Here’s a list of candidates to replace Musgrave
Matt Ryan and Jeff Jagodzinski back at Boston College. (Associated Press)
The Falcons will move quickly to hire a replacement for Bill Musgrave.
Coach Mike Smith has a list of potential replacements and will start officially contacting folks today. He’s known since letting Musgrave interview that there was a likelihood of him leaving. The search likely won’t be completed before Smith and his staff leaves to coach the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on Tuesday.
He wasn’t ready to reveal his list of candidates last night when we chatted, but here are some potential candidates to replace Musgrave, who’s headed off to become the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings.
1. Jeff Jagodzinski, head coach Omaha Nighthawks: He was Matt Ryan’s head coach at Boston College. He served as the offensive line coach for the Falcons from 2004 to 2005. He has been an OC, but has never coached QBs before.
Coach Brian Billick
2. Chris Palmer, head coach Hartford Colonels: Well respected as an offensive mind and mentor of quarterbacks. The former Cleveland Browns head coach has coached QBs at Dallas, New England and New York Giants.
3. Tom Clements, QB coach Green Bay Packers. He’s done a wonderful job in developing Aaron Rodgers. Some of his other pupils have included Tommy Maddox, Kordell Stewart and Elvis Grbac. He was the QB coach for the Steelers (2001 to 2003) when Falcons OC Mike Mularkey was the OC there before he left to become Buffalo’s head coach.
4. Darryl Bevell, former Vikings OC: His star was rising, but his inability to develop Tarvaris Jackson led the team to keep pursuing Brett Favre. He’s interviewing in Seattle. He’s either not a very good teacher or Jackson didn’t play attention in class.
5. Jim Zorn, Baltimore’s quarterbacks coach: He has no apparent direct ties to the current coaching staff, but is
Tom Clements, former Notre Dame stud and lawyer, worked with Mike Mularkey in Pittsburgh. (Associated Press)
widely respected around the league.
6. Brian Billick, former Ravens coach: Just throwing this one out there because of the obvious connection. Don’t know if he’s ready to get back on the sidelines or if he’s waiting for another head coaching shot.
7. Mike Shula, Jacksonville QB coach: Was hired in 2007 and spent one year on Jack Del Rio’s staff with Smith.
This is a pretty good working list. We’ll add and delete as the information flows. Who would you all like to see?
–D. Orlando Ledbetter
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127 comments Add your comment
drmondo
January 20th, 2011
7:28 pm
Hey, don’t knock Crystal Chandelier, UGASlobberknocker!!!
I guess, for purely emotional reasons I’d love to see Bartkowski as the QC. Realistically, I think whoever gets the position has to be able to step into the OC job in a yr or two. If the offense improves and the Falcons get over their playoff jinx then MM will get offers to be a HC somewhere. If they stumble, then I think MM will be out. That’s why Billick might be interested. it’s a chance to jump up the ladder quickly and establish himself as a viable HC again.
D. Orlando Ledbetter
January 20th, 2011
7:31 pm
Scratch No. 4.
drmondo
January 20th, 2011
7:36 pm
it should read “HC candidate”
JB
January 20th, 2011
8:21 pm
Ralph Friedgen
DR. FALCON
January 20th, 2011
11:58 pm
TO MY FELLOW FALCON FANS: IS THIS IT? IS THIS ALL MATT RYAN HAS TO OFFER? HAS HE REACHED HIS UPSIDE OR PEAK? WE CAN BLAME MULARKEY, BUT, RYAN WAS THE ONE WHO MADE THOSE BONE HEAD MISTAKES! WHAT A SHAME! 13-3, GONE DOWN THE DRAIN! POOR TONY G! HE CAME HERE TO GET ONE. I GAVE RYAN A PASS IN 2009, AND 2008, HIS ROOKIE YEAR. NO MORE PASSES! HE’S A 3RD YEAR STARTER! HE NEEDS TO GROW UP! THIS IS TOO PAINFUL!!!
DR. FALCON
January 21st, 2011
12:00 am
FALCON FANS, I’M GOING TO SHUT IT DOWN FOR A FEW WEEKS. iM GOING TO GET BACK INTO H.S. FOOTBALL RECRUITING. OUR TEAM IS DONE! THERE HAS BEEN GREAT DIALOGUE ALL YEAR HERE AT AJC.COM! I LOVE ALL OF YA’LL!! TAKE CARE!!!
FalconJim
January 21st, 2011
12:18 am
I agree with you GHunt…….BRETT FAVRE coming back to the ATL, would be the bomb!!! Can you imagine what he could do with Matty Ice??? And he’s a Southern boy, too! I LIKE IT!!!
Mike
January 21st, 2011
9:09 am
D Led …
whoever follows Josh McDaniels around … I want that guy. Kyle Orton was probowl caliber … enough said.
Matt Hassel is now an NFL QB … enough said.
Mike
January 21st, 2011
9:09 am
*Matt Cassel
No hope now
January 21st, 2011
9:58 am
Belick?? Don’t bring that guy over. Have you guys heard his recent comments?? He said on playbook that ATL needs to lock the offensive coaches out of the draft room and go ALL DEFENSE. Its so stupid, no wonder he isn’t a HC anymore. See thats the mantra of YOUR ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST GAME right there. Forget the defense becoming better and finishing 5th in scoring. Last time I checked the offense didn’t have a great game either in the packers game. YOU CAN’T JUST GO ONE DIMENSIONAL, thats how you screw up things. IMO we still need defensive talent but THE OFFENSE DOES AS WELL.
Belick said he thinks we have “TOO MANY” offensive weapons?? What??? Thats why he thinks the offense is stalling. NO ONE WANTS TO ADMIT ITS MURLARKEY. How can you have too many offensive weapons?? Do the packers have too many offensive weapons? What about patriots? Chargers? Bengals? Vikings? WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH OFFENSIVE WEAPONS. Crazy, I don’t know how we’re gonna replace musgrave though. Its gonna be tough, the guy was our meal ticket and we let him go. Your not going to get anyone as effective on Ryan right away as Musgrave. The offense is in deep water now. MURLARKEY HAS IT ALL TO HIMSELF NOW…..
BigTimeTECHFan
January 21st, 2011
10:09 am
How about Trent Dilfer, he knows everything, just ask him.
Root of Problem
January 22nd, 2011
8:29 am
Everyone seems to agree that Mularky is known as an aggressive, innovative OC and play caller. Most seem to agree that his play calling in Atlanta is very very conservative; vanilla at best. Is anyone asking WHY?
Did Smitty ask Mularky to dumb down the system? If so WHY? I can’t see Mularky consistently calling such painfully conservative games unless he had the approval or at least the acquiescence of Coach Smith. So…it seems obvious that Smitty was on board the “3 yards and a cloud of dust train”. Why?
I mean MATTY ICE is supposed to be a very smart QB. If the coaches felt that Matty was capable of running a more complex offense why wouldn’t they have installed one.
Who is the culprit? Coach Smith? Smitty and Mularky combo is the most likely scenario. Why? They have NO ACTUAL CONFIDENCE in Matty’s abilities. They drafted him….they are STUCK with him and his (lack of) abilities.
If someone else has a better explanation for the horrifically predictable play calling and total lack of pregame AND in game adjustments please explain it to me.
Big Ray
January 22nd, 2011
11:24 am
I’d rather see Billick in as OC, and “Mad” Mike Mularkey out. I’d worry about QBs coach less…
Big Ray
January 22nd, 2011
11:35 am
Everyone seems to agree that Mularky is known as an aggressive, innovative OC and play caller. Most seem to agree that his play calling in Atlanta is very very conservative; vanilla at best. Is anyone asking WHY?
Did Smitty ask Mularky to dumb down the system? If so WHY? I can’t see Mularky consistently calling such painfully conservative games unless he had the approval or at least the acquiescence of Coach Smith. So…it seems obvious that Smitty was on board the “3 yards and a cloud of dust train”. Why?
I mean MATTY ICE is supposed to be a very smart QB. If the coaches felt that Matty was capable of running a more complex offense why wouldn’t they have installed one.
Who is the culprit? Coach Smith? Smitty and Mularky combo is the most likely scenario. Why? They have NO ACTUAL CONFIDENCE in Matty’s abilities. They drafted him….they are STUCK with him and his (lack of) abilities.
If someone else has a better explanation for the horrifically predictable play calling and total lack of pregame AND in game adjustments please explain it to me.
If you’ve been around long enough, you KNOW already.
Both guys wanted the power running game. They have been quoted since they’ve been here as saying that this is a power running team.
Now, the team has several holes. QB isn’t one of them. Because if you have been hearing that Mularkey is some aggressive play caller, then you’ve also heard various media personnel gush about Ryan (so have other NFL coaches, by the way).
If they didn’t trust Ryan, then he wouldn’t be allowed to run the no-huddle offense or change plays at the line of scrimmage.
Part of the problem is lack of the proper personnel. Mike Turner is a power back, but we are NOT a power running offense, plain and simple. To be such an offense, you must have a healthy, powerful line. We have a line of mostly overachievers. Our run plays are generally predictable, and we don’t always get the push off the line that we need. In fact, we don’t get it enough .
We also lack a change of pace running back who is quick, elusive, and catches well out of the backfield. Snelling is good for catching (and running), but he is only marginally faster than Turner, and is not elusive. Norwood is all of that, but his narrow a$$ can’t stay healthy.
Look at our passing game. White is a Pro-Bowl receiver, and Gonzalez is a Pro-Bowl tight end. Jenkins is a decent possession receiver, but that’s it. The most successful offenses have a dangerous slot receiver. Where is ours? It should be Harry Douglas, but it ain’t. He either isn’t running the routes well enough, doesn’t catch the balls (the games he got the most balls thrown to him were also the games he missed the most catches) thrown to him, or isn’t getting enough separation.
There have been times that Ryan overthrew him. Suffice it to say that the QB and receiver must have chemistry, and Ryan has strong chemistry with two guys, and decent chemistry with a third. We need more than that.
Also, Coach Smith was a DC before he became an HC. Some DCs make good HCs that understand offensive philosophy, or they simply have wonderful OCs. I think we have some issues personnel-wise. I also think that we call games to conservatively.
But I wouldn’t point the finger at the QB as being a major culprit. He makes mistakes, but the dude can flat out play. He’s won more than one tough game for us.
mac
January 22nd, 2011
3:19 pm
Get favre as QB coach or clements as QB coach and assistant head coach.
Ron Choke Mexico
January 22nd, 2011
4:27 pm
why all the hate for the OC and none for the DC, could it be you’re all UGA homers? The defense is the problem,not the offense.
Ron Choke Mexico
January 22nd, 2011
4:29 pm
For 3 years the offense has been ranked higher than the defense, but I don’t hear as many calls for the DC’s job
HJones
January 22nd, 2011
5:04 pm
Please let’s have a list of candidates for Mike Mularkey’s and/or Brian Van Gorder’s job. Mike Mularkey should be the first one to go. Please some team hire this man! I have been listening to ESPN radio today, and tomorrow’s games have been the topic. The Atlanta Falcons should be playing tomorrow. I am so mad. We have the quality players required to go to the Super Bowl. The problem is our offense is playing with one arm tied behind it back because of the offensive play calling and scheme. The defense just doesn’t know what to do at times. The loss to Green Bay was an enormous coaching failure across the board. I have read some of you say the 13-3 record should satisfy all of he fans. It does not because we were at the brink of going to the NFC Championship Game and to the Super Bowl. We were not prepared to play last Saturday night. If we had played a really good competitive game on both sides of the line of scrimmage, it would be easier to understand the loss. We had a coaching failure. All players don’t fail at the same time unless the preparation was faulty. We attempted to play the Green Bay Packers the same way we played the Pittsburgh Steelers in week one. Nothing has changed in the offense since game #1.
Keith
January 22nd, 2011
5:38 pm
gawd, I get the feeling that I got after Leeman bennett’s team lost to Dallas, people get over it, it was one game. Unfortunate events, came together, the Falcons pick a bad day to have an off game and Aaron Rodgers played out of his mind!! unless you are a pro coach quit calling for Mularky to be fired,yes the offense needs to go down field more, Knowing the hc, I’m sure he knows that as well. I like the idea of Ryans old head coach, but I also like the idea of the QB coach from GB, he’s done a damn fine job with Rodgers, maybe he can improve Matt’s deep throwing. I do not pretend to be coach, I just wish some of you would quit trying to be,trust the front office they have shown so far they know what they are doing. on another note d I heard that we signed Carlos Rodgers, and the db from Oakland any truth to these rumors?
Keith
January 22nd, 2011
5:43 pm
ok let try to finish this damn ipad, d-led any truth to those rumor about Carlos Rodgers, and the db from Oakland? if so I would think that would upgrade our defense automatically
hbcuclassics
January 22nd, 2011
7:33 pm
2010 HBCU NFL Draft Board (1-6)
1. Kenrick Ellis 6-5, 340 DT Hampton
AP/FCS All-American, All-MEAC, 34 solo, 15TFL, 2 sacks
2. Clifford Eugene 6’1, 198 CB Tenn State
FCS All-American, 3x All-OVC, 4 Ints, 14 PDs
3. Johnny Culbreath 6’5, 285 OT SC State
AP/FCS All-American, 2x All-MEAC
4. Derrin Nettles 6’6, 320 DT Morehouse
AFCA All-American, All-SIAC,37 solo, 23 TFL, 14.5 sacks
5. Ibrahim Abdulai 6’3, 282 DT Ark-PB
All-SWAC, 31 solo, 18 TFL, 7.5 sacks
6. Frank Warren 5’10, 195 RB Grambling
FCS All-American, 2010 SWAC Offensive POY,
1,592 yd rushing, 3rd in NCAA
http://www.hbcuclassics.com
hbcuclassics
January 22nd, 2011
7:52 pm
2011 HBCU Draft Board – WRs (1-5)
1. Raymond Webber 6′2, 218 WR Ark-PB
AP/FCS All-American, Walter Payton Award Finalist
led NCAA 101 rec. 1,429yds 10TDs 129.9ypg.
only receiver w/ more receptions is Jerry Rice.
Coach: Monte Coleman (don’t be stupid on this one)
2. Ricardo Lockette, 6′3, 199 WR/KR FVSU
2009 DII 200 Meter Champion
23 rec./232 yds. 4.39-4.41/40yd. dash
Mentor: Terrence Mathis – track guy
3. Ronnie Childs 6′2 195 WR Albany State
BASN All-American, All-SIAC, SIAC Champ 11-1
45 rec./ 22ypc./12TDs – (all he does is catch TDs)
4. Jeremy Franklin 6′3, 199 WR/KR JC Smith
3x All-CIAA, JC Smith All-time leading receiver
55 rec/823 yds/5 TDs – fierce, beats up DBs.
5. Larrone Moore 6′0, 185 WR/KR Delaware St.
25 rec. 450yds 4TDs, 18.8ypc – another track guy
2x Maryland 4A 100m champ, 55m Maryland State champ
4.29-4.36/ 40yd dash (has Deion-like speed)
http://www.hbcuclassics.com
Falcon James
January 22nd, 2011
9:14 pm
Well let just put it this way. Ryan can learn the play book, he scramble, and he can throw a 5 yard pass to Tony G. What he cant do is through a 20+ yard pass to anybody and a coach is not going to change that. Ryan needs strenght and conditioning. Tony G should give Ryan a few pointers in the weigt room on how to build that weak arm.
Falcons "There's Always Next Year"
January 23rd, 2011
6:26 pm
“Jeff Jagodzinski”
if they get him maybe he can give Mike some tips “I know you run the offense but you can better utilize Matty if you have him do this instead” or “Matt works best in this situation”
PlanB
January 23rd, 2011
7:18 pm
Ron C Mex – there are problems on off & def. Def improved but Off didn’t. Surely you see the play calling lacks something. It could be MM, but it may be MR isn’t good at disguising screens & has other similar problems. Could be MS controls MM play calls. Don’t know but we’re not 100%. Some games, too much run…run… 3rd & 8. Off is pretty good but is capable of being much better. Too many of us see that.
ole timer ( donald )
January 26th, 2011
10:34 am
what’s wrong with Dan Reeve’s as QBC?
Anthony
January 26th, 2011
6:09 pm
John Ramsdell should be on the list for QB coach.