Dirk Koetter a big reason for Falcons’ early success
Dirk Koetter has been drawing up plays since he was 8 years old. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
Some parents keep finger paintings from when their children were young. Some keep report cards or little league trophies. The Koetters of Pocatello, Idaho, kept a scrap of paper with an offensive formation that little Dirk scribbled when he was 8 years old.
“He has all the players lined up right and everything,” Jim Koetter said by phone. “They’re all going in the right direction. It’s hanging on the wall in the basement.”
The Falcons are 7-0 in this season. Dirk Koetter is one reason why. The team’s new offensive coordinator is doing imaginative things with the same players that Mike Mularkey too often hit a wall with. As it turns out, it pays not to be predictable. Go figure.
In last week’s win at Philadelphia, a fake screen to Julio Jones suckered in the defense and left Drew Davis wide open for a touchdown pass (leaving only one unanswered question: Who’s Drew Davis?). On the next possession, also a touchdown, Koetter called a little slip screen over the middle to Jason Snelling, the only receiver the Eagles had not accounted for near the goal line. The first six Falcons’ drives resulted in scores.
These aren’t new plays. “They’ve been in our playbook for five years,” offensive tackle Tyson Clabo said. But the plays either never left the binder or they were used once, failed and forever buried.
Koetter’s unpredictability is one reason why Mike Smith thought he could help Matt Ryan and the offense. He sat next to him in press boxes when both were assistants in Jacksonville. He saw how he related to players. He was confident the struggles the Jaguars had last season — they ranked 32nd in offense – had little to do with the play-caller.
Notice how wide open Drew Davis was against Philadelphia? (AP photo)
“I knew when we first got him everybody was looking at his numbers wondering, ‘What the hell is this guy doing?’” Smith said.
Jacksonville was a mess. Koetter spent five seasons there as offensive coordinator. But personnel eroded, head coach Jack Del Rio was fired with five games left in the season and the team was sold.
“That’s as tough as it gets, to have your coach fired with five weeks left and knowing that you’re out of a job at the end of the year,” Koetter said. “That’s when you have to call on every ounce of professionalism you have to come in and do your best every day. I never even met [new owner] Mr. [Shahid] Khan. Didn’t shake his hand one time. The guy who hired me sold the team. The head coach that hired me was fired. The general manager wasn’t there. It was a difficult time.”
Part of him wondered how much a bad season would hurt his job prospects. “The NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league,” he said.
But he knew he had a solid resume. He coached offenses at UTEP, Missouri, Boston College and Oregon, becoming known as solid tutor of the vertical passing game. He had head coaching jobs at Boise State and Arizona State, before Del Rio brought him to Jacksonville in 2007. In his first season, the Jaguars’ offense ranked seventh in the league.
If X’s and O’s seem to come easy for Koetter, it’s because he has been at this for a while. He was a high school coach in Pocatello at the age of 23. He is the son of a football coach. Jim Koetter coached for 25 years in high school, eight at Idaho State.
Dirk knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps since he was 6. Or, “Whenever it is that you get over that, ‘I want to be a fireman’ stage,” he said.
He would go to his father’s practices, shag balls and carry cups of Gatorade. “I got run over a few times on the sideline,” he said. “But I loved it. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
He remembers his father lugging home the 16 mm projector to watch game film. All of the coaches would come over.
“I’d fall asleep on the floor listening to them talk about the game,” Koetter said.
He laughed when asked about those first “plays” he drew up: “They probably didn’t make any sense.”
After playing at Idaho State, his first coaching job came at Highland High School, his alma mater. The running back was Merrill Hoge (later of the Pittsburgh Steelers). The quarterback was Steve Kragthorpe (now an LSU assistant). Not bad.
Koetter has excelled with the Falcons at moving players around, putting them in positions to succeed. He has helped Ryan on where the ball needs to go against certain coverages.
Probably no coincidence: Ryan has the highest completion percentage (68.7) and quarterback rating (103.0) of his career through seven games.
“The NFL is a copycat league — every play out there has been used somewhere by somebody before,” Koetter said. “So when you run a play and it works — yeah, you feel great. But it still all comes down to, did you win the game or not?”
The Falcons are doing the latter in part because Koetter is accomplishing the former.
Just guessing: That play hanging on the wall in Pocatello probably would’ve worked.
By Jeff Schultz
Earlier: Weekend Predictions: Smelly, incompetent, soft Bulldogs win again
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76 comments Add your comment
robertussen
November 3rd, 2012
7:24 pm
his first coaching gig was at highland high huh…… isn’t that where bevis and butthead go to school?
Really?
November 3rd, 2012
7:36 pm
Awwww rick is mad because he caught his boyfriend in a 2way with buckeye and 5150.
Hobbler
November 3rd, 2012
8:29 pm
Nolan should get more credit than Koetter.
Eli is Elite
November 3rd, 2012
10:28 pm
Falcphonies beat no team with winning record this year. 24 to 2. 0 points on offense.
Eli is Elite
November 3rd, 2012
11:00 pm
Bleep u mods for not posting my comments. Falcphonies are getting bounced in 1st round yet again.
Thomas Brown
November 4th, 2012
5:50 am
55 total comments – half of them not about the Falcons at all instead telling everyone this is the Falcons’ blog. No. No, it’s not. Here is your Falcons’ blog :
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-falcons-blog/
Oh, I cannot come in here and talk about the Offensive Coordinator at UGA ? Sure I can. Repeatedly, Jeff Schultz – who seems to take days off at time – has come in here and said we can talk and he is not saying we cannot. Who died and put you in charge ? Your posts have not one word in them about the Falcons. Not 1 word. Not even about football. Not even about Offensive Coordinator.
We UGA has now # 23 Scoring Offense and # 23 Total Offense, several times UGA went against the grain, one a memorable 3rd and very short with a David Greene – like fake hidden ball show the off-hand, with back turned to the DL, and boom 75-yard wide open TD.
Thomas Brown
November 4th, 2012
5:51 am
Elite # 5 Georgia 8-1 jumps up in every poll to Top 5 team as we enjoyed a beautiful Homecoming arriving in force, booed early, then dictated 37 unanswered points to satiate the crowd 37-10 over supposed to be tough Ole Miss before they left early to I guess to see we play # 1 Alabama for the BCS National Championship Title Game Berth against # 1 Pass Defense # 1 Rush Defense # 1 Total Defense Alabama, after we go to Auburn 2-7 headed to 3-9 season.
After Auburn, we have Georgia Southern who took it on the chin tonight from Appalachian State, then hapless soon to be 4-8 Georgie tek the # 36 university also # 36 in won/lost record after 1957 with no major bowl won after 1957, on NCAA Probation again 2012 in both Football, again, and men’s basketball.
# 1 Alabama remains, 3 of 4 NC currently ?
# 5 Georgia jumps into the Top 5 at # 5, 12-2, top 10 seven times
# 6 Florida bragged in Red and Black full-page ad pre-game, 12-1
# 7 LSU falls behind UGA and Florida
# 8 South Carolina with week off, get better Marcus Lattimore, 11-2
# 15 Texas A and M Johnny Football Manziel R Fr 5’ 11” 175 lbs, 10-3
Vandie appears headed to bowl and 8-5 season
vols 7-6 season maybe and Dooley gone either way
Kentucky 2-10 season
Mizzou 4-5 record 1-5 SEC, 7-6 season – just not as promised
# 5 UGA vs # 1 Alabama Dome, drops us to # 8 win BCS bowl 12-2
Notre Dame has no Aaron Murray, team destiny beating 4-5 team ?
Kansas State lot football to play, loses
Oregon no good team beat
Boise State Mountain West out of Top 25
West Virginia Big XII out of Top 25
Texas Tech Tommy Tuberville Big XII out of Top 25 at 6-3
Okie State Cowboys Big XII out of Top 25 at 5-3
Arizona PAC-12 finally out of Top 25 at 5-4
# 17 Southern California out Top 25 at 6-3
Johnny Football Manziel redshirt Freshman scholarship offers Oregon & Stanford will score 45 TD 2012 equally passing and rushing with 3650 passing yards and 1330 rushing yards same as Todd Gurley puts-up and Texas A and M joins SEC puts up impressive 10-3 season Top 15 team, quite impressive, far better than anyone could have imagined with great home stadium crowd – Welcome to The SEC Texas A and M. Seems joining The SEC made a BIG difference in recruiting for Texas A and M, while I had under-estimated that affect. If Johnny Football can remain healthy, they have a 4-year run with him at QB since he will never play QB in the NFL which might produce over 40-Wins with the little speedster at the helm. Think of the difference if he leaves his home in Texas and goes to Stanford ? Maybe we could match them up in a Bowl Game Stanford and Texas A and M.
UGA Defense
# 25 Scoring Defense
# 24 Pass Defense
UGA Offense
# 24 Scoring Offense
# 23 Total Offense
Jarvis Jones 2012 Season Total prediction :
25 Tackles For Loss
15 Sacks
2 Interceptions
3 Pass Break-ups
33 Quarterback Hurries
8 Forced Fumbles called drops by Florida fans
3 Fumble Recoveries
Most Celebrated UGA Linebacker in our 120-year history
College Football Hall of Fame
GurShall 2012 Season Total prediction :
1330 yards rushing Todd Gurley
15 TD Todd Gurley Rushing
812 yards rushing Keith Marshall whom we should be running outside
7 TD Keith Marshall Rushing
Aaron Murray 2012 Season Total prediction :
3800 yards Passing
32 Touchdowns Passing
11 Interceptions
Signature Win over then # 2 Florida for his TD Pass Malcolm Mitchell
– beat FL who beat Tx A&M USCe LSU
- FL struggled a lot more than we did against Mizzou
12-2 Top 10 Finish # 8, great year for UGA, (Florida ends up # 4)
Mark Richt’s Best Win and Aaron Murray’s Best Win
Restored our luster vs FU
happy
55 comments all you can muster on Falcons ?
Samuel
November 4th, 2012
6:25 am
Mike Smith new alot more than the fan base about Koetter. I must admit the hire had me wonder what the coach was thinking. But after doing a little research, I discovered maybe it was the team and it’s execution and not Koetter. So i was thinking let’s give him a chance. It turned out that Malarky and his predictibility had run it’s course.
Fats G
November 4th, 2012
6:43 am
Falcons better realize Dallas will be sky high for this one. Could make their season if the knock us off
Gray Mule
November 4th, 2012
7:11 am
Fats G
Yep!
Crazy Mad Dawg
November 4th, 2012
7:50 am
Slightly concerned bbecause the teams we play in the reg season are sub par minus ny. Once we win that first playoff game this year I’ll feel a lot better. But it is fun watching us go undefeated! MAD DAWGS
Roger
November 4th, 2012
8:34 am
While I have for the most part like the play calling of Dirk, Id hold off on calling him an offensive genius.
Remember the Falcons easily could have lost 2-3 games(which many good teams could say) to less than great teams. The Falcons seemed to play down to the Raiders/Panthers etc.
The play calling at times was conservative and when up on teams such as the Broncos the offense took their foot of the pedal and looked like MM offenses of old.
Perhaps Smitty had something to do with this.
On the bright side, often the Falcons look unstoppable on offense and Im happy to get away from the grind it out M. Turner style plodding attack(Would be great if we had a home run hitter running back to run 20 times, but Quizz or M.T are not it).
Im super thrilled with the Falcons, we have played some very good football, got lucky a few times(which the top teams do) and are evolving. Ive been to two of the games and cant wait till each sunday. I think Dirk is heads and shoulders above Mike M, but closing out games has been troubling at times, and thats what worrys me.
Go Falcons!!!!
Armchair Observer
November 4th, 2012
8:41 am
I’ve been waiting all day for Sunday night. Two minutes with Faith Hill is worth the wait, but now we also get the Birds and Cowboys! Gonna be a long day.
Falcon James
November 4th, 2012
9:21 am
The record MM and BVG have this season speak for itself. Both of them were in Atlanta way too long.
Koetter Nolan ATL's Secret Success
November 4th, 2012
9:33 am
@Samuel, Fats G, Crazy Mad Dawg, Roger; Very good points, I do appreciate the creativity both coaches Koetter & Nolan bring to the table, sure it’s been rough go at times, but like ya’ll assessed, keep the focus strong, don’t take noth’n for granted, I think they’ll see a new different Breed of Bird in A-Town. Not predictable hum drum we’ve had in the past. It is a wait & see, but man o’ man what a ride huh? gotta love it!
Koetter Nolan ATL's Secret Success
November 4th, 2012
9:37 am
There goes “Joke Choke” again try’n to use another alias of sorts or another name, man his words carrying no weight, man, it’s funny when you gotta brush ‘em off like crumbs.
Koetter Nolan ATL's Secret Success
November 4th, 2012
9:42 am
Oh yeah, good article jeff, gett’n fired up! The Red n’ Black A Town ain’t gonna get no love, that’s ok, kinda like bein’ the underdog myself. makes the player’s, coaches focus that much stronger, the fight that much harder.
Koetter Nolan ATL's Secret Success
November 4th, 2012
9:51 am
@Falcon James; no better said; these new dudes know how to use the talents to the strengths, & another key, making adjustments, mm,bvg didn’t do that. They didn’t change schemes when they needed to. How is jacksonville & Auburn combined record wise. Not that it makes any difference, also read D-Leds article on Nolan, both sides of the ball are being creative, we hadn’t had that since when? Like what I’ve seen so far. Be sweet to just tell the ANALysts & outside observers Da’ heck w/ya’ll, There’s a different Bird fly’n in A-Town.
Nativebird
November 4th, 2012
11:01 am
Mike Mularkey is the dumbest offensive football coach to ever be at the NFL level. The guy has no clue that in 2012, all the players at this level creates almost perfect parity. They are ALL good. Therefore it is scheme , design and execution, driven by excellent coaching that wins the difference in this league. Mularkey still is stuck in 1977′ whereby old school “you just have to beat the other man in front of you ” rah rah bull crap ruled the day. The guy is an IDIOT. Quite frankly, Smitty was an idiot to stay with him this long as well, COULD very well have lost him his job too. Misdirection. Surprise. Weakness analysis. Creativity. Ingame adjustment and flexiblity. Attacking style of O is what wins in today’s NFl. And it is ALL coaching…not the players. All the players are world class athletes,, or they wouldn’t be in the NFL.
phil
November 4th, 2012
1:49 pm
Until we fire Koetter, forget it….
We’ll just keep losing.
icndark
November 4th, 2012
2:10 pm
This 2012 Falcons team understands what it takes to accomplish their ultimate goal. In doing that they will silence all critics (with intelect), and erase all doubt concerning the abilities of the staff, owner and fans. It has been a long time coming.
Our opponents in the next contest are numerous to be sure. They say and pretend that we are limited by the past. They live and exist to deny and belittle the efforts of this organization and this city and its fans. This is a tried and true method to rid themselves of flies in their ointment.
Few things would make me happier than a full-blown, dominating and thorough win from the falcons. Thanks to the changes in attitude and never say die spirit of THIS team, I have a never before experienced confidence in their performance. This was entirely team inspired. What a thrill!
Thank You Falcons!
P.S. Cowgirl’s Fans, biased media talking heads, Aints apologists and blog Trolls….talk to 7 & 0
Keith
November 4th, 2012
3:20 pm
Great work here.
I always love getting a personal and historical perspective that shows why something in the present is working.
Solid job, Jeff. Go FALCONS!
ThankGodMalarky'sGone
November 4th, 2012
5:04 pm
Thank goodness Dirk Koetter replaced Malarky. As we can see, Jacksonville is getting crushed with Malarky’s predictable offense.
It is FUN watching the same Falcons playing great football in an UNPREDICTABLE offense.
ws
November 5th, 2012
8:11 am
I Was one of BLOGGERS that thought that falcons had made a mistake, hiring Koetter. I was wrong and glad they hired him. He is so far ahead of MM . He is a good play caller. No more Turner in middle , turner to left , on third down Ryans going to pass. He has taken same falcon player and make them a very good offense team.
Mm said he didn’t have players too run screen game. I Think falcons with Koetter has a very good screen game. Ask Cowboys Rex Ryan on last drive about falcon screen game , when they run clock out. Last year with MM we would have been beat.
Keep up the good work with offense Dirk!!
I also want too add I am glad BVG is at Auburn. We have a very good defense mind with Mike Nolan.With his past record, I felt at time of his hiring TD and Smitty made a good choice.
I do believe last nite , the officals were calling the game one sided. Cowboys were getting the calls. Our falcons stayed focus and still beat cowboys and the blind officials.
GO FALCONS, I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ws
November 5th, 2012
8:20 am
I like to add that I was watching ESPN, they are so full of BS!!! They showed Samuels and said he would not tackle, and it would get falcons beat. I guess I have been watching a ghost, I know that I have saw 22 make tackles and play very good defense. Why do they keep having negative thing too stay about him. He has help falcons defense. Where would we be with out him? I know Andy Reid said Samuel was in decline. After watching Julio burn his great CB on 71 yard bomb, I would like too have known what Reid was thinking watching Julio on his way too end zone?
Thomas Brown
November 6th, 2012
1:03 am
FALCONS
To the 4 Falcons’ fans, this is a COLLEGE FOOTBALL BLOG. You had your chance to have a discussion about FALCONS here in this college football town and WHIFFED. You put up less than a hundred posts in EVERY FALCONS’ blog, although Jeff Schultz has reminded us forever in here that we can discuss what we deem important on his blogs.
2002 ?
Seriously ?
That is your weak argument about beating Brett Favre way back in 2002, when he had a press conference and said he would rather be back home on his lawn mower. It was the 1st of his many retirement press conferences. I guess if I lost to the Falcons in the play-offs, I would want to be back home on my lawn mower too, retired. That’d do it to you every time.
Brett Favre you might recall had been drafted by the Falcons and made our Quarterback in 1991. Then, we traded Brett Favre ending my Dad’s seasons’ tickets with the Falcons. Traded Brett Favre for running back Tony Smith with the 19th pick in the 1992 NFL Draft. Tony Smith was Brett Favre’s college teammate at Southern Mississippi. Tony Smith would play for the Falcons 3 seasons and had a career total of 329 yards rushing.
Oh, we beat Brett Favre 2002 and that was EXCITING you say ?
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
11 seasons’ ago in 2002, Atlanta won a PLAY-OFF GAME vs Brett Favre.
Oh, dear, I am I am so impressed.
We have won 1 play-off game since.
1
And, lost to Philadelphia Eagles in the next game anyway 6-20 while Michael Vick was sacked for 3 times and threw 2 interceptions.
___________________
SAD that is all you have.
___________________
I know more about the Falcons than you ever will.
Wake me up when the Falcons win a play-off ? In the NFL, the regular season means NOTHING.
UGA beat Florida who beat # 7 LSU, # 8 South Carolina and # 15 Texas A and M who beats Alabama this weekend.
_________________________________
THIS IS A COLLEGE FOOTBALL TOWN
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Falcons’ blog. Not hardly. There are only 4 of you Falcons’ fans on here, none of whom know a thing about the Falcons or anyone on our roster, nor who we play. THIS AIN’T THE FALCONS’ BLOG.
Get over yourself
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DREW
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