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Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Filling in Blank’s slate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Before Arthur Blank begins interviewing coaches, he must first question himself. In the wake of Jim Mora’s flameout, the owner needs to ask:
• Have I overrated Michael Vick? Have I sunk $130 million into a quarterback who, as many insist, isn’t a quarterback? Is he really a coach-killer? Is he destined to exit the NFL having never progressed beyond the Fun To Watch stage?
• Have I overrated our talent and, by extension, Rich McKay? Are recent returns a reflection of the players or the coach? Having just fired the coach, haven’t I already cast my lot with McKay? But if we’re 7-9 next year with a new set of coaches, does the GM likewise get the gate? And do his maladroit first-round receivers go with him?
• Speaking of which, is Vick the kind of quarterback who makes all receivers look bad? (The high-salaried Peerless Price didn’t blossom here, did he?) Is Vick too fundamentally flawed as a passer ever to complete a reasonable percentage? Or is his completion percentage low because he hasn’t had the right coaching?
• Don’t I automatically disqualify any candidate (a.) whose dad has a radio show, or (b.) who keeps a University of Washington helmet on display?
• At this late date, haven’t I gone too far with Vick to stop now? Isn’t No. 7 essentially the No. 2 man — after me, but ahead of McKay and the coach, whoever he is — in Flowery Branch? Aren’t he and I partners in the sense Bernie Marcus and I were? Having coddled Vick to the point of not reprimanding him publicly for flipping off our fans, do I dare do anything to alienate him now?
• Given all that, do I have any choice but to hire a head coach who has a feel for quarterbacks? (What was I thinking, hiring a defensive coordinator the last time?) If I’m married to Vick and his production, don’t I owe it to myself to get as creative as possible? Don’t I want a head coach to do for me what Sean Payton has done for Tom Benson?
• Isn’t this the first thing I need to ask every candidate: “Can you win a Super Bowl with Michael Vick, and if you don’t think you can, why are you here?” And isn’t this the next thing: “What will you do to make Vick the player his talent insists he should be?”
• Since everything here is about the quarterback, is there any reason not to hire Norm Chow, who’s better with quarterbacks than anybody in the history of football? Since Vick is the centerpiece of my franchise, don’t I want him guided by someone who has coached both Steve and Vince Young? Since I have an asset of irregular dimensions, don’t I want the architect who has the greatest familiarity with that template?
• Is there any way I can read the list of other Chow pupils — Gifford Nielsen, Jim McMahon, Marc Wilson, Robbie Bosco, Ty Detmer, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Steve McNair — and not believe the man has a singular feel for the most important position? Is there any way I can view what Chow just did with the rookie Vince Young and not believe he’d do at least as much with the veteran Vick?
• Even if Chow’s playbook contains elements of the locally dreaded West Coast offense, doesn’t his recent work prove he fits his schemes to the quarterback, not the other way around?
• Does it matter that Chow is 60 and has never been a head coach? Did it matter that Sean Payton was 42 and had never been a head coach? Having had to apologize for Mora’s smart-alecky excesses, wouldn’t a more seasoned man be most welcome? And didn’t a 63-year-old just lead the Chargers to the NFL’s best record? And am I not 64 myself?
• Wasn’t it Mora who insisted offensive linemen never have anything to say? Wouldn’t it be funny if Chow, who played guard at Utah, gets to say, “I’m proud to be the new coach of the Atlanta Falcons”? Well, wouldn’t it?
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