Falcons’ Jarrett expects same input on head coaching hire as he had last time
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons are making their second head-coaching hire since drafting defensive lineman Grady Jarrett in 2015, and Jarrett expects to have the same amount of input on this one as he had on the last one.
Not much.
“Those decisions are made in rooms that most of the time players aren’t in, so I don’t know how much input I would have or another player would have,” Jarrett said.
The men who will be in that room — team owner Arthur Blank and CEO Rich McKay — said Monday they will take their time and cast a wide net for a successor to Arthur Smith, who was fired late Sunday night.
“At the end of the day, the final decision will be mine, but it will be in collaboration with others,” Blank said. “We have begun the process. It doesn’t take long to get going, but I want to be clear on this — there is no timetable.”
Blank fired Smith after the team’s regular-season finale, a 48-17 loss to the rival New Orleans Saints that ensured the Falcons would miss the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Blank and McKay met with Smith for “a few hours, maybe a little bit longer than that,” upon the team’s return to Atlanta. Blank and McKay met privately for a short time after that meeting and then called Smith to inform him of the decision.
Smith, who was 7-10 in each of his three seasons leading the team, hasn’t made a public comment since his ouster.
“It’s very painful when you have to make a change like this,” Blank said. “There’s a professional side to this and a personal side to this. Coach Smith is an extraordinary human being coming from an extraordinary family. Great leader of men, great family guy, man of faith, man who is committed to the NFL. We have nothing but appreciation for Arthur. I will tell you beyond my personal pain for the coach and his family and all the coaches and their families, I feel professionally that this was absolutely the right move to make because of our responsibility to our fan base and the players we have today and the players we will have in the future.”
The upcoming hire will be Blank’s sixth since buying the team in 2002. After moving on from Dan Reeves, who was the coach when he purchased the team, the Falcons have hired Jim Mora Jr., Bobby Petrino, Mike Smith, Dan Quinn and Arthur Smith. McKay has been involved in all those searches in some capacity, first as general manager then as team president and now as CEO.
The move was prompted by the team’s belief that it has the necessary roster, draft capital and salary-cap flexibility to be competitive next year, McKay said.
“I think we like the direction of the team and the franchise, but I think we need results and we need results sooner rather than later and we felt like that was what we needed to do to make that happen,” McKay said. “We intend to win and compete at the highest levels in 2024. One of the reasons we made this move is that reason and one of the reasons we believe we can do that is the work of Arthur and (general manager Terry Fontenot) and his staff.”
Fontenot, who was hired the same season as Smith, has been retained and the Falcons don’t plan to strip him of any responsibility, although they left some wiggle room in case the next head coach is intent on personnel control.
“The intended structure would be what it is now depending on the head coach,” McKay said. “We don’t see the coach reporting to Terry, but Terry will have that same role being in charge of personnel. Will it be 50/50? That’s our goal.”
Fontenot will be “heavily involved” in the search for a new coach, Blank said. Blank spoke from his office in downtown Atlanta.
The Falcons have missed the playoffs in 14 of Blank’s 22 seasons as owner.
“I don’t think our fans have lost faith in our franchise and our ability to be successful at the very highest level,” Blank said. “They are angry, they are frustrated. I’m angry, I’m frustrated. I definitely think we underachieved this year by a lot. I was significantly disappointed. It’s one of the reasons we are here today.”
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik all are expected to receive at least passing interest from the Falcons.
McKay said the team plans to publicly announce all of its formal interviews after each has concluded.
As players cleaned out their lockers Monday morning, their thoughts were more on their former coach than on their next one. Smith met briefly with the team early in the day.
He said “that he’s always there and his phone is always open for us and if he can help he will,” cornerback Tre Flowers said. “I know he’ll bounce back. Winning fixes everything and the way we dropped the last couple, it doesn’t surprise me, but since he’s such a good coach, I thought he was going to get another shot. I believe in him wholeheartedly.”