Pat Hill agrees to become Falcons new OL coach
Pat Hill (Associated Press)
Former Fresno State head coach Pat Hill, who was fired in December after going 4-9 last season, has agreed to terms with the Falcons to become their offensive line coach, the team announced Saturday.
Now the Falcons only have to fill their openings at quarterbacks coach and defensive backs coach.
Miami assistant Joe Danna is the leading candidate to replace Alvin Reynolds as the defensive back coach.
Hill spent 15 seasons the head coach at Fresno State, where he led the Bulldogs to a 112-80 overall record and went to 11 bowl games.
Hill was let go with two years left on a three-year extension signed after the 2009 season. He was owed about $512,000.
Hill led Fresno State to 15 wins over Bowl Championship Series teams during the last decade, which is the highest win total of any non-BCS team in the nation.
Hill has NFL experience. Prior to becoming the head coach at Fresno State, Hill spent five seasons as the tight ends and offensive line coach with the Cleveland Browns from 1992 to 1995 under Bill Belichick. In 1996, he joined the Baltimore Ravens and spent one season coaching the tight ends and offensive line before moving on to Fresno State.
He also made coaching stops at Arizona, the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL, UNLV and Utah.
Hill has coached a number of NFL players including, Patriots Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins, Falcons safety James Sanders, guard Andrew Jackson, and San Diego running back Ryan Mathews.
–D. Orlando Ledbetter, The Atlanta Falcons beat blog
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91 comments Add your comment
KMan94
January 29th, 2012
11:19 am
and that was the best picture you could find?
Rick W
January 29th, 2012
11:31 am
Great hire for the Falcons!!!!! I played for Coach Hill @ Arizona, where he was the O-line coach. Absolute technician, motivator, and unbelievable competitor! The Falcons scored on this hire!!
Tree Rollins
January 29th, 2012
11:50 am
This team has wasted a bunch of money on Dunta and Ray – it’s coming back to roost now. Must keep Lofton and Grimes. Abraham would be a huge casualty and, to a lesser extent Bierman. Falcons are already thread bare at DL and it can only get worse. TD’s miss on Jerry at DT was huge and is dearly hurting the team! Sam Baker who cares – anybody need a short-armed OL that gets nervous?
Tree Rollins
January 29th, 2012
11:52 am
Maybe we need to let Rich McKay run the drafts again. Did I really say that??
Tree Rollins
January 29th, 2012
11:56 am
Looking at Hill’s photo – looks like he has the right belly for the position! Or a dept. Store Santa Claus if it doesn’t work out. Either way, he blows a nice kiss Arthur!
john
January 29th, 2012
12:01 pm
GA, I don’t see Colston leaving the Saints and playing for the Falcons. Why would he want to play against the QB that got him his Super bowl ring? We can get Porter. Saints fans keep saying on the NFC South blog that he’s not getting re-signed so we can get him. Brees wants Colston back and Brees gets what ever he wants in New Orleans so we won’t get Colston or Nicks. I just heard the Saints are putting the ta on Nicks because Brees doesn’t want it. Plus, Nicks wants top money and we can’t pay him top money and sign Lofton.
fanATicaL
January 29th, 2012
12:15 pm
Your team is as good as the weakest link.That link could be displayed many ways.Team chemistry,game planning(play calling),team building(drafting).I say all this to show how MS,TD are getting better with this game within the game. Coaching upgrade equals better players and play on the field. Looking forward to watching TD earn his money during this offseason.
Ryah
January 29th, 2012
1:51 pm
Congrats to Coach Hill. We will miss him at Fresno State!
Preston Thompson
January 29th, 2012
2:01 pm
The birds should swap whatever and get Cordy Glenn out of UGA. He is a shutdown lineman. Holy cow is he ever. Yep, Ben too.
Opie Taylor
January 29th, 2012
3:02 pm
Pat Hill is a very good coach. DLED. Loften is worth about 2 million a year tops. He is a 2 DOWN Linebacker. He is NOT Patrick Willis, or Urlacher. He can”t cover and his stats or very misleading. Many of his tackles or pile ons after contact.
Tom G
January 29th, 2012
3:16 pm
Congratulations Coach Hill, now go get Harvey Dahl back from Rams, if you want an OL with a bad attitude!!!
ohhhhYEAH
January 29th, 2012
3:45 pm
waynster must have missed the part where he only spent ONE season with the Ravens, and it was before Smitty was even there. Maybe do a little research guy
Whopper Dawg
January 29th, 2012
3:55 pm
Ledbetter,
Back at ya, I said should be, should the leading tackler. Of the top ten tacklers in the NFL last season, 7 were MLB (4 3) or ILB (3 4), two were OLB and one was a safety (Indy, D sucks).
See how that works.
ESPn7
January 29th, 2012
4:22 pm
Amazing hire!
Getting a college HEAD COACH to be our O-line coach is great. He will bring tons of wisdom.
Loyal falcon
January 29th, 2012
6:50 pm
Look for Andrew Jackson to take someone’s spot on the OL
jwsection3
January 29th, 2012
8:22 pm
Congrats Coach Hill.The Falcons hired a great coach and person in Coach Hill.FSU,players, and the community lost a good man. Go Falcons.
Hmmm
January 29th, 2012
11:13 pm
I would like to see a Hill have some imput into play calling also. Hope they take his suggestions!
FalconsFanForLife
January 29th, 2012
11:49 pm
To my friend “loftonisabeast”… When did the Falcons’ defense get a “HEART”? I’m just saying! Hopefully with Nolan’s help and guidance, we’ll look like the NYG’s 2007 defense… He’s the ONLY coaching hire, I’m happy with…
As it stands now… Mike Nolan will be our interim-head coach by week 11… I hope I’m wrong!
Thad Ochocinco
January 30th, 2012
1:57 am
Great, we’re about to let ANOTHER playmaker leave town. I’ll enjoy watching you show out on your new team, Harry Douglas. Just like Laurent Robinson.
coleski
January 30th, 2012
8:18 am
Can TD really evaluate football talent? I’m not so sure.
coleski
January 30th, 2012
8:19 am
Can TD evaluate football talent? I’m not so sure.
Oh No
January 30th, 2012
8:24 am
Hey D-Led- any word on a QB coach? I heard Glen Thomas will be the new QB coach. His wife is married to Coach Smith’s niece. More importantly look at his resume:
http://www.atlantafalcons.com/roster-coaches/glenn-thomas/
Im no coach hiring expert, but it doesnt appear dude has enough experience to be a NFL QB coach. Aside from our OC, this guy is steering the future and the franchise in Matty Ice.
Nice to have relatives in the biz!!!!
Oh No
January 30th, 2012
8:25 am
Correction- Coach Smith’s wife’s niece…..
Adam
January 30th, 2012
8:42 am
@Oh No…….
Uh….If the girl is Mike Smith’s wife’s niece wouldn’t that als make her Mike Smith’s neice as well? The whole Aunt/Uncle thing? Just sayin’
vesaversa
January 30th, 2012
9:35 am
I’v seen many Kneenjerk reaction to these new hire’s during the the pass few weeks . I think we all need to just clam down and wait and see what happen .Theses peoples can’t be worst than the ones who got fired . Or can they ?
I usually just read but....
January 30th, 2012
1:24 pm
Next year is going to be really bad. We will be the NFL clown show. IMHO we are worse off than what we had last year. Ona scale of 1-10 not one of these hires get’s a 5 or better
I usually just read but....
January 30th, 2012
1:27 pm
“His wife is married to Coach Smith’s niece”
? What the H3ll?
Joshua Malavenda
January 30th, 2012
1:55 pm
Oh no!- I hope they get Tom Clements as qb coach from the packers.Here is tom clements bio: http://www.packers.com/team/coaches/tom-clements/bb67e02f-a2b1-4543-83af-00f437249c9f
If they do hire Glen Thomas at least he has been with the organization for a while so he already has a realtionship with Matty Slice. There also other facotors that come into play that since I dont work there he might be a great qb coach who knows. More will be reavealed
FL dawg
January 30th, 2012
1:56 pm
IMHO the new OLC wont make a diff if the DBC doesnt get some PLAYERS to stop DREW, CAM and who the hell ever can throw a spiral. I dont think ATL can stop the NFC SOUTH and probably cant score enuff to keep up with em. TD better be somethin’ or the smoke he blew up AB’s caboose wasn’t, well this is a, I dont know, I’m just tired of what seemed to be a franchise going in the right direction, to being an overrated QB away from the cellar, again.
Big Crimson 75
January 30th, 2012
2:13 pm
Hey — We finally got a decent Coach on the staff!!!!
This guy is a solid. He did well at Fresno — where he basically got the leftover recruits from the West Coast.
My blueprint for the Falcons next season :
-we have around 30 mil of cap space with more than the usual amount of pending free agents, so
1. sign Loftin — He should get about what David Harris got with the Jets — 5yrs 35 mil neighborhood. Loftin is good but not great nor irreplaceable. No Pro-bowls in 4 seasons.
2. sign DeCoud — Lot’s of people don’t like this guy, but he makes enough plays & let’s face it, the next time he get’s coached, will be the 1st time he get’s coached!! He & Moore are young, both Falcons draftee’s, so I say keep him.
3. sign Abe — hopefully to a 1 or 2 year deal. Maybe Abe will give us a hometown discount.
4. The rest can roll — Grimes, Bierman, McClure, Hayden, etc…
5. CUT Baker.
6. Sign either Carlos Rodgers or Courtland Finneran to replace Grimes.
7. Sign either Carl Nicks(My choice) or Sean Wells for the Ol.
8. sign Robert Mathis to go with Abe & Edwards off the edge.
Do it!! Let’s Go.
Ronnie Dobbs
January 30th, 2012
2:28 pm
I don’t want Corland Finnegan; no one wants Cortland Finnegan. We already have one thug (Dunta Robinson), we don’t need another lining up alongside him.
Barry
January 30th, 2012
4:00 pm
Hey Y’all:
Please make our offensive and defensive line big, quick and NASTY!!!!!!!!! We need some more Grady Jackson type defensive linemen out there. Run Stuffers. We need defensive linemen who are built in the mold of the GIANTS defensive linemen. All of them play NASTY and they are QUICK on every down. THEY HAVE A GREAT DEFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY YEAR IN AND AND YEAR OUT!! WE NEED THAT. CONSISTANCY. Our offensive linemen are too soft against the teams like the GIANTS and SAINTS. Therefore, for us to move forward in the playoof and to the SUPER BOWL, we need to get “BIGGER AND NASTIER” to deal with teams like the GIANTS, SAINTS, and now the NINERS. Teams are getting BIGGER AND QUICKER. NOT SMALLER!!! WE NEED TO FIX THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IF WE ARE GOING TO PROCEED IN THE PROCESS OF GETTIN TO THE SUPER BOWL.
I believe we need to search the circuit and find these type of players. Many of the players the GIANTS have did not even attend the big schools. Somehow, their scouting were able to find these guys. They also have a lot of these same type, physique wise, guys on their bench. Check them out when they substitute. The GIANTS have great scouting of talent that fits their defensive and offensive philosophy. On offense , they got those NASTY , BLUE COLLAR WORKERS, mauling everything in front of them. THE LOOK LIKE GANGSTERS. HUGE MEN WITH AN ARMY MAN DEMEANER. WE NEED THAT DEMEANER ON OUR OFFENSIVE LINE COMING AND THROUGHOUT THE FALCONS OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE LINE PHILOSOPHY OF TYPE OF MEN THEY WANT PLAYING ON THE OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE LINE. OUTSIDE OF ABRAHAM, THE GUYS WE GOT ARE “TOO SOFT”. BIG BUT AFRAID TO GET NASTY. THE NFL IS ABOUT ” KICKING ASS!!!” . GET THE TYPE OF OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE LINEMEN THAT FIT THE PHILOSOPHY AND PLAY THE PART!!!!!! I LOVE OUR WINNING, BUT IF NOT, WE WILL NEVER MAKE IT TO THE SUPER BOWL, NOR WIN A PLAYOFF GAME UNDER THIS REGIME. OUR OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE LINE GET PUSHED AROUND BY PLAYOFF CALIBER TEAMS.
WE NEED TO FIX THIS IN “ONE HEARTBEAT!!”
GO FALCONS!!!!!!!
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is a SECRET from a FALCON FAN. TELL EVERYBODY!!!!
………………………………”ONE HEARTBEAT, BABY!!!……………………………………
GO FALCONS
GO FALCONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PlanB
January 30th, 2012
7:14 pm
I think we should be working toward the 3-4 and keeping some of the players that could help with it.
fang
January 30th, 2012
7:15 pm
Glad we got rid of him, Pat Hill is very vanilla. Fresno State should of gotten rid of him years ago.
Thanks Falcons for helping out with the buy out!
D. Orlando Ledbetter
January 30th, 2012
9:06 pm
Oh no — He’s their guy at QB coach. Didn’t know about the family connection. Hmmmm.
Big O
January 30th, 2012
10:50 pm
What’s this “get rid of Douglas and keep Kerry Meier” stuff? We need both. Each WR presents differing challenges to a defense. Successful teams throw to 10 different receivers each game. And Roddy may be gone in a few years.
With the new DC, who likes to mix in some 3-4 schemes, Biermann might really shine. What a beast he would be as an upright 3-4 pass rusher off the edge. I think Turner has lost his vision and speed to exploit unexpected run lane opportunities. So keep Snelling and get an earlier draft running back. Try to draft Ben Jones for the next Center, and draft, or free agent a mean left tackle.
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January 31st, 2012
1:25 am
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Bobo is Not the Problem
January 31st, 2012
8:37 am
“Hill spent 15 seasons the head coach at Fresno State, where he led the Bulldogs to a 112-80 overall record and went to 11 bowl games. Hill finished with a 112-80 record at Fresno State.”
In a very short blog, it is incredible that Hill’s record could be given twice in a row, and never caught. I take it he was 112-80 at Fresno State?
Pilot97
January 31st, 2012
12:45 pm
I hope Ryan has good hospitalization insurance. To say this guy was an ol coach is a laugh. He was never successful at Cleveland and with the rag tag group of so called athletes currently trying to protect Ryan this guy will be a bust. For a guy who was supposed to not up to the task the former ol coach was picked up pretty fast by a proven head coach now with St Louis. Unless the GM gets some better linemen this new OL guy will be out the door along with Smith at year end.
Tom G
January 31st, 2012
6:46 pm
Barry – You and I are on the same page!
Pat Hill agrees to become Falcons new OL coach | NFL Online News
February 2nd, 2012
9:55 pm
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