The Falcons’ coaching search kicked into high gear over the weekend. It will go into overdrive this week with four scheduled interviews, including one with former New York Jets coach Rex Ryan on Tuesday.
Denver offensive coordinator Adam Gase and New England Patriots offensive Josh McDaniels were interviewed on Friday. Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn was interviewed on Saturday.
Two of the Falcons prospective coaches became available when Arizona and Detroit went down to defeat in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
The Falcons, who had already sought permission to interview Arizona defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Detroit defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, will interview with both this week along with former Buffalo coach Doug Marrone. Also, special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong, who played with Bowles at Temple, received an interview, according to Alex Marvez of Fox Sports.
Austin helped his case with the pressure that his unit generated against the Cowboys. They were able to disguise their blitzes and create free paths to the quarterback. The Lions registered six sacks and 10 quarterback hits against the Cowboys.
Now, Austin’s defense did allow 17 unanswered points after Detroit took a 20-7 lead. But the defense, which played strong in the first half, didn’t get much second-half help from quarterback Matthew Stafford, the former Georgia standout, and the offense.
Austin, 49, completed his first season as Detroit’s defensive coordinator. He spent the three previous seasons with the Baltimore Ravens as their defensive backs coach.
He also has had NFL coaching stints with Seattle (2003-06) and Arizona (2007-09).
With each of his NFL stops, Austin has helped his teams pave the way to Super Bowl appearances (Seattle in 2005, Arizona in 2008 and Baltimore in 2012). In 2012, he helped guide the Ravens to victory over San Francisco in Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans.
He also had college stops at Penn State (1991-92), Wake Forest (1993-95), Syracuse (1996-98) and Michigan (1999-2002) and Florida, where he was the defensive coordinator in 2010.
A Sharon, Pa., native, he was a safety in college at Pittsburgh and with the Montreal Machine in the old World League of American Football.
San Francisco has also sought permission to interview Austin.
The Lions’ defense ranked second overall, third in scoring and was the top-ranked run-defense in the NFL. Austin’s unit held Dallas running back DeMarco Murray to 75 yards rushing on 19 carries (3.9 per carry) in the wild-card loss.
Murray led the league with 1,845 yards rushing and averaged 4.7 yards per carry during the regular-season.
“I think he’s deserving of it and I think he’s going to get one,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell told the Detroit media. “I think once they get an opportunity to see him and listen to him and watch what he’s been able to do, I think it will happen for him. I think that he will be absolutely outstanding.”
After an eight-year NFL career, Bowles’ first coaching job was as defensive coordinator/secondary coach at Morehouse in 1997. He played at Temple with Falcons special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong.
Bowles is a 14-year NFL assistant who has also coached with the New York Jets, Cleveland, Dallas and Miami.
In his first year in Arizona, the Cardinals had the NFL’s sixth-ranked defense and No. 1-ranked run defense. They allowed the fewest rushing yards in team history for a 16-game season (1,351 yards), had 47.0 sacks (3rd in team history) and 30 takeaways (tied for 6th in NFL), including 20 interceptions (5th in NFL).
But his unit didn’t perform well down the stretch and in the playoffs. They gave up 386 yards to Carolina, including 188 on the ground. Granted they didn’t have much help from the offense and a third-string quarterback.
He played defensive back in the NFL with the Washington Redskins (1986-90; 1992-93) and San Francisco 49ers (1991).
The Jets, Bears, 49ers and Raiders have all requested permission to interview Bowles.
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