For Arthur Blank, the offseason was tough professionally and personally on the Falcons owner.
In addition to firing the franchise’s winningest coach, the team was penalized by the NFL for pumping in fake crowd noise during games. Blank oversaw the construction of the new stadium progress and the launching of a MLS soccer franchise. He lost his beloved mother Molly, 90, and also has an impending new marriage.
But Blank believes the Falcons have come out the storm in a better place.
In an interview, he discussed his outlook for the season.
He requested that the football hierarchy do all things possible to maximize what should be the prime of Matt Ryan’s career. He wants to win now and that he doesn’t plan to watch Super Bowl 50 “sitting in a suite watching somebody else play.”
Q: After this hectic offseason, where is the team headed into the 2015 season?
A: Well, I think it's been a great offseason. I think we started with hiring (of Dan Quinn) who I think is going to be an outstanding coach for us. I love what Dan has brought to the team in terms of leadership and energy and positive thinking. I couldn't be happier with the coach and the coaching staff. He's built a coaching staff around him that reflects everything that he believes in and has his energy as well. That's been communicated, felt and absorbed. I think the players feel that way. They are responding well to that.
I couldn’t be happier as I look at the changes. It’s not easy in this league to make changes, both defensively and offensively in the same year. I think you’ve seen a little more success of one side of the ball than the other, not quite the (same) consistency. But I’m very happy with where we are.
Q: Can the team win right now like Quinn talks about?
A: I've said this to Dan. I've said this to (general manager) Thomas (Dimitroff) as late as tonight. We're not about tomorrow. We're not about rebuilding and building. We're about winning and we're about winning now.
The Atlanta fans and the fans across the NFL are entitled to know that this ownership and this leadership team will do whatever it takes to put a winning team on the field. We will not wait any period of time to do it. We’ll leave no stone unturned. We’ll look at everything that we can that’s possible to give us the best opportunity to win. We owe that to our fans. We owe that to the NFL.
Q: How did you manage things through this bottleneck of activity on a lot of different fronts?
A: We've got a lot going on. On top of that, we are launching the soccer franchise, which obviously is taking time as well. We're in a good place. Each one of those have challenges. Each of those were unique opportunities for us. We are excited where we are with all of them, the stadium, the offense and all.
Q: How important is it for the franchise to make sure you maximize the prime of Matt Ryan’s career?
A: It's extraordinarily important. I made that point, that exact point to Dan and Thomas both. Matt has been here eight years. He probably won't play another (eight) years. Peyton (Manning) is 39 and still playing, but he's unusual. Matt is 30 now. We want to make sure that we have a great franchise quarterback. We want to make sure that we support him in every possible way that we can. That's from every perspective.
You see teams around the league that have a lot of other pieces, but don’t have a quarterback. They struggle and they bring in a quarterback and the quarterback can’t make it. Fifty percent of the quarterbacks drafted in the first round are busts. They don’t make it in the league.
Q: What is the key to making sure that happens?
A: I think you have to take advantage of the situation. We have a lot of great players, but this is a quarterback-driven league. We have one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. There is no question about that. We want to make sure that we get all the pieces around him, the best coaches and the best coaching staff on both sides of the ball and on special teams, to put us in the best position to win.
Q: How is the restructured front office working out?
A: That's working beautifully. That's working great. Thomas and "Q" have built a great relationship this offseason together. They listen to each other, speak to each other, hear each other, respect each other and it's everything you want in the relationship. I think that (assistant GM) Scott (Pioli) has been wonderful working with Thomas as well as working with Dan. I think that was a wise decision — a difficult decision — but, in retrospect, a wise decision (to restructure the front office). I think it has worked well and will work out well in the future.
Q: What are your expectations for the season?
A: My expectations are like 31 other owners, that we want to be (in Super Bowl 50), too. I don't want to be there sitting in a suite, watching somebody else play. In that regard, I hate to do coach-speak on you, but you do have to take it a game at a time, a play at time, a quarter at a time, half at time, game at time. That's what you have to do. You just can't get focused on the Super Bowl. If we do the things we're capable of doing, we're going to be a very competitive team. Let's get to the playoffs first, then we'll go ahead and compete and see where it takes us.
Q: What are your concerns about the team heading into the regular season?
A: I think our offensive line has not played consistently well. That's pretty clear. Many of our fans would say that as well. I like what we've done on the defense, a lot. Particularly the first two games, I liked the way our offense has played, particularly our first team. I haven't liked the lack of consistency of our offensive line. I think our running game hasn't been what it's needed to be, can be and should be. I think we got some work to do in that regard and I think the coach would tell you that too.
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