The Falcons promised a stealth search for their offensive and defensive coordinators, but the names of the most likely candidates already are leaking out.
Also, with Bob Bratkowski leaving to join departed offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey in Jacksonville, they must find a new quarterbacks coach, too.
Ideally, the Falcons would like to have the coordinators in place so that could help work the Senior Bowl in Mobile. Practices there start Jan. 23, and the game is Jan. 28.
But if the candidates to replace Mularkey and departed defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder work for teams in the Super Bowl, the Falcons wouldn’t be allowed to seek permission until after the game Feb. 5.
“We are going to bring candidates in,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said. “We have skill-sets that we are going to be looking for in the different candidates.”
Some of the likely candidates for offensive coordinator are Tom Clements (Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach), Dirk Koetter, Brian Schottenheimer and Brian Billick. Longshot candidates include Hue Jackson and Mike Martz.
Internally, wide receivers coach Terry Robiskie was a coordinator for the Raiders and the Browns.
Schottenheimer, 38, helped guide the Jets to the past two AFC Championship games. He has had NFL coaching stops with St. Louis, Kansas City, Washington and San Diego before landing with the Jets. His father is Marty Schottenheimer, and Brian was on his staff in Kansas City, Washington and San Diego.
Clements, 58, would not become available until the Packers are eliminated from the playoffs. Clements has been the quarterbacks coach for the past six years in Green Bay.
He’s a former Canadian Football League star and the winner of two Grey Cups. A former Notre Dame quarterback, Clements has 19 years’ coaching experience and has worked for Bill Cowher, Mike Ditka and Lou Holtz.
Koetter, 52, was Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator from 2007-11. Smith is high on Koetter’s work and how running back Maurice Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing while the Jaguars had a rookie quarterback and an anemic passing attack.
Koetter was a head coach in the college ranks at Boise State and Arizona State. The Sun Devils’ vertical passing attack helped him land the offensive coordinator position with Jacksonville.
Billick, 57, is Smith’s brother-in-law and has been out of coaching since 2007. He was the offensive coordinator in Minnesota from 1992-98. The Vikings made the playoffs in six of the seven years during Billick’s tenure. In 1998, his offense broke the league scoring record with 556 points. (New England broke that mark in 2007.)
The new offensive coordinator will be charged with elevating the offense to a high-scoring machine on par with the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints. While Smith doesn’t want to be one-dimensional, the Falcons believe they have enough weapons to win shootouts if necessary. That’s why not scoring a point on offense in the playoffs against the New York Giants was so traumatic for the franchise.
Smith said the offense stalled too often in the red zone last season, and the Falcons struggled with integrating rookies Julio Jones and Jacquizz Rodgers into the attack.
Among the hot names being mentioned for defensive coordinator in coaches’ agent circles are former St. Louis coach Steve Spagnuolo and Mike Nolan.
The Falcons could get into a bidding war for Spagnuolo, who’s also being courted by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was an assistant coach for the Eagles from 1999-2006.
Spagnuolo is especially attractive to the Falcons because his defenses have performed well in the playoffs. When Spagnuolo was coordinator for the New York Giants, his defense stopped the 18-0 New England Patriots and sacked Tom Brady five times in Super Bowl XLII.
Nolan is considered a 3-4 coach. But Smith’s respect for him from their days together in Baltimore runs deep. They could likely blend the principles of both schemes if necessary.
Despite revamping the secondary over the past few years and trying to bolster the pass rush, the Falcons struggled to improve their pass defense. Since 2008, they’ve ranked 21st (2008, 220.4), 28th (2009, 241.9), 22nd (2010, 226.6) and 20th (2011, 236.6).
Falcons owner Arthur Blank expects the new coordinators to bring a new set of eyes and expertise to the team. “Their ability ... to be totally objective, cold-hearted and unemotional about the young men that we have on the roster [should be an asset],” Blank said.
