What does the new Falcons front-office structure look like?

The Falcons are reshaping their franchise under new leadership, highlighted by president of football Matt Ryan.

Their hope is that after years of constant change and misalignment among their key decision makers, this is the start of a unified operation that pulls this team out of its latest dark ages — it hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017, and that includes the past two years of disappointment despite preseason playoff expectations.

Owner Arthur Blank, after using an outside consulting group to evaluate his franchise’s health, opted to clear out his organization. Enter Ryan, a franchise legend who nearly 20 years after getting drafted returns trying to save the Falcons again, and President and CEO Greg Beadles. Both men will report directly to Blank.

Per the Falcons, Beadles, who replaced longtime executive Rich McKay, will “oversee all aspects of the business operations of the organization and collaborate closely with the president of football to ensure alignment of the entire business and football areas of the organization.”

Now with Ryan in place, the Falcons will continue their search for a new head coach and general manager. Both of those individuals will report to Ryan, who now oversees all that relates to the on-field team.

“Arthur has been really clear to me on what this structure is going to look like,” Ryan said Tuesday at his introductory news conference. “Ultimately, Arthur’s football team is his football team, but I understand the task that’s been laid at my hands: that’s to lead this process along with the guys and women who are along for that. We’re going to come together, we’re going to work collaboratively and we’ll make a recommendation to Mr. Blank about what we think, but I’m comfortable with that.”

Blank followed by saying that Ryan will be involved in all facets of team-building, but he isn’t “doing their jobs,” as it relates to a coach and general manager. He stressed those individuals will serve their roles with Ryan’s “wisdom and guidance” behind them.

Asked about whether he’ll have final decision in matters, Ryan referred to that as a “loaded question” and acknowledged it’s circumstantial. He emphasized that a coach will have power over his duties and the same goes for the GM. He said he viewed his position as an opportunity to take some stress off both positions in terms of responsibilities.

Ryan said he won’t be leading scouting or running any meetings with scouts. The GM role will be the same as it’s always been, he said.

“As I look at it right now, the decision I’m going to have to make in this immediate process, with Arthur’s approval, is who we hire for those two positions,” Ryan said. “But we are empowering them to go out there and do their job. And I’ve expressed that in our interviews as well with the coaches we’ve talked with. I’m not trying to call plays. I’m not trying to run your offense. I’m not trying to pull a Philip Rivers and come back and play. I’m not doing any of those. Most importantly, I’m trying to get the right person in here in both of those positions. And I’m trying to support you in any way I can.”

The answers might seem vague, but there’s reason for that. Ryan and the Falcons are defining his role still; after all, Ryan has never been an executive, and Blank has never had a president of football. The team also doesn’t have a coach or GM with whom to collaborate right now.