Falcons Owner Arthur Blank gives his thoughts and motivations behind some of the biggest decisions facing the Falcons this offseason. Why did they go with Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick? What’s the latest on the Quarterback situation?
ON RICH MCKAY’S ROLE WITH THE FALCONS:
ARTHUR BLANK
“Rich, however, is still the CEO of the Atlanta Falcons of the franchise. Now the football team of the franchise that includes all the all the business bosses. So he’s still a very trusted colleague, will be very heavily reliant on a variety of areas, just not in day-to-day football operations. He was never capital, NEVER, never. Bill would tell you this. I would tell you this.”
WAS BILL BELICHICK EVER CONSIDERED FOR THE JOB
“I mean, he was never offered the job, so that’s, you know, where Boomer heard that from? I have no idea. And you know, I don’t know Boomer really well and say hello to him and said I have no idea why he would be reporting on something from somebody who wouldn’t have any idea either, whoever that might be, but drove our interest initially. I mean his record 24 years for the Patriots spin coaching the NFL for, I think 49 years is incredible. Whether he’s the greatest coach ever coached the game, if not, he’s on a very short list.”
WHY RAHEEM MORRIS FOR HEAD COACH?
“So you know, that’s really what drove our interest the three years he spent in LA was very powerful for him. They said earlier I think he saw how a different, very successful coaching staff and.
Three was built. I think the fact that he took a almost a complete rookie defensive squad this year and played very competitively them throughout the year. I was very impressed with that. I was very impressed with the fact that he had put together in his mind a plan knowing that we would be successful and not have that drainage of talent which we had in 2006. This is not one of these things.”
WHAT’S THE LATEST ON THE QUARTERBACK SITUATION?
“We can take in here to develop a strategy. Free agency is coming up in a matter of weeks. Draft preparation. We’re in the middle of it. You know. How do you put that room back together again? We have new coordinators, new position coaches, new assistant quarterback coaches, et cetera.”
So we have to bring together all of this knowledge and all this wisdom in a very short period of time. I would tell you quite honestly, 1000% there’s not a defined plan, but it is being talked about and we’ll be talking about pretty intensely, I would say, over the next coming weeks.”
