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January 2008
Some insight on Dimitroff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Phoenix — With new Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff learning and earning his trade as a college talent evaluator, there might be some concerns about his ability to handle all the duties of a general manager: disciplining players, executing trades, handling free agency, etc.. Dimitroff hasn’t done those things before.
That doesn’t mean he’s unprepared to handle those jobs, though.
Dimitroff’s former boss, Scott Pioli, the New England Patriots vice president of player personnel, told me at a pre-Super Bowl news conference Thursday that Dimitroff, “when he had free time, spent a large majority of his time training for this job.”
By that Pioli said Dimitroff attended the NFL management council’s meetings to learn about salary-cap management, learning the ins and outs of the collective bargaining agreement and mastering the rules involving a variety of player personnel issues. He also said Dimitroff has established relationships with countless player agents, which is highly important.
The youthful-looking Dimitroff also, “will have no problem disciplining people” if need be, Pioli said. “Thomas is a very principled person. He was raised a certain way and he knows to have success in football how important discipline is.”
Pioli added that Dimitroff was deeply involved in the Patriots’ draft each year and that Dimitroff ran draft preparation meetings. He said Dimitroff was very involved in the draft process on draft day and that he is very comfortable with all the issues that could arise during the draft process.
Dimitroff also is smart enough to know that he has to rely on others for help and that he has to delegate duties in order for a football operation to successfully work, Pioli said.
New OC Mularkey: Falcons will be physical
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Phoenix — I just got off the phone with new Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who kindly took a few minutes away from video study back in Flowery Branch to chat. I know a lot of you don’t care about the media’s relations with players and coaches, but as messengers to you about what’s going on with the team, what Mularkey did was big-time professional.
He’s got a lot of work to do evaluating personnel so he and the other coaches can figure out how they’re going to structure the offense. For him to shed a little light on things, via me, will go a long way toward the AJC being able to communicate things to you guys.
On that note, Mularkey declined to get into specifics of personnel and what he plans to do, however, he said that players will be told every day that if they want to play for him, they better be physical. He would not say if that meant he was going to try to run a smash-mouth type of offense but he did say that fullback Ovie Mughelli would have a significant role. Take that for what you will.
Like new head coach Mike Smith, Mularkey said they are not going to force a system on players. Talent will dictate the scheme, play calling and the like, Mularkey said. There will be a base offense but the draft, free agency and those types of personnel decisions will determine how the Falcons play next fall.
In a side note, no OL coach has been hired but indications are that some are expected to be in place by next week, when the playbook begins to be formulated.
Mularkey, who gained notoriety as Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator before getting a head-coaching job with Buffalo, also shed some light on Smith. He said the new head coach has been ultra communicative with his assistant coaches and accepting as much advice as he can.
The open lines of communication have made the transition for the new staff very easy, Mularkey said. Coaches are not afraid to approach Smith with suggestions and vice versa. That allows for a good work atmosphere, which in turn, causes everyone to want to work harder, Mularkey added.
Having been a head coach, Mularkey said Smith has asked him for advice about what to expect in every facet of the job. Keep in mind, Smith has never been a head coach at any level, so he’s going to need some shepherding to get through a lot of unforeseen developments.
Tailback Warrick Dunn won the inaugural Home Depot NFL Neighborhood MVP award Thursday. The honor was selected by fans via the internet and a panel of judges. After Dunn hoisted the trophy at a news conference, he later told a handful of us reporters that he hopes to get one more shot at a Super Bowl.
He acknowledged that might not come with the Falcons and not because they have such a steep hill to climb.
He’s keenly aware that he could be among several players released for salary-cap reasons. Dunn said he wants to finish his career in Atlanta, though, and hopes the new coaching staff has a place for him.
Plenty of Falcons news in Arizona
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Phoenix — I just got off a long flight and settled into the Super Bowl media headquarters downtown. Organizers have streets cordoned off and everything centralized for the week’s activities, which I’m sure isn’t making the locals happy — my cab driver was hardly amused.
It’s pretty slow right now but things will crank up in the next day or so. I flew out here with former NFL player Dorsey Levens, who is doing some broadcast work leading up to the Super Bowl. More celebs, athletes and others will be streaming in for all the ancillary things that accompany the Super Bowl.
On the issue of ancillary things, vendors are selling NFL licensed merchandise for prices that would blow your mind. T-shirts are starting at $30 and that’s pretty much at the ground floor. Talk about economic impact!
Though the main focus out here, of course, is to chronicle the Patriots and Giants, who face off Sunday. As an agent of the AJC, I will be reporting stories with local/Falcons’ angles. The paper has decided that our readers want to know more about what’s going on in their relative backyard so that’s my mission — to bring to you what matters’ most.
For example, Atlanta tailback Warrick Dunn is a finalist for a major civic-based honor and I plan to hook up with him; not only for that recognition but to get his take on the new changes with the franchise and his future role — if there is one — with the Falcons.
Secondary coach Emmitt Thomas also is a finalist to get voted into the Hall of Fame. I hope to catch up to E.T. and get his take on a lot of things: possibly getting into The Hall and being retained by new Falcons coach Mike Smith among other things.
Smith and newly hired GM Thomas Dimitroff also are expected to be out here. I hope to hang with them and see how they’re adjusting to being in their new roles.
This will be a hornets’ nest of activity and I’ll be checking in, hopefully every day, to keep you updated on some of the things going on.
On the immediate front, the Falcons’ further fortified their coaching staff by hiring Keith Armstrong as the special teams coordinator. Armstrong, who coached with the Falcons in the mid-1990s, comes to Atlanta from Miami.
Armstrong’s arrival punctuates the dismissal of all three coordinators from Bobby Petrino’s staff. Most of the coaching jobs have been filled. One that remains vacant — and arguably is among the most important hires — is that of an offensive line coach.
Coach better be worth wait
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Falcons appear poised to wait until after the Super Bowl before naming a head coach - largely because the best potential candidate could be coaching in the championship game.
The Falcons have targeted New York Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo but per NFL rules, Atlanta can’t interview him until after the Feb. 3 championship game.
The NFL allows assistant coaches to have second interviews for head coaching jobs with other teams during the down week of the two-week gap between conference championship games and the Super Bowl. However, Spagnuolo has not interviewed with Atlanta yet.
The Giants denied him permission two weeks ago because they were preparing to play Dallas in the divisional playoff.
Though there is some concern that previously interviewed candidates Rex Ryan (Baltimore defensive coordinator), Mike Smith (Jacksonville DC) and Leslie Frazier (Vikings DC) could get frustrated by having to wait, their only other head coaching option is Washington. So if the Falcons aren’t able to land Spagnuolo, the other candidates should still be available.
Ryan apparently is the leader in the clubhouse but Smith was said to be impressive as was Frazier, who had his first interview last weekend. Finding quality assistants and coordinators shouldn’t be a problem, either. There are simply too few vacancies now for the talent pool to get diluted.
On that note, Falcons’ officials will spend the next few days in Mobile evaluating college seniors and possibly talking to potential assistants - and maybe head-coaching candidates. The Senior Bowl is a fishbowl full of coaches, many of whom are out of work or are trying to find a new employer.
GM hiring playing well online
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Editor’s note: Our D. Orlando Ledbetter will be surfing Websites daily to catch up on the latest buzz on team owner Arthur Blank’s search for a general manager and head coach. Look for his posting around 1 p.m. Monday-Friday. If you have a Website you think he should check out, send it to him at dledbetter@ajc.com.
The hiring of Tom Dimitroff as the Falcons new general manager is playing well in cyberspace.
It was noted by the Trenton Times that Dimitroff beat out Tom Heckert, the only candidate interviewed who had previous general manager experience.
But the local fans are embracing the move. On the fansite TheFalcoholic.com , they were trying to project who Dimitroff would take with his first Falcons pick based on his top New England picks.
They concluded he’d skip on the quarterbacks and take an offensive lineman. They expect him to pickup lineman throughout, a safety and a kicker.
Dimitroff even got the blessing of New England coach Bill Belichick in a CBSSportsline.com article on his hiring.
“Tom’s done a good job for us,” Belichick said. “I’ve known him a long time, since I was in Cleveland.”
(No mention of if Dimitroff had any knowledge of the spygate incident.)
There’s one little troublesome point that must be addressed. One of Dimitroff’s pick was Miami’s Brandon Merriweather. He was involved in the nasty brawl with Florida International in 2006. Merriweather was caught on tape repeatedly kicking a downed FAU player. With the Falcons in the past stressing character, will the new guy pick talent over character? Merriweather was off of several team’s draft boards last season.
Some of his other top picks include, cornerback Asante Samuel, offensive linemen Logan Mankins and Dan Koppen, running back Laurence Maroney, tight end Ben Watson and defensive linemen Ty Warren.
On Profootballtalk.com, they couldn’t believe the Falcons hired Dimitroff without a face-to-face interview.
“It’s amazing,” PFT.com wrote. “After hauling a nine-person committee all over the country to interview candidates for head coach and G.M., the guy who got the most important job in the business has never met the owner.”
On SportingNews.com, most of the comments were favorable and one fan wonder if the Dimitroff was bringing some of the New England scouts with him and if this was a way for the Falcons to get Josh McDaniels to reconsider interviewing for the head coaching job.
So did the Falcons get the right guy? Would you’d like to have seen Heckert, or one of the Green Bay execs, Reggie McKenzie or John Schneider? Should they have gone with an experienced general manager, who has a track record of building a team and has functioned in the job before?
Dimitroff era underway
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newly hired GM Thomas Dimitroff arrived in Atlanta Monday to begin trudging through the multitude of tasks to try to fix the Falcons.
There won’t be any media availability until Tuesday so you might not hear much from him until then.
Dimitroff will spend the day getting a lay of the land and meeting some of the people in the organization. He hadn’t done that in person yet since he interviewed with team owner Arthur Blank and president Rich McKay via satellite. Though that might sound crazy to some people, a lot of business deals, hirings and firings don’t always take place in face-to-face meetings. It all depends on how comfortable the people involved - especially the one signing the checks - feels about handling matters in such ways.
Dimitroff’s first task will be hiring a coach. The common thinking is that since he is relatively young, 40, he likely would hire a younger coach to grow with him in this rebuilding process. No one knows if anyone the Falcons have already interviewed - Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Colts assistant head coach Jim Caldwell - are on his radar.
It will be easy to figure out that if there is little action regarding the coaching search this week that Dimitroff’s main target is still coaching in the playoffs.
Dimitroff will have significant, if not total input on hiring a head coach. Such decisions rarely, if at all, are made unilaterally, so Blank, McKay and others likely will give their opinions on coaching candidates. A good thing for Dimitroff is he’s also coming from outside of the organization, where he can comfortably accumulate opinions from other league officials about potential coaches.
As for McKay, he will not have final say on football issues. Dimitroff will hold the swing vote if his staff is tied on some decisions. Then, he will bring things to McKay and Blank for final approval. Blank, of course, has ultimate say and veto power.
McKay’s pride could be hurt since he was removed from football-making decisions, but he is a survivor who will do what Blank asks him to do. He is not the type to meddle or to try and sabotage things to make himself look better. If Blank thought he was, he wouldn’t have offered McKay a 17-month contract extension that runs through 2010.
Dimitroff, meanwhile, must hire a staff he feels comfortable with and a staff with experience in pro personnel to help with free agency and trades. Dimitroff’s expertise lies in college talent evaluation and he hasn’t been involved in a lot of trades, salary-cap decisions and things of that nature so he is going to need some help.
There are several people already employed by the Falcons who are very capable but he might want to hire some people he is aligned with to support him when tough decisions need to be made.
Overshadowing the playoffs?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Falcons’ general manager and coaching searching is captivating the football world.
That’s bizarre because of the good playoff games coming up this weekend. Out on the web, the Pete Carroll talks are not dead, Tom Heckert is getting the job by the weekend, the don’t think Arthur Blank knows what he’s doing, Chris Mara was an unlikely interview and they want Rich McKay’s neck on a platter.
ESPN.com reported that “sources” said that “dialogue between [Pete Carroll] and [the Falcons] was ongoing Thursday.”
The report also said that a source close to the USC coach acknowledged late Thursday that, while he would probably remain with the Trojans, the Falcons’ flirtation “is not quite a dead issue yet.”
SportingNews.com tried to help the five teams who are looking for coaches. When it came to the Falcons, owner Arthur Blank got dissed — or make that disrespected — for the franchise’s multiple searches.
“Falcons owner Arthur Blank is filling two jobs. And, for the most part, it doesn’t appear as if he quite knows what he is doing,” SportingNews.com wrote.
The report [in the Baltimore Sun] making the rounds that nine people interview Rex Ryan is drawing big laughs.
“It’s the most disjointed and disorganized hiring processes ever,” SportingNews.com wrote.
SportingNews.com also called for the firing of Rich McKay, when it wrote, “The best move? Hire [New England’s Scott] Pioli and allow him conduct the interview process from scratch and allow him to hire the coach. Right after he fires McKay.”
Profootballtalk.com has a link to a wonderful story by Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star on former Falcons interim head coach Emmitt Thomas about his options if he’s not retained on the Falcons staff and his possible selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in four weeks.
Also, there’s a story which states, “Eagles G.M. Tom Heckert could be offered the G.M. gig in Atlanta as soon as this weekend.”
The site wasn’t stunned that New York Giants exec Chris Mara withdrew from the Falcons search. “Mara always seemed like an unlikely candidate to leave the Giants, considering that the team has been run by his family for more than 80 years,” PFTalk wrote.
What’s the deal with Carroll? Should Heckert be the man? Should Emmitt Thomas stay on the new staff? Should Blank show McKay the door? We’ll will be surfing Web sites daily to catch up on what’s the latest buzz. Look for postings around 1 p.m. Monday-Friday. If you have a Web site you think we should should check out, send it to dledbetter@ajc.com.
ajc.com note: All comments to the Falcons blog are approved by a moderator working during weekday, daytime hours.
Radio silent vs. transparency
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Editor’s note: Other than the occasional story on ESPN, there wasn’t much on the web yesterday concerning Arthur Blank’s search for a general manager and head coach.
So, our D. Orlando Ledbetter decided to go to the source himself - Blank - and see what he could find out. And with Blank and Ledbetter among the thousands attending the Hawks-Cavaliers game at Philips Arena, Ledbetter seized the moment and approached the Falcons owner.
Got the rare “hall pass” from Mrs. Led last night. Was chilling at the Hawks game - and my friend looks to right, two suites over, and says “There’s Rich McKay and Arthur Blank.”
I go, “Oh (expletive), I have to go to work.” Conferred quickly by cell phone with colleague Steve Wyche and we agreed that while we have laundry list of questions for the Falcons braintrust, that an update on the Pete Carroll situation was our top question.
I exchanged pleasantries with Blank. He said he was just at the game trying to take a break from the search. I asked could I just get that one question in (usually after you get the one, it’s OK to ask for a 17-part follow-up). “Could we get an update on the Pete Carroll situation? Has he called?”
“Have you ever heard of radio silent?,” Blank said.
Looks like Carroll has gone “radio silent” too.
Reached on vacation in Hawaii, Carroll told the Los Angeles Times, “I’m not talking. I’m not responding to anything.”
Carroll’s agent Gary Uberstine wouldn’t take a call from the AJC yesterday and had the secretary route it to voice mail.
The Falcons are trying their best to operate as stealthy as possible, but they might want to consider another approach. Arizona used the “transparency” approach last season.
They brought in candidates, let them meet with the players, even held press conferences with the media. They did it all in the open. The process ended with Ken Whisenhunt getting the job.
Would you like to see the Falcons operate more in the open or does it matter as long as they get the right football people of the job(s)?
Ledbetter will be surfing Websites daily to catch up on what’s the latest buzz. Look for his posting around 1 p.m. Monday-Friday. If you have a Website you think he should check out, send it to him at dledbetter@ajc.com.
Carroll rumors met with skepticism
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Editor’s note: Perhaps it’s the aftereffects of the Vick/Petrino debacles, but Arthur Blank’s search for a general manager and head coach is a hot topic across the Internet.
Starting today, our D. Orlando Ledbetter will be surfing Websites daily to catch up on what’s the latest buzz. Look for his posting around 1 p.m. Monday-Friday. If you have a Website you think he should check out, send it to him at dledbetter@ajc.com.
The Falcons’ unorthodox and simultaneous search for a general manager, head coach or just all-around football czar, took its latest twist with ESPN.com reporting that the team would like an audience with USC coach Pete Carroll. (Yeah, and I’d like a dinner date with Beyonce Knowles, too.)
The move reeks of a low-budget publicity stunt and that’s how it’s being looked at in cyberspace.
Profootballtalk.com also floated the balloon that Southern Cal alum Rich McKay may be one of ESPN.com’s sources.
“Don’t rule out the possibility that former Falcons G.M. Rich McKay deliberately leaked the information about Carroll to Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com because McKay knows that Carroll would want full control — and might want McKay (who’ll still be team president) gone,” PFT wrote.
On CBSSportsline.com, they asked the question, “Do you think Pete Carroll will become the Atlanta Falcons new head coach? Explain why.”
The overwhelming majority were voting “No.” Anyone surprised?
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