Shakeup continues as Alvin Reynolds is fired
MOBILE — Defensive backs coach Alvin Reynolds, an original member of head coach Mike Smith’s staff, was fired, the team announced on Monday.
Alvin Reynolds
The Falcons have been undergoing an intensive review of their football operations since they were blown out 24-2 by the New York Giants in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs on Jan. 8.
Reynolds spent four seasons with the team.
“We would like to thank Coach Reynolds for his dedication and hard work over the last four seasons,” Smith said in a statement released by the team. “We wish him all of the best.”
Reynolds, who’s coached in the NFL for 18 seasons, became the fifth coach from last season’s staff to either be fired or leave for another position.
Former offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey left to become the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Former defensive coordiantor Brian VanGorder left to take the same position at Auburn.
Quarterbacks coach Bob Bratkowski left to become the offensive coordinator in Jacksonville. Offensive line coach Paul Boudreau was released from his contract and has since been named the offensive line coach for the St. Louis Rams.
Dirk Koetter and Mike Nolan have been named as the new coordinators. The Falcons are looking for three assistant coaches for the quarterbacks, offensive line and defensive backs.
While there have been some breakthroughs in the secondary, the pass defense has not improved significantly.
Since 2008, they’ve ranked 21st (2008, 220.4), 28th (2009, 241.9), 22nd (2010, 226.6) and 20th (2011, 236.6) in pass defense.
From 2003-07, Reynolds served as the defensive backs Coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. During his tenure with the Jaguars, he guided a secondary that ranked fourth in the AFC after totaling 20 interceptions (tying a team record) in 2007, led by rookie safety Reggie Nelson’s five picks. In 2006, cornerback Rashean Mathis led the club with a team-record eight interceptions en route to a Pro Bowl bid as Jacksonville set a franchise high with 20 interceptions.
Reynolds coached the Carolina Panthers for four seasons (1999-2002) as a defensive assistant. He was present with the Baltimore Ravens for its first three seasons in franchise history (1996-98) as the secondary coach and started his NFL career with the Denver Broncos (1993-95).
Throughout his career, Reynolds has worked with the likes of safeties Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith in Denver and Pro Football Hall of Famer Rod Woodson in Baltimore. With the Panthers, he worked with then-defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, helping with tape breakdown, game plan preparation and statistical tendencies. He also worked with the Carolina secondary.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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123 comments Add your comment
A year too late!!
January 23rd, 2012
2:22 pm
Its about time!!!
Duce88
January 23rd, 2012
2:23 pm
First
Tomas
January 23rd, 2012
2:26 pm
What’s the difference between DB coach and secondary coach (Tim Lewis)?
Trainwreck
January 23rd, 2012
2:29 pm
Scapegoat for the secondary??
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 23rd, 2012
2:38 pm
Did he actually play with Tampa in the late 80’s or early 90’s? Seems like they had a DB with a similar name, perhaps #29? Could be mistaken on this though.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 23rd, 2012
2:40 pm
Nevermind just Googled that 1990 roster and I was thinking of #29 Ricky Reynolds. More useless crap that I have no business remembering.
d-bird
January 23rd, 2012
2:45 pm
There will be more firing to come. Just wait.
SeminoleWarrior
January 23rd, 2012
2:52 pm
Trainwreck, you are absolutely correct. Reynolds is yet another fall guy. How can you fire the defensive back coach yet the SECONDARY coach is still employed. Lewis should have been the FIRST to go!!
SeminoleWarrior
January 23rd, 2012
2:55 pm
When will the folks at the Branch realize it was a lack of cohesion at the top that lead to this debacle we saw this season?
Oh yeah, they are too darn busy trying to play kissy face with the Governor and the Mayor over a stadium we do not need at this time.
jay
January 23rd, 2012
2:55 pm
They ain’t playing in Flowery Branch. Still these are some good coaches(based on resume) they are firing. Maybe it’s the talent, heart and character of the players they are coaching.
jay
January 23rd, 2012
2:55 pm
that needs to be questioned.
SirReal
January 23rd, 2012
3:01 pm
Sounds like a fall guy and also just the fact that Nolan may wanna bring in his own guy. We honestly havent been that great in the secondary for the last FEW years and inching up vs leaps and bounds is how to soon find a target on someone’s back. The guy that needs to be under a microscope is Dimitroff with his picks he’s brought in. We’ll see how good or bad we suck in the secondary this year.
Bulldawg
January 23rd, 2012
3:05 pm
How could our defensive backs cover anyone when the quarterback has 5-7 seconds to throw on every pass attempt? If we don’t get some d-linemen that can rush the passer it won’t matter who is the defensive backs coach.
Astro Joe
January 23rd, 2012
3:07 pm
Need to get rid of Tim Lewis next, maybe then we won’t keep hearing about “blown coverages”.
BamaGuy
January 23rd, 2012
3:15 pm
C’mon guys, Simply put, this has Mike Nolan written all over it….He has looked at enough film and talked with enough players to decide that Reynolds was not getting it done with our cornerbacks…Nolan made a decision that this guy can not or will not get Nolan the cornerback play that his system requires…Nolan has someone in mind and you can bet they are already enroute to Flowery Branch…
BamaGuy
January 23rd, 2012
3:18 pm
I can gaurantee this, Mike Nolan would not of come over here without full authority over coaches on the defensive side of the ball…I love it…We have a guy in place that has a plan and if he doesn’t think you fit into that plan then there will be a press release soon to follow…Next up…Players?
bigcalidawg
January 23rd, 2012
3:23 pm
“BamaGuy
January 23rd, 2012
3:15 pm
C’mon guys, Simply put, this has Mike Nolan written all over it….He has looked at enough film and talked with enough players to decide that Reynolds was not getting it done with our cornerbacks…Nolan made a decision that this guy can not or will not get Nolan the cornerback play that his system requires…Nolan has someone in mind and you can bet they are already enroute to Flowery Branch…”
Dang……a Dawg can agree with a Bammer, at times………well said Guy
Tdawg
January 23rd, 2012
3:24 pm
Jay you are 100% correct. The talent just isn’t there on defense. You may be able to turn lemons into lemon aide, but what do you turn chiot into?
Ken
January 23rd, 2012
3:27 pm
BamaGuy I agree with you!! Mike Nolan is bringing in his guy for the job!! Good to see the Falcons looking at every thing. Now maybe we can get teams off the field on 3rd down!!
bigcalidawg
January 23rd, 2012
3:28 pm
Agreed that weak signing of a DE last year was all for show. How can you play opposite of Jared Allen and not wreck shop?
Shoot, let’s get Jared Allen!
Let’s get somebody with some fire! I don’t need a high iq, I don’t need business acumen…….let’s get a de and a s with some FIRE!
elroy
January 23rd, 2012
3:29 pm
changes needed to be made. players will benext. If Falcons don’t make playoffs or are 1 & done again in 2012 coach smith is probably next.
bigcalidawg
January 23rd, 2012
3:30 pm
Astro…….how many years you been postin here?
Tdawg
January 23rd, 2012
3:31 pm
Bulldawg when a reciever gets open against the Falcons, make no mistake about it, he is open, I mean really open and most often, they are open as soon as they start down field. Seems to me that the DB”s are purposely trying to put as much distance between themselves and the recievers as they can. You are right, the Falcons couldn’t muster a pass rush against father time, but still. These bunch of DB’s are a joke. Crap the whole defense is a joke.
Runner-
January 23rd, 2012
3:34 pm
Good question Tomas, I would like to know the same thing.
“What’s the difference between DB coach and secondary coach (Tim Lewis)?”
Moses1947
January 23rd, 2012
3:42 pm
Looking at the roster the falcons has all the parts to make the little train run, but missing engineers and conductors. Maybe next season will be !!!!!!!!!
PMC
January 23rd, 2012
3:49 pm
This is simply a casualty of changing coordinators. Anytime there is a change, the new coordinator will want to bring in his own guy. I’m sure coach Reynolds is a fine football coach, this is just part of the business.
BamaGuy
January 23rd, 2012
3:55 pm
Dawgs and Bammers agree:
W do not believe that the coaching changes are through…We should all expect more as Nolan and Dirk have now got their necks stuck out there….If they are going to be putting their name on the line then you can bet it will be with guys that they have been to war with…no some Arthur Blank/Thomas D/Mike Smith holdover!
AlanFalcon
January 23rd, 2012
3:59 pm
I like the fact that the Falcons are living up to their word as they continue the reviews, I am waiting to see what happens when they get to the roster.
Go Falcons !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ivan
January 23rd, 2012
4:00 pm
“Dang……a Dawg can agree with a Bammer, at times………well said Guy”
Well it IS 2012 after all.
DogTheMan
January 23rd, 2012
4:01 pm
We may need to get some defenses playmakers in the secondary. It does not matter who the coach is if all the DBs run like they are stuck in the mud and can’t cover!!
Brownie
January 23rd, 2012
4:02 pm
Lots of great things going on at Flowery Branch – all badly needed. Smitty is safe for at least another year, but you can bet that Arthur and TD made it very clear to Smitty that things better improve…quickly. That’s why the new coordinators WILL have a huge say in the schemes deployed.
This may be the most critical off-season in a long time for the Falcons. 5 yrs ago they were in total rebuilding mode, but there were zero expectation and zero pressure. Last year, they were supposedly “one or two players away…” – didn’t happen and changes started taking place fast.
It will be interesting to see which players really step up this spring, and which don’t. I think the coordinators and Smitty will have short patience for those who don’t buy-in 100%.
I believe that Koetter will be an improvement over MM, and I am absolutely confident that Nolan is light years better than BVG was.
Should be fun to watch…
ernisTbass
January 23rd, 2012
4:35 pm
It remains to be seen how much Nolan will have to say about FA pick-ups or draft choices as more Dimry Robinsons won’t make the job any easier for anybody
Shakeup continues as Alvin Reynolds is fired | football-feed.com
January 23rd, 2012
4:48 pm
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Obviously
January 23rd, 2012
4:58 pm
this wont change a thing reynolds should have bolted when that clown bvg left for auburn. nolan has his hands full with this rag tag group smith & dimitroff has assembled !!!!!!
collegeballfan
January 23rd, 2012
5:03 pm
“More useless crap that I have no business remembering.”
Welcome to my world Lowcountry!
Joshing
January 23rd, 2012
5:14 pm
You don’t improve your product without making changes. I think Mr. Blank is fed up with what his money has produced and has put his foot down and raised his demands.
We’ll see.
Some real DBacks
January 23rd, 2012
5:15 pm
If you watched the two playoff games (and if you didn’t, you missed out) you saw what real DBacks play like. We’ve got a long, hard road ahead of us. Maybe we can unload our slackers and pick up someone.
Sid
January 23rd, 2012
5:19 pm
Alvin Reynolds couldn’t tackle and contantly got beat on the deep route.
QB...Just wondering
January 23rd, 2012
5:22 pm
Watching the playoffs it is clearly that to be an elite QB in this league, you need to be smart…you need to have a great arm…and you have to be able to RUN WITH THE BALL.
Why can’t someone show Matt Ryan how to run with the ball????? It’s not like he has to be able to bust through the D Line or anything. Maybe he needs to muscle up some.
MR. ATL
January 23rd, 2012
5:25 pm
Be good to see who Koetter decides to bring in. Defense for the most part was able to minimize leads….offensive stagnation doesn’t help the defense.
MR. ATL
January 23rd, 2012
5:28 pm
Be good to see what they do with the roster. See who stays and who goes. Don’t think Dunta will be going anywhere. I’d like to see Thomas DeCoud shipped to Oakland or the Seahawks. Think he’s served his purpose as a Falcon.
Tony
January 23rd, 2012
5:36 pm
The only thing I have to say to you guys that think that it is the personnel, Look no further than the Giants and Patriots. The Giant’s secondary absolutely stinks especially that safety Rolle. And The Patriots again had a Wide receiver playing nickle in the AFC championship game!
Chop Buster
January 23rd, 2012
5:41 pm
Smitty picked these coaches. Were they picked because they were the best available at the time? Or because they previously worked with Smitty? Here’s a novel idea…why don’t we try picking position coaches that have actually successfully played the position in the NFL? Hmnnn.
Chop Buster
January 23rd, 2012
5:42 pm
Lowcountry…is that Bulldawg in reference to Burke HS, SC State or Univ of Ga?
TRUTH BE TOLD...........
January 23rd, 2012
5:46 pm
Hey BamaGuy………whom would have thought that a BAMAGUY COULD TEACH A dawg NEW TRICKS & HAVE HIM ADMIT IT!!!
Brownie
January 23rd, 2012
5:54 pm
Chop Buster – cant’ disagree with your sentiments. I happen to believe that when the dust clears, we’re going to be very happy that we got Mike Nolan – don’t know yet about Koetter.
There’s an old axiom: Those who can…do. those who can’t….teach. The reality is in the NFL, you almost NEVER see a great player become a great coach (especially a head coach), likely because they had so much physical talent they relied on that primarily to succeed. The average player had to work and study his butt off just to keep a job in the pros – and those are the guys who usually become the best coaches.
I think we’re gonna see some drastic improvements, for no other reason that Arthur is demanding it. The last 4 years we have all seen great improvement from Smitty and the players, and that’s been essentially acceptable – the bar has now been raised. Changes had to take place – coaches first, now come the players.
mark
January 23rd, 2012
5:57 pm
this guy should have been fired before BVG this dude cant cover even his shadow
mark
January 23rd, 2012
6:03 pm
we should have sign rod woodson just like the raiders did
texasbirdfan
January 23rd, 2012
6:12 pm
saw Rod on TV this morning NFL channel- I think he is available now with the shake-up of the Raiders- but he has no ties to Atlanta like he did with Oakland (he lives near there)
Fred
January 23rd, 2012
6:19 pm
Clean house Mr Smith and let Cutter and Nolan get their own people to get the job done…
Chop Buster
January 23rd, 2012
6:19 pm
Brownie looks like that old axiom still applies today. I look at these teams in the championship games and none of them have defensive players that look like they just graduated from H.S. (Decoud, Robinson, Grimes, Owens, etc.). These teams have above average sized players, they can run with the best receivers/TEs, and bring the wood when necessary. Oh, and they don’t swat at the ball like a kid trying to jump and get something from someone’s hands who’s taller. Stop bringing these little boys here to play a man’s game.
garcia
January 23rd, 2012
6:27 pm
BUSTED COVERAGE. How many times have we heard that statement during a crucial 3rd and long?
Put that on the coaching. We have DB’s that have the physical abilities to play well in this league. Why has there been so much confusion back there? Blame the scheme, blame the coaching.
Time for some real coaching and proper preparation. Make it happen Nolan.
Lamar
January 23rd, 2012
6:30 pm
WHEN YOU HAVE PLAYERS LIKE DUNTA ROBINSON COVERING GUYS, YOU ARE WAY BEHIND THE 8 BALL!! ROBINSON HAS TO BE THE WORST CB I HAVE EVER WATCHED IN THE NFL!! SURELY THEY WILL CUT HIM, IF NOT, IT WILL NOT MATTER WHO COACHES THE SECONDARY!! PATHETIC!! FREE AGENCY?? HOPE ROBINSON WAS NOT PAID IF HE WAS, WE GOT RIPPED!!
Brownie
January 23rd, 2012
6:42 pm
Don’t pretend to be an expert, but I don’t know how Dunta Robinson could have gone from pretty good to awful that quickly (and he’s not gotten old). Maybe it’s because he got his money.
I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt for one more season (or at least part of it) and say it was a really bad scheme for his skill set. In fact, BVG’s perpetual soft zone was routinely picked apart, and you couple that with little or no pass rush, and it’s a wonder we ever stopped anyone. Thankfully, our linebackers are damn good.
I’d like to see Nolan play more man coverage, and I think that might fit better with Robinson’s game. We’ll see.
thouhtful
January 23rd, 2012
6:46 pm
Yeah bt what about drafting mistakes???? What about drafting guys too high????? What about not aquiring the right FREE AGENTS????? What about keeping medium type players who they get attached to, too long?? You got to look at who is making the Personal decisions. Who is making the Draft day decisions. You got to look at every position and ask yourself is this SUPER BOWL quality? The Falcons are blowing this up and I don’t know if this is the right move.
JONESBORO SLIM
January 23rd, 2012
6:56 pm
Lamar
Robinson not going anywhere he’s under a big contract…besides the way the had the DB’s playing 5 to 10 yards off recievers…Robinson played better at Houston where he could be up on the line and “chuck” the WR within the 5 yard area..
steven a
January 23rd, 2012
7:29 pm
In all absolute honesty, Mr. Nolan should be the head coach. He even looks like he has a higher football IQ than Smiity.
flagger
January 23rd, 2012
7:30 pm
Last time i looked there wasn’t any donkeys in the Kentucky derby. It the same as coaching in little league.. you win most of your games when you choose your players.. which is to say u can lead a
horse to water but can’t make him drink..silk purse from a sows ear and all that Jazz. Plus when u pat the big bucks to Big play Ray and Dunta know how to cover… its like peeing in a cash register after a while it runs into money…
steven a
January 23rd, 2012
7:32 pm
I was active U S Air Force for 20 years. I have worked with officers and enlisted. Smitty is a lot closer to that Sergeant than he is the Officer that you need to lead your football team.
steven a
January 23rd, 2012
7:36 pm
Thomas Decoud and Duante Robinson should be exiled to the “Siberia” of the NFL(Buffalo) They were absolutely atrocious when it mattered. Need 1 starting corner and safety FAST. Back-up QB wanted. FIRE Chris Redman and JPW, BOTH ARE SCRUBS.
steven a
January 23rd, 2012
7:40 pm
Next, Michael “too slow” Turner must GO!!! I want all of my running backs 28 years of AGE and under. Men reach their peak athletically at age 27.
JONESBORO SLIM
January 23rd, 2012
7:41 pm
steven a
You and others keep saying the DB’s and Safeties are the problems…you forgot about the DT’s and a PASS rush
greg
January 23rd, 2012
7:44 pm
Come on man. The Falcons D line had Tavaris Jackson looking like an all pro. If you cant rush the quarterback then your secondary is going to get eaten alive. Get some real defensive linemen and a killer for a defensive end and we will improve drasticly.
TD has no clue!
January 23rd, 2012
7:49 pm
Good riddance. NEXT!!!!!!
TD has no clue!
January 23rd, 2012
7:50 pm
TD and Smitty should be next.
JONESBORO SLIM
January 23rd, 2012
7:55 pm
I tell you people keep listening to the “Old-school” jocks and “Talkingheads” along with Chris Berman on ESPN who never played a DOWN in his life and using the stolen line that Howard Cosell popularized “BACK BACK BACK”……pleazzzzzzz
Wink
January 23rd, 2012
8:02 pm
@Brownie
Could not agree more. The scheme was lousy, an entire game of prevent defense, and no pass rush. When will we fire the d-line coach, because Reynolds is being used as a scape goat, since they did not get the chance to FIRE BVG.
NO RUSH = NO QB PRESSURE, WHICH EQUALS MORE TIME TO BEAT THE DB INSIDE THE SOFT ZONE = ASTRONOMICAL SUCCESS RATE ON 3RD DOWN FOR OPPOSITION, REGARDLESS OF THE QB LEAGUE STATUS…ELITE TO 3RD STRING = HIGH SUCCESS
AGAINST FALCON SECONDARY (BVG designed not Reynolds).
In addition, press coverage, man to man, with additional men commited to get after the QB, reduces his time in pocket, which will force him to go to check down receiver ( See Matt Ryan for example…the master of the Check Down).
One and Done in the Playoffs
January 23rd, 2012
8:02 pm
I’m glad to see heads rolling after this season. Not a bad season, but not good enough for the level of talent we have on offense. Not real sure there was much talent on D other than maybe three guys so just replacing coaches won’t be all that needs to happen.
cdog
January 23rd, 2012
8:08 pm
a coach is only as good as his players he’s given to work with.coach alvin reynold was not given dbs to work with.the falcons didn’t have a defensive back after grimes was hurt, that could cover in the arena league so why fire the db coach? get some stud dbs and then you can blame coaches if they don’t workout.unclassy and bad move by mike smith.
South Georgia
January 23rd, 2012
8:18 pm
The head coach does not know what he is doing and need a new quarterback,.
GHunt
January 23rd, 2012
8:29 pm
Arthur Blank seems to have awaken from his long sleep. I think he realizes that Dimitroff and Smitty have not been the answer to his open wallet. He is giving them one more chance to get this right.
We have no first and fourth round picks in this year draft. However, their are two free agents we must acquire. They are Jermichael Finley from Green Bay and Carl Nicks from New Orlrans. we strength ourselves at TE and Guard and at the sametime we weaken two of our main rivals for the long run.
Nique
January 23rd, 2012
8:33 pm
Don’t like this firing so much, unles Nolan just has his own guy he wants. While the DB’s struggled you could tell there was huge growth in players under this coach: Grimes, Moore, Franks, & Ownes. DeCoud & Robinson haven’t showed well under him, but in the case of Thomas, its his own abilities & lack of maturity concerning reading defenses, taking the right angles, & sound tackling. & with Robinson I really believe it was the scheme, not to say there aren’t other issues there, he needs to stop sliping all the freaking time & stay on his feet, he’s also missed to many tackles as well, but nothing like DeCoud
lombardi
January 23rd, 2012
8:41 pm
It’s Nolan’s D now and that’s good. Reynolds, unfortunately, had to guide the DB’s play for Smitty soft zone via BVG.
Jockich Ahn Smelley II
January 23rd, 2012
8:47 pm
Ohhhh…..what a big move to “clean house”…..wow, what an impact the Falcons are making….What a JOKE!!! How about getting rid of Smitty, or Dimitroff, or Matty Ice……Did anyone see Flacco outperform Brady????? Hey at least the Falcons are Champions of the Regular Season!!!!!
lombardi
January 23rd, 2012
8:48 pm
@Nique though we paid too much, I liked the pik of Robinson for man-to-man — until I realized he can’t tackle. But seeing yesterday the way the Niners D has learned to bring ‘em down this year has given me the hope ;~}
OLDBUSH
January 23rd, 2012
9:03 pm
I think the Falcons are, at least, trying to make positive changes for the team. Malarkey had gotten so predictable on offense that everyone knew what they are going to do in certain situations. I never liked Van Goiter. He had some success with UGA and he had a favorable press. He leaves to go to Jacksonville. Not much there. He takes the head coaching job at Georgia Southern and was a miserable failure. He comes to the Falcons and is mediocre at best. It is time to make coaching changes. I think Arthur Blank has sent a message to Smith. Without pressure the Falcons are not going to get much better. Give them H— Arthur!
Jockich Ahn Smelley II
January 23rd, 2012
9:06 pm
Who the “F” is Alvin? Is he the Head concession manager at the Dome? WTF???!!! Make those bravado changes Falcons…..
ET
January 23rd, 2012
9:16 pm
Well, four short years ago we had never had back-to-back winning seasons. Now (after what…4 winning seasons in a row is it?) we are getting rid of a bunch of coaches because we can’t take just winning regular season games anymore…we have to have a Super Bowl baby. Boy, times have changed around here…for the better I might add.
robert
January 23rd, 2012
9:19 pm
why fire anyone other than the head coach, he is responsible for everyone he hires. mike is a nice guy but as the saying goes, nice guys finish last. if you are not first you may be second but you are still a loser.
DawgDad
January 23rd, 2012
9:21 pm
TD and Smith post four consecutive winning seasons when NO previous Falcon team had even put up back-to-back winning seasons and people are screaming for their heads??? Hmmm.
A complete Blank
January 23rd, 2012
9:28 pm
I was thinking 6-10 for Falcons in 2012 with all the latest news…….. Its looking more like a typical Falcons record with the current ownership and Carolina and the Bucs improving….. 4-12….in 2012
Michael
January 23rd, 2012
9:42 pm
All teams need players. This ain’t fantasy football.
PDQ
January 23rd, 2012
9:55 pm
Hey, Blank! Yeah, you, numb nuts. How ’bout firing the Head Idiot who hired all these “butt buddies” from the Jaguars in the first place??
What Pass Defense?!
January 23rd, 2012
10:04 pm
The secondary coach needs to go next. Time to clean house and start fresh. Maybe??? for the first time in at least a decade the Falcons will field and play a functional secondary in pass defense. I am tired of watching WRs catch passes against our soft zone coverage where our DBs are so far away they are not in the televised picture with the WR when the catch is made. It is past time to stop covering specific spots on the field and start covering opposing players.
d.carter
January 23rd, 2012
10:12 pm
24-2….. WE SCORED 2 POINTS…..2 SOUNDS LIKE A QB PROBLEM…LET ME GET THIS CORRECT PEOPLE SAY THAT THE OFFENSIVE LINE WAS TO BLAME FOR MATT RYANS FAILURES ? (LACK OF POCKET PRESENSE) BUT HOWEVER ITS TIME TO GET RID OF MICHAEL TURNER BECAUSE HE HAD A BAD 1300 YARD SEASON?
PDQ
January 23rd, 2012
10:13 pm
DawgDad, Don’t usually respond to posts but the talent far exceeds the coaching staff. That falls on the Head Coach. And TD who refuses to fire him. And Blank who seems to have no clue about anything. If folks are happy just making the play-offs and losing — then Smith is your guy. Some fans want a championship here. Some since 1966. The idea of firing everybody under you that Smith himself hired — ranks of panic at best — and insanity at worst! He’s lost the team. That was totally apparent in the 24 – 2 loss to the Giants. When your players quit playing for you, you should have the good sense to resign. If you are too stubborn to do that, you should be fired. Nothing good can come from this hanging on. It will wreck the team for pure selfishness. How many times have we been down that road????
GHunt
January 23rd, 2012
10:28 pm
I think Arthur Blank Knows that the past leadership has carried this franchaise as far as they can. Dimitroff and Smitty were forced to make changes and the changing of OC and DC and others coaches is a good start. However if Smitty does not allow the new coaches to utilize their skills then we will fail in the coming season. Run,run then pass is old school football.
Tell it like it is
January 23rd, 2012
10:46 pm
I would say its the talant,more than the coaching,give it another season,and we will no,because it will be coach Smith going out the door!
John
January 23rd, 2012
10:47 pm
Reading the blog…. I can tell you one thing and that is the majority of the folks that right in are clueless.
Mike Nolan will forge a cohesive unit. The players are not always the one to blame for a poor performance for example…. look at last years Falcons and this years San Fran team. San Fran signed the kicker from Philly. The rest of the roster stayed in tact. They upgraded the coaching and look what happened….. trip to the NFC championship game…..
hiramsaint
January 23rd, 2012
11:00 pm
poor john- you’re stuck in the falcons soup- FALCONS = Fans Always Left Counting On Next Season. look at what coach they upgraded and which one the falcons didn’t and there’s your answer
UGA Golfer
January 23rd, 2012
11:15 pm
The Falcons are mediocre at best in the defensive backfield. They really need to find some talent in the draft and free agency. The D needs an overhaul basically. I doubt we will see much change because Arthur Blank is completely lost when it comes to understanding what it takes to build a champion. He doesn’t spend enough money. Sorry, but the truth hurts. He should look for another investor or some other way to inject dollars to improve the team. The Saints are already there (and will get better), the Panthers are moving up and the Bucs have a lot of youth for their next coach to build on. Scary.
Michael M.
January 23rd, 2012
11:40 pm
When you take on a position ( employment) , they hired you to perform and produce the required results…………if you fail to do this, then they will seek out a suitable replacement for you I don’t care what type of work it is that you are doing. I think its a good thing for the Falcons Organization to do what it is doing to get the results that they wish to achieve.
On another matter not pertaining to the Falcons………It is on a article I read about the 49er’s player receiving death threats for fumbling the Football. You know its pretty darn bad when Players in a Sport have crap going on by some pissed Fan that can’t cope with the loss. Man, its a Football Game out there and anything can happen in a game to swing it in favor of one team or another.
” Just ask the Saints “, just a little joke Aint Fans, but really, we all need to act like intelligent adults instead of piss-off little brats when out Football,Baseball,Basketball or any related sports game is going on.
We all want to win but in the game their can be only one winner so that is the way it is and to have some idiot out there acting like that is a disgrace to the Sport of Football. I know the Atlanta Fans and some New Orleans Fans go at it on here but I hope and don’t want to think they neither side would ever be willing to call out one’s own Team players and say it was their fault and they wanted them blowed up or something stupid to that nature.
Its as good as a new Season already for both our teams and wish both clubs well and their fans also. So lets all enjoy the upcoming new season and best of luck to our club and to Saints but just let our club , the Falcons Rise Up and overshadow the Saints this year when they get to play them two times again !
tjhook
January 24th, 2012
12:54 am
@dcarter – making a lot of sense with that Offensive line analysis regarding Matt Ryan and Michael Turner
Opie Taylor
January 24th, 2012
1:07 am
All of the Scategoats are accounted for, Next up after 2012 Season Mike Smith and Tom Dimitroff, no one else to Blame for their lack of leadership and BALLS.
SawThat1nce
January 24th, 2012
1:54 am
The Falcons need to build a good DLine, that can mount a pass rush, or they need to hire someone who can build a good DLine.
Evander Holyfield's Last Remaining Brain Cell
January 24th, 2012
2:08 am
Fire and hire all of the coaches you want, it’s passing blame from Mike Smith and Thomas D. Without D-lineman and a pass rush it won’t matter who the coaches are!
Gritsfalcon
January 24th, 2012
2:34 am
We need a whole NEW Offensive line; That’s really where everything needs to start. 2nd and 3rd round picks should be for O linemen; Pick up two or three in FA in the off season. Ship the current crop out and try to get Harvey Dahl BACK to ATL.
joe
January 24th, 2012
3:11 am
we need a QB.
D-Man
January 24th, 2012
4:56 am
Next its time to cut the fat off this roster and gets some guys in here with some balls…these soft vanilla “its just okay that we got there” pushovers got to go. Don’t stop with just the staff Blank, some of the players on this roster need to go next.
Dean21
January 24th, 2012
6:15 am
SAINTS = Silly Azz Ignorant Nawlins Trash Scrubs
DECATUR FLASH
January 24th, 2012
6:46 am
How can Boureau be released and Reynolds get fire?
old man
January 24th, 2012
7:16 am
Some of those who defend our DBs because we get no pressure on opposing QBs (and agree with them), are the the same people who blame MR2 instead of our OLine that gave no protection (I disagree with that).
For me, I tend to think our DB talent and performance, though not perfect, was better than our DLine, by a decent amount. Focus on the DLine.
Likewise, our major problem on offense in the OLine.
In the NFL, it’s all about keeping pressure off your QB and putting pressure on the other QB. Some of the time that Brees, Flacco, Rogers, Brady had in the playoffs so far was absolutely nuts–5, 6, 7 seconds. This was with 3 or 4 man rush, but we have had times when our QB had less than three seconds when we had 5 men trying to stop only a 3 man rush. Not acceptable. Interestingly, Eli has dealt with the most pressure so far.
On offense, I put QB and WR in the acceptable zone. RB and especially OLine not.
On defense, LB is good (best part of our team) DB is acceptable (if we get some pressure). DLine is not.
Bottom line: priority one is OLine. Priority two is DLine. All of our skill players will then look a lot, lot better if we upgrade these.
Big Dude
January 24th, 2012
7:40 am
It’s plain to see that Arthur is wanting a good return on his investment. If you don’t “show”, you’re gonna “go”. I like his focus; he is a lot like me. He or I don’t like to be around losers. Put you’re money on the Falcons. Arthur will get his elite team…
Big T
January 24th, 2012
8:24 am
So long Big Al…Should have been fired years ago….High schools have better secondaries and DB’S…
birddroppings
January 24th, 2012
8:24 am
I don’t think it’s a coaching problem, I think we have a talent problem.
Mac Daddy
January 24th, 2012
9:20 am
Why are we so concerned about a defense that did a pretty good job this year. It was that stinking offensive play calling and irratic QB play that was the Falcons biggest problem. Offense that couldn’t even score a single point in a playoff game.
Mac D
coleski
January 24th, 2012
9:23 am
I think both the offense and defense will play better next season. The big question will be how much
better and will that translate into wins. Using players to their skill set will improve the team somewhat.
But wi ll that make them able to compete with the better teams in the league.
wins-by-a-link
January 24th, 2012
9:44 am
You cannot stand pat in the NFL, Players and coaches must be evaluated after each season and those found to be below par or show a trend of failing to improve from previous season must be replaced, Its a dirty business but to win in the NFL it is required, Some teams would be happy with a 10-6 season and a play-off game but Mr. Blank is not one of them.
STRETCH
January 24th, 2012
9:44 am
Dont care who they fire, they wont win as long as Mike Smith is the head coach. His decision making in crunch time lead to a couple of losses that were winnable games.
D man
January 24th, 2012
9:48 am
Here is my prediction, the D coordinator will bring in the guy that used to be the backs coach at Jacksonville. We are just doing a coach swap with them.
Told You So
January 24th, 2012
10:17 am
Well, we are slowly working our way down the scapegoat list. Hopefully, eventually, we will get to Dummytroff and McKay. As long as those two bozos are walking the halls of Flowery Branch we will always be a solidly middle class team. The defense wasn’t the problem – look at the Giants game! They not only scored our only points, they held the Giants to 10 pts through three qtrs. When your offense with its prized draft pick Julio Jones goes three and out all of the time and can’t convert a 4th and inches, your defense spends something like 40mins on the field and time of possession takes it toll. We were “one or two players away” and Dummytroff mortgaged our future for one WR leaving us with no O-line, an aging D-line and more than a few holes in the secondary – and NO DRAFT CHOICES to fill them. What’s more, Dummytroff’s record in the free aganecy market is nothing to write home about. We have come a long way since the Clampetts ran the show, but this front office will never get us to the promised land.
Double Zero Eight
January 24th, 2012
1:17 pm
I hope Smitty is feeling the heat. He should have
a renewed sense of urgency. I am sure Blank had
an in depth “heart to heart’ discussion with him.
The secondary missed too many tackles and had
too many blown coverages. They looked confused,
and were out of position during critical third down
situations. The lack of a pass rush contributed
to their woes.
Arthur Blank
January 24th, 2012
1:24 pm
What ??? Offensive coordiantor, Offensive line coach, Offensive secondary, same with defensive. Who am I paying, for what?
Fred-D
January 24th, 2012
1:29 pm
Bulldawg
January 23rd, 2012
3:05 pm
“How could our defensive backs cover anyone when the quarterback has 5-7 seconds to throw on every pass attempt? If we don’t get some d-linemen that can rush the passer it won’t matter who is the defensive backs coach”
Bulldawg, I agree with your post so much that I just might paste it again!!
Preston Thompson
January 24th, 2012
1:50 pm
To me the main problem with the DB’s is not the coaching, but the players having the intelligence to understand what’s expected. When you have somebody break over the middle and is open by 10 yards, sure you have a problem. But when the DB’s look at each other as though saying, ” where were you suppose to be”, you really do have a problem. A lot of the times I don’t think they knew where to be. And like the NFC championship game showed this past weekend, sometimes it just doesn’t matter if a receiver is covered or not. A god QB is going to stick it in regardless. I’m not saying BVG did make mistakes, but I am saying the DB’s wouldn’t know the right coverage if it was taped to their forehead. All except Grimes. He does know what’s going on. Why does he cover tight and DR can’t, or doesn’t?
tree rollins
January 24th, 2012
3:37 pm
WHAT????? We fired an ex-Jacksonville Jags coach!!! Holy Cow – what’s the world coming to? Now I can no longer quote Head Coach Mike Smith as saying “I’ve never met a player or coach from Jacksonville that I didn’t like”. Next thing you know, he’ll be arguing with Koetter that he doesn’t want to bring in David Garrard as his new starter!!
tree rollins
January 24th, 2012
3:41 pm
Cancel that new stadium – let’s just work on getting this rebuilt staff and team back in order. Lot’s of old men on this team from Abraham to Gonzalez to Turner to McClure, etc. Need to worry about depth and young talent – oh that’s right, we traded almost our entire draft away. Ok, Arthur, open up the wallet and this time let’s get some free agents that work (hear that Dunta and Ray?) !!
True Falcon Fan
January 24th, 2012
7:23 pm
Go ahead fire the special teams coach too – make it hat trick! Players make coaches in the NFL!
Go Falcons
True Falcon Fan
January 24th, 2012
7:27 pm
Also move the new Falcons nest “Stadium” —- North to Doraville or at least Gwinette or Buckhead = $$$$$$$$$$$ —- get the OUT of ATL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO where the REAL fans are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Los Angeles Falcons
January 25th, 2012
9:37 am
What I saw in the championship games were dbacks who HIT — SF especially. Very few yards after the catch. Our dbacks soft cover, then try the old “hip tackle” … they never wrap a guy up with their arms! So if one guy whiffs, it’s a big gain. Bring in a coach who can get these guys back to the basics … turn your head … wrap a guy up … and if they can’t or won’t, then cut them and bring in some players who will do this!!!
Th
January 26th, 2012
12:12 pm
For all you guys who think it’s all the players’ fault – Jamaal Anderson had 4.5 sacks in 4 years playing for these coaches. He had 3 sacks this year as a sub for the Colts’ coaches.
Ronnie Dobbs
January 27th, 2012
8:07 am
“Also move the new Falcons nest “Stadium” —- North to Doraville or at least Gwinette or Buckhead = $$$$$$$$$$$ —- get the OUT of ATL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO where the REAL fans are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
I live in Atlanta and I’m a season ticket holder. Great logic. The Falcons haven’t had attendance problems for a long, long time now. They’ve filled the Georgia Dome, season by season, well north of the 95% mark since Blank took ownership. Why would you want to build a new stadium? Assuming you get that 4-5% boost in attendance, that’s what? An additional 3,000 to 5,000 extra tickets per game? Do you know how long that would take to pay for a new stadium? You’re effectively looking at long term, massive debt on hopes of snagging that small percentage? Come on.
This team sells well and the Dome still looks great. It’s location is condusive to the entire metro-Atlanta area. A new stadium is the least pressing issue currently facing this team.
Am I the only one that remembers the black out days?
broadsword
January 29th, 2012
11:35 am
What makes a defensive backfield is real pressure and actually hitting the quarterback…it makes the average d-backfield good and makes a good d- backfield very good to great…..look at the giants ….the d-backfield is wrecked….3rd – 4th stringers …what do they do….they pressure and get to the QB. Pressure makes great QBs good and good QBs average…. stop the run and sack the QB to win championships