important thing for our football team.

What would you view as either the biggest key or question mark going into the season?

It’s the same answer. It’s taking all the talent that we have on this football team, and we need to mix that with a very adept coaching staff and have acute focus, sound accountability and consistency.

So you believe you have the talent to be a playoff team?

There’s no question.

Do you have the talent to win the division?

We have the talent to be a very good, top tier team in this league.

If it doesn’t happen, is that solely on coaching?

No. Absolutely not. This is a team game, and the expectations are for players to play up to their abilities, coaches to coach up to their ability, the GM to be up to his ability. All are vital. We all need to come with our A game, our A focus, our A accountability, our A consistency.

Would you agree that players have underperformed in the three seasons since the Super Bowl, and if so, to what degree is a head coach responsible for that?

Unfortunately, there has been underperformance in the last three years, and some of those players are no longer here. That’s up to Dan and myself to determine who is the best fit for this team moving forward.

Head coaches get blamed for underperformance. Is it justified that Dan has been blamed?

No. I don’t believe Dan should be blamed for the underperformance that we’ve had by a number of players on this football team since ’16.

But isn’t that the head coach’s job?

Ultimately, it’s the head coach’s job, but he also has assistant coaches who are responsible for their position groups who are vitally important as well. Really, what I want to say in all this is, we understand by virtue of the position, of course, Dan is going to take blame for certain things and I am going to take blame for certain things. From a coaching perspective, you have almost 25 coaches, and they all have their responsibility. This isn’t a one-man situation at a lot of levels. All of us looking at ourselves across the board, head coach and general manager, all the way through the coordinators, the position coaches, the directors and the scouts, we all have to do our job to the best of our ability. As do our players. I’m coming right back to what I said at the beginning. You can’t have three or four or six or 10 doing this and 10 doing that in any organization to be successful.

Should there be a bar that the team has to reach to save jobs? If so, what should that bar be?

There should always be a bar, and it should be a substantial bar, to determine the success of a football team. It’s not my responsibility necessarily to determine what jobs are being saved or lost.

If you don’t make the playoffs, and you’re Arthur Blank, should changes be made at head coach and/or general manager?

Arthur has a strong presence here. He’s the owner of this football team and, contingent on the success of this year, he has big decisions to make, legitimate decisions to make.

[Atl Falcon]

Gotta respect ole spiky hair on those hard core questions. He was pretty straight up and had the right answers. He’s in it to win it....good luck. 

[FalconsIn2012]

Pretty aggressive and pointed questions.  I really wish he asked about the following topics with the same passion:

• Why doesn’t Senat play;

• Why was Koetter brought back to run Shanny’s offense;

• Why did we let LaFleur, McDaniel, LaFleur & Scangarello leave FB if we wanted to keep the 2016 offensive system

• Why wasn’t Henderson fired early last year and why is Morgan still coaching our OL

[Ergo Proxy]

Good read.

Players not here anymore tho...who could those be?

[Ergo Proxy]

2 minutes ago, FalconsIn2012 said:

Pretty aggressive and pointed questions.  I really wish he asked about the following topics with the same passion:

• Why doesn’t Senat play;

• Why was Koetter brought back to run Shanny’s offense;

• Why did we let LaFleur, McDaniel, LaFleur & Scangarello leave FB if we wanted to keep the 2016 offensive system

• Why wasn’t Henderson fired early last year and why is Morgan still coaching our OL

I think all of those questions are primarily for Dan Quinn. Just saying.

[Goober Pyle]

47 minutes ago, Ergo Proxy said:

Good read.

Players not here anymore tho...who could those be?

I noted that, too @Ergo Proxy. I thought it was telling that he said it twice. 

[FalconsIn2012]

2 hours ago, Ergo Proxy said:

I think all of those questions are primarily for Dan Quinn. Just saying.

That is a valid point...lol

I just want someone to ask those questions to someone at FB.  It can be the maintenance guy for all I care.

[mtldirtybird]

great answers, TD knows what's on the line including his own job. Clearly he's been very unhappy with the Beasley's and Campbell's who's play went down since the Super Bowl

[Smiler11]

I thought this was the most interesting answer, particularly the bit in bold... 

"There are certain people here, and there are certain people not here anymore, and it all folds into what I believe will be an all-around better football team and a full package.

 

Sounds like there were some personnel TD was keen to move on from this year (I wonder who he is specifically referring to?) and that we'll be a better team because of it 🤔

[Vandy]

5 hours ago, Smiler11 said:

I thought this was the most interesting answer, particularly the bit in bold... 

"There are certain people here, and there are certain people not here anymore, and it all folds into what I believe will be an all-around better football team and a full package.

 

Sounds like there were some personnel TD was keen to move on from this year (I wonder who he is specifically referring to?) and that we'll be a better team because of it 🤔

Throwing $13M at Beasley last year has to be one of TD’s biggest blunders of his career. I was shocked when he did that.

[Tribal Chief]

10 hours ago, Ergo Proxy said:

Good read.

Players not here anymore tho...who could those be?

Biggest names that are gone are Beasley and Freeman. Im satisfied with their replacements. Even if they don’t meet whatever goal they set for themselves, I’m happy the front office actually made moves that could have a potential impact rather than one standing around with his hands on his hips and the other not being able to fully return to form which wasn’t completely his fault

[Xfactor]

Great questions thanks for posting.

[LightningDawg58]

I hate that it was mentioned but glazed over, but I would've doubled down on how was 2019's  turnaround and offseason going to be different from the year before? We heard much of the same songs coming in to '19, that we figured it out and had the right coaches in place, fixed the OLine, etc... so how are you so confident that we wont start this season off slow for a third year?

Also, I have a pet peeve when people brush off the 2017 season as some failure (Writer said ALL the seasons since the SB were a disappointment). A 2nd round playoff appearance that was lost on the last play was momentarily disappointing, but not an indictment of the whole season. History shows that the SB loser usually doesnt do well the following year. We fought hard that whole season, ignoring the hangover stuff, answering questions about our epic meltdown, and still managed to be the only NFC team to return to the playoffs. We went on the road and dominated a higher seed, and then  barely lost to the eventually champ the next week. 2017  was a more impressive show of grit and character to me than 2016 due to the pressure and expectations we faced.  We all want a SB win, but expecting to make it to the dance every year is not realistic. We made history in 2016, and in 2017 we fought against history. That year was not a failure

18 and 19 though, yeah..... 

[Smiler11]

1 hour ago, Vandy said:

Throwing $13M at Beasley last year has to be one of TD’s biggest blunders of his career. I was shocked when he did that.

I'm not surprised we exercised the 5th year option as at that point he was only 1 year removed from his 15.5 sack season (5th year options must be exercised at the end of the 3rd year), but we should have rescinded it after his 4th year. 

[Ergo Proxy]

2 hours ago, Vandy said:

Throwing $13M at Beasley last year has to be one of TD’s biggest blunders of his career. I was shocked when he did that.

It’s gotta go beyond just Vic tho, but yeah he’s an obvious one for sure.

And, from the outside looking in it could easily seem to have been a decision Quinn wanted.

Still, the defense was fine once they sorted the blunders. And, ironically, Vic started getting some of those cleanup sacks while the world keeps underrating Takk; who really just needs to stay healthy more than anything.

How could the unit lose Tru and Neal but be better without them vs Saints and 49ers; on the road no less?

Smaller sample size than vs the better offenses faced first 8 games but still those were the top NFC teams.

We beat them (or had a shot game 2 vs NO) because of the defense becoming a strength.

Is inconsistent Vondre part of those “player no longer here“? Free always worked hard can’t say I’d throw him on that list. Maybe TD is referring to Vic primarily and just making a point of where they are changing moving forward?

[Vandy]

@Ergo Proxy....TD sure didn’t seem to be taking any responsibility for the state of the franchise in that interview. Blaming players now gone...players he and DQ invested heavily in.... seems to be at best defecting blame elsewhere.

[kiwifalcon]

7 hours ago, Vandy said:

Throwing $13M at Beasley last year has to be one of TD’s biggest blunders of his career. I was shocked when he did that.

File in the same category as the Sam Baker extension 😂 ooops.

[Vandy]

40 minutes ago, kiwifalcon said:

File in the same category as the Sam Baker extension 😂 ooops.

Yup...Baker at least was trying, but got re-injured. VB has a history of having his head and heart someplace else.

[FalconsIn2012]

1 hour ago, Vandy said:

@Ergo Proxy....TD sure didn’t seem to be taking any responsibility for the state of the franchise. Blaming players now gone...players he and DQ invested heavily in.... seems to be at best defecting blame elsewhere.

Yeah, TD was masterfully vague and managed to keep the stink off he & Quinn.  I mean, signing Brown, Carp, Ty & Stocker guarantee everyone’s hands are bloody

[Boise Falcon Fan]

I thought the interview was great, and I liked TD's answers. Why should he take the blame? He said there were issues, and they made efforts to correct them. He also didn't deny that if they don't get it done, heads are gonna roll. He handled himself well. Could you imagine Belichick being asked those kind of questions??

[Vandy]

2 minutes ago, Boise Falcon Fan said:

I thought the interview was great, and I liked TD's answers. Why should he take the blame? He said there were issues, and they made efforts to correct them. He also didn't deny that if they don't get it done, heads are gonna roll. He handled himself well. Could you imagine Belichick being asked those kind of questions??