Greg Auman
NFC South Reporter
Where does the Falcons’ job rank among the NFL’s head coach openings?
If you want evidence that Atlanta is high on the list, consider the past 48 hours and two A-list candidates who have interviewed with the Falcons: Bill Belichick and Jim Harbaugh.
One has six Super Bowl rings and needs 15 wins to become the winningest coach in NFL history. The other just won a national championship at Michigan and is contemplating a return to the NFL, where he went 44-19-1 in four years with the 49ers.
When the Falcons said they value head coaching experience in the evaluation process, they weren’t kidding.
“Nobody connected to our organization has anything else but the full commitment to getting us to the next level and getting us to a championship level,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said last week after moving on from coach Arthur Smith after his third straight 7-10 season. “Getting us to where we have committed to our fan base that we wanted to be, and that’s having an extraordinarily competitive team. So, we’ll do everything we can to invest in that. As always, we’ll put all our resources on the table.”
The Falcons have cast a wide net, doing online interviews with five coveted NFL assistants in addition to Belichick and Harbaugh. Those candidates are: Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Ravens defensive line coach Anthony Weaver, 49ers DC Steve Wilks and Panthers DC Ejiro Evero. That list is likely to grow, with five days still left before any teams can conduct in-person interviews with candidates.
Just getting Belichick and Harbaugh — both respected and coveted enough they likely wouldn’t take interviews unless they were strongly considering the job — speaks well of how the Falcons are seen among the NFL’s seven vacancies. Belichick’s legacy is constant, dynastic success with the Patriots, going to 10 Super Bowls and…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/with-bill-belichick-and-jim-harbaugh-meetings-falcons-set-high-bar-for-hc-hire
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Publish date : 2024-01-17 15:02:14
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