In first act, Matt Ryan hires a coach Arthur Blank probably wouldn’t have
One thing that history would strongly suggest about new Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski — owner Arthur Blank would not have hired him.
Blank’s hiring taste was for first-time coaches — Jim Mora, Bobby Petrino (at the NFL level), Mike Smith, Dan Quinn and Arthur Smith all fit that mold. Raheem Morris had been a head coach, but more than a decade had passed since that time.
The strong pattern of Super Bowl coaches being first-timers may have influenced that trend.
And, by contrast, the 43-year-old Stefanski comes straight from a six-year tenure with the Cleveland Browns.
Given Blank’s record, particularly on his past two hires, the fact that the Falcons have gone in a different direction is — with all due respect to Atlanta’s favorite multi-billionaire philanthropist — probably a good thing.
And particularly so, given who actually did have final authority on this one: franchise legend and new president of football Matt Ryan.
And while only time will reveal Ryan’s acumen for hiring coaches (and general managers, a position he can now focus on filling), it’s hardly unreasonable to think he’ll prove more proficient than Blank.
And for those feeling less than enthused about welcoming to town a coach with a 45-56 career record, and who just got dumped by the Browns after going 8-26 in his final two seasons, perhaps that can offer a morsel of hope.
Anybody could have hired John Harbaugh, whose agreement with the New York Giants became official Saturday.
But selecting Stefanski — and perhaps convincing him to pick the Falcons — took more doing. While the record is a red flag the size of a garage door, there’s more to his resume than that.
Take this into consideration: Since their reboot in 1999, the Browns have been to the playoffs three times. Stefanski was responsible for two of them, the first trip stopping a 17-year drought.
And he did it in a division where he was competing with two of the best coaches of this era, before their terms also ran out this season, Mike Tomlin and Harbaugh. It says a bit about him that he was twice chosen the AP’s NFL coach of the year.
And it’s worth noting that the Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins all reportedly wanted a second interview with Stefanski.
Should this marriage prove fruitful, the story of Stefanski’s success may start with how Ryan identified him as the right coach and then convinced him that the Falcons were the right team for him.
And, as the Stefanski era dawns, the possibility of that happening seems more of a likelihood than it has in the past.
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
