In praise of Smitty, the best coach the Falcons have ever had
For everyone's sake: Take care of yourself, Coach. (AP photo)
To borrow from Dr. Johnson, nothing concentrates the mind like being rushed to the hospital with chest pains. To those of us who follow the Falcons, news that Mike Smith’s team had returned from Charlotte without its coach had a different concentrating effect. It made us ponder a sobering question: If the Falcons were to be without Smitty for however long, how would they be?
Answer: Not nearly as good.
Because Mike Smith works so diligently to take no credit, we forget how much credit is due. He isn’t just the best coach in Falcons history — he’s the best coach in Falcons history by the width of Grady Jackson.
If we don’t count the assorted interims and we count Marion Campbell only once — although we do list Grover Cleveland as both the 22nd and 24th President of these United States — the Falcons have had 11 head coaches in their 46 seasons. Only three of those have compiled a winning record while based here: Leeman Bennett, who was 46-41; Jim Mora, who was 26-22, and Smitty, whose worksheet of 41-20 renders him the Birds’ version of Vincent Thomas Lombardi.
This is how good Smith has been: No other Falcons coach — not even the estimable Dan Reeves, who took this team to a Super Bowl — ever managed consecutive winning seasons. If the Falcons beat Jacksonville on Thursday night, Smitty will have gone 4-for-4. Add Norb Hecker and Norm Van Brocklin and Dan Henning and Jerry Glanville and June Jones and the 13 games of Bobby Petrino and the two terms of Swampy Campbell together, and you’ll get a total of four winning seasons.
For more than four decades a forlorn franchise sought a man this good, and now that one has been found and retained the man himself acts as if the Falcons are still doing him a favor to let him coach. Actually, it’s the other way around. With Mike Smith, we don’t get the rages of Van Brocklin or the smugness of Henning or Mora or the gimmicks of Glanville or the exit strategy of the Tyrannosaurus Rat Petrino. We get instead a professional coach coaching professionally, and thank goodness for that.
No, Smith hasn’t yet won a playoff game, and that gnaws at him. Everything gnaws at him, which might be a reason he wound up in the hospital. He doesn’t want to win a Super Bowl to burnish his own legend. In Smith’s mind, there’s nothing legendary about him. He’s just a guy who goes to work early and stays late, same as all the other guys coaching in the NFL. Like every assistant, he wanted to run his own club someday, but the feeling persists that Smitty could have spent another 10 years as a defensive coordinator and retired a happy man.
In Smith’s mind, he got outrageously lucky. A franchise that had been wrecked turned to a Jacksonville assistant who, far from being a Hot Name, had the sort of name seen on registers at no-tell motels. The Falcons gave him a chance, and 11 1/2 months later they were in playoffs. He hasn’t dazzled us with verbiage or blinded us with ego. He has just gone out and won two of every three games. His winning percentage, you might be surprised to know, is better than Sean Payton’s, better even than Bill Belichick’s.
This isn’t to say this season has been a smooth ride. Through 13 games this has been the most nettling of Smith’s tenure. He tries his best never to say anything critical of his players, but a couple of times he has let it slip that his Falcons haven’t yet played anything resembling “a complete game.” (After losing in Houston, he even allowed that was “mad.”) This is the most talented roster he has had, and it hasn’t yet played to capacity. That said …
It’s 8-5. If the playoffs commenced today, the Falcons would qualify as the NFC’s No. 5 seed, and if you get in you can stick around. (The Falcons know this too well. Smith’s playoff losses have been to a 9-7 Arizona team and to sixth-seeded Green Bay, both of which reached the Super Bowl.)
There’s a chance these Birds could do something similar. They’re talented enough, and they play better defense than Green Bay or New Orleans. If this offense ever clicked for four quarters, who knows what might happen?
But enough. We can worry about the playoffs later. For now, it’s enough to know that the most difficult season under Smitty has put the Falcons in position to finish 10-6, and there were times — heck, there were decades — when just breaking .500 would have been cause for civic celebration. In his humble way, Mike Smith has changed all that. He has made us expect more and better. He’s a heck of a coach.
By Mark Bradley
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311 comments Add your comment
Norb Hecker
December 14th, 2011
11:18 am
I disagree!
Pat Peppler
December 14th, 2011
11:21 am
Uhhhh……Dead guy in the room
SirReal
December 14th, 2011
11:21 am
I like Smitty. He has changed expectations around here. All I want from him now is to keep pressing the gas when we have a lead on a team. Lets just keep piling it on instead of courteously allowing teams back in. Once he does that, he’ll be top 10 in the league if not already there.
PlanB
December 14th, 2011
11:22 am
Happy to say Owens and Franks are not committing many glaring mistakes in the last 2 games. Hopefully getting them some experience will help in the long run. Could be they are playing against rookie QB’s but only time will tell. You can’t blame that game with the Texans on them.
When will Grimes and Hayden be back?
tjhook
December 14th, 2011
11:24 am
I don’t think you should anoint Mike Smith so soon especially since he has not won a playoff game AND Dan Reeves had one of the greatest coaching efforts ever against Minnesota in 1999. no penalties in a championship game at the Metrodome: that was prime time AND not Reeves’ only Falcons playoff win.
urban redneck
December 14th, 2011
11:24 am
i hope everyone that tries to get “first” gets nothing for the holidays. maybe a lump of coal.
how many days til spring training?
P B Orr
December 14th, 2011
11:25 am
I saw Gonzales on TV this morning. He oozed confidence. It was not swagger, it was simple confidence. He let on as to how relieved the team was that Smith was OK, and you could practically see the relief in his face as he spoke.
Football has many vicissitudes. You can’t always tell what’s going on by the records. The ‘67 Packers were the fourth best team in the NFL during the regular season. The Colts were the best team by far, and didn’t make the postseason. Somehow the Packers managed to crush a better Rams team in the first round, then won the Ice Bowl because God deemed it necessary.
I get a good feeling about our chances in the post season. Remember what the Cards did this summer? I see it coming here!
This is one of those years for the Falcons when they aren’t getting a lot of breaks. Even so, they are in great shape to make a run in the postseason. They don’t quit. If they get the 5 seed, they go to New York, where fan boredom and team inconsistency rule. It’s remotely possible that we’ll have a conference championship game here. In any case, I’ve enjoyed this season tremendously, probably more than last year. I like being off the radar. It’s a team without superstars other than Gonzales, but with a lot of work-ethic guys with superb character. It’s supposed to be fun, and it is. No win seems a lock, and I enjoy every one of them.
Eric
December 14th, 2011
11:25 am
I’m just thankful to Smith and Company for giving us a contender year in and year out. This is the first time in Falcons history that Atlanta has been a legitimate contender every year. Think about that for a minute….
Walker, Texas Ranger
December 14th, 2011
11:26 am
Unitl we play on the last Sunday of the season again, Dan Reeves is still #1. Give him the same management group and he would still be coaching.
Dawg79
December 14th, 2011
11:27 am
Mark, what has everyone been smoking on this board? Do they remember the last 40 years? The Falcons have been terrible! Sure, there was a few playoff games sprinkled in there, and the one lucky super bowl run (got smoked there also), but for consistancy, none of our previous coaches have done what Smitty and compamy have done. Never had back to back winning seasons until Smitty? Now we are working on 4 straight? All the previous talent the Falcons had over the rears (Nobis, Brazina, Tuggle, Scott Case, Peachtree Bart, Dion, William Andrews, Zook ect …. look at all the pro bowlers we have had!) and we couldn’t do what this crew is doing. It is Smitty and it isn’t even close!
Joe Tess Fish House
December 14th, 2011
11:28 am
Lest not 4 get all the fist round busts Smitty has made. How does that make him the best? Best and waisting draft pix.
Lets no 4get this team once had Vick, Schaub, Laruen Robinson, and Matt Prather 2 name a few only 2 give it all up for Juliet Skittle hands Jones.
Finaly lets not 4 get Ray Edmunds and Donte Roberson…..2 of the bigest free agenst busts.
How is Smitty the best?
realitycheck
December 14th, 2011
11:29 am
Die Hard Falcon…….ZERO chance that the Falcons will win the division this year. Saints have a real good shot at 2nd bye at this point over SF. Falcons will play wild card weekend at Giants/Cowboys. Book it!
realitycheck
December 14th, 2011
11:31 am
Smith has been the greatest REGULAR season coach in Falcons history, and absolutely nothing more than that.
duronimo
December 14th, 2011
11:31 am
Dan Reeves is the best coach we ever had, but I also liked the colorful Van Brocklin. Reeves appears to be the only coach who understood exactly how to use Michael Vick and how to improve his performance over time. He regressed under ensuing coaches. Reeves had fire in his belly. It’s a bit early to anoint Smith with the title of best coach. His teams need to be a bit more consistent in my opinion.
Walker, Texas Ranger
December 14th, 2011
11:32 am
Coach Killer, Michael Vick, took care of Reeves and is about to do the same to Andy Reid. Both are the best coaches ever for their respective franchise and Vick will be responsible for getting both fired.
Joe Tess Fish House
December 14th, 2011
11:33 am
It was the Flacons that turned there back on Vick.
Walker, Texas Ranger
December 14th, 2011
11:35 am
Joe Tess, pretty sure Vick, Schuab, Robinson were all gone before Smith got here. Also, he is not the GM. I wouldnt trade Smith but for a handful of coaches and with that said, Reeves is #1
P B Orr
December 14th, 2011
11:36 am
Great comment, Joe Tess. I think there’s mercury in your fish. See a doctor.
Pamela Mcgregor
December 14th, 2011
11:36 am
I am happy that this article is being written in a timely manner. Atlanta fails to appreciate how good this man is! I would love to work for Coach Smith. I can see Jerry Jones salivating at the the thought of a steady hand. Yesterday was hilarous when I heard the ESPN Colin Cowherd rank the Cow girls ahead of our Falcons. He has a crush on Romo; even after 2 consecutive losses againt AZ and the NY Giants. Smitty, keep an even keel and relax. Your job is safe. Slow and steady wins the race. The Falcons realize that being highly seeded is not a recipe to the Super Bowl. Your players love and respect you. You have a great owner and GM; what’s not to like?
the Fan
December 14th, 2011
11:36 am
Hey Bradley,
Would you write the same article if they ‘d lost in Charlotte?
P B Orr
December 14th, 2011
11:38 am
Duronimo, Van Brocklin was a right bastard. And you probably don’t remember 1973, when his bad coaching cost us our first playoff appearance, losing 2 of 3 to inferior teams at the end. His teams were talented but miserable and ultimately losers.
ClaudeHumphrey
December 14th, 2011
11:39 am
I dont see how anyone can say that Smith is the best coach that the Falcons have ever had. What about Dan Reeves guiding the Falcons to their lone superbowl back in 1998. Its the only superbowl appearance the Falcons have had and to think Smith is better makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. What about Leeman Bennett winning his division titles and guiding the Falcons to COUNTLESS playoff appearances. Is that all forgotten? The Falcons had many future hall of famers on that team, Steve Bartkowski, Lynn Cain, William Andrews, Bill Fralic, etc. I think Leeman was the best because his team in 1980 proved it was better than every other team in the NFL. So did Dan Reeves team in 1998. Both of them should have been superbowl champions but they were not. Those are the two other great falcon teams along with last years 13-3 team and this years team with all that untapped, unused potential. I think that one coach of the year award for smith does not make him the Falcons best. WHAT ABOUT MARION CAMBELL? What about Norm Van Brocklin? They were good Falcon coaches as well, not to mention Jim Mora–with Michael Vick leading the Falcons to the championship game against Philadelphia. All of those accomplishments were more than coach Smith. Smith has to prove this year that he can first of all make the playoffs and then we will see how good he is.
John Galt
December 14th, 2011
11:39 am
You sir, are correct; and Dimitroff is entering the neighborhood of John Schuerholz.
When I question the moves of other nsports executives, I assume that they are idiots. When I don’t understand a Dimitroff move (as I did with JS), I assume that I am missing something.
ATL Rocks
December 14th, 2011
11:46 am
It is so refreshing to read a positive article about an Atlanta sports franchise. Blank, TD, Smitty, and the players have built a structure that will insure that the Falcons are one of the class organizations in the entire league. The system is in place and the talent is there to be contenders for a long time. I hope that there will be aplace in the management for Tony Gonzolez when he decides to finally hang up his cleats. He projects the image of athleticism, character, and most importantly attitude that inspires young people to support the franchise. All othat can eventually be attritbuted to Mike Smith of course.
Die Hard Falcon
December 14th, 2011
11:48 am
@realitycheck
I know it’s not likely. I’m just trying to figure out the mathematical truth. It ain’t over til the fat lady sings, and the aints have lost to the Rams, Bucs, and Packers, if we can beat them on 12/26 and we CAN (not saying we will, but last 3 games all decided by 3 points)and they can slip up against the Panthers or Vikings, then we win the South. I know it’s a long shot, but it’s still possible.
Go Falcons, go Smitty, get well and thanks for making us relevant!
ghostwriter
December 14th, 2011
11:53 am
Great article. I hope Smith and Dimitroff stay here for the next twenty years.
I really love how this organization is run. Arthur Blank has just been awesome. You should write a piece about him.
LOVE LIVE SMITTY!
Coach Ralph Fontaine
December 14th, 2011
11:54 am
I love Coach Smith, but I have to give the nod to Coach Reeves because he took us to the SB while the Freakin’ Smiths owned that team and that is a pretty big handicap. Blank fired him then went thru what he thought was young and new thinking only to end up with a Dan Reeves prototype. Run, play action, that is the bread and butter of both coaches. What would Coach Reeves have done with Matty Ice and TD? It is still hard to pick, but Reeves has to be the best until Smitty gets us to the promised land which i believe will happen in the next couple of yrs. Maybe this one.
Dawg79
December 14th, 2011
11:56 am
ClaudeHumphrey,
All you stated is the very reason those coaches are NOT on top. They had plenty of talent but couldn’t win consistantely with it. Too easy for olf Falcon fans to romantize about “Gritz Blitz” and “Our only Super Bowl”, but what did those coaches do previous to and after that with all that talent? This organization now win consistantely, and that changes the losing mindset. To me, it is like the Braves. Bobby Cox gets heat for the 1 WS win, but glossed over is the 14 straight division titles. They some will harken back to “our playoff series against St Louis in 82, if it hadn’t rained, Neikro was up 1-0″ and then claim Torre was the greatest mananger. This Falcons team doesn’t have a Scott Case, Claud Humphrey / John Zook or Deon Sanders and they are winning!
Michael M.
December 14th, 2011
12:04 pm
Don’t underestimate this Football Team, once they get in the playoffs they could be dangerous. Forget the past judging them and what has been but look to the present and the future
Joe Tess Fish House
December 14th, 2011
12:05 pm
O hyeah this is the caoch who faked a hart atack so he would not have 2 ride on the same plain as his sory team.
I still dont undrestand what makes him beter then Reaves.
Jay
December 14th, 2011
12:05 pm
Bradley,
As usual, you are getting caught up in the moment. Mike Smith is not the best coach the Falcons have ever had. The 13-3 season was the product of an easy schedule. He hasn’t come close to winning a playoff game. You don’t measure a coach by the greatness of their regular seasons…those mean nothing, unless you’re into moral victories.
Dan Reeves got to the Super Bowl. He won a road playoff game. Smitty can’t TOUCH those accomplishments. So he’s had a couple winning seasons in the watered-down NFL where half the playoff teams don’t make it the next year…big deal.
Yo Vince
December 14th, 2011
12:06 pm
I would define Good as being a winner. NO other Coach put 2 winning seasons together, EVER. That is not a good Coach, get it? 4 winning seasons in a row, No losing seasons, get it?
Bluedobee
December 14th, 2011
12:07 pm
He’d even be a better coach if he would let Matt Ryan run the offense.
Kirby Smart
December 14th, 2011
12:08 pm
He’s not as good as me.
I am the greatest coach in the history of mankind.
Hatfieldgeoff
December 14th, 2011
12:10 pm
Mark,
I agree Smitty is the best coach Falcons have ever had. But you comment about the Falcons playing better defense than Green Bay or the Saints is crazy. Falcons may play a little better run defense than those two but our Secondary is so bad it leaves the Falcons a distant 3rd in that comparison. In the off-season Falcons need to veteran offensive linemen and at least one top-notch veteran defensive back. Without those 3 players this team will not compete with the better teams in the league.
Laughing out Loud
December 14th, 2011
12:15 pm
Sports fans are always comparing past and present players and coaches. That’s what we talk about “the best, the greatest etc.” What does it matter? It is onlt talk! But, we can appreciate the moment. Coach Smith is doing one hell of a job working his arnse off to get the team ready to play. Appreciate him for his efforts and the team’s success. Leeman Bennett, Dan Reeves and Mike Smith are the mountain peaks of Falcons Football Coaching! A stronger winning heritage is being established through the efforts of Coach Smith, TD and Arthur Blank. Go Falcons!
Frank Lane
December 14th, 2011
12:17 pm
Mark, thanks for this perspective. Presented with a lot of facts that I did not know.
Spend all my time and energy of college ball which I vastly prefer to the pro game, but it is nice to be more knowledgeable.
Sid
December 14th, 2011
12:20 pm
Excellent read Mr. Bradley, Smitty deserves every thumbs up he gets. He has earned a major and deserved atta boy. Along the same line much credit goes to Falcons ownership and top brass on the hire. I don’t want to tread on Rankin Smith, God bless him, but I will always feel that his goal was merely turn a big profit. Mr. Blank wants a perenial top tier football team. And it’s not like the bumps in the road were his doing but he has in an incredibly short time smoothed the road after the debacle that was MV and Ratman. This Falcons team is only going to get better and we may have seen some Falcon Red gelatin thrown in the mix last Sunday. The Saint’s have “The 2009 season in review” on their website. They better get current or they are gonna finish vs Minnesota LOSS, vs Atlanta LOSS, vs Carolina LOSS.
keepinitreal
December 14th, 2011
12:23 pm
I can’t go along with those saying Reeves was the best. As magical as 1998 was, what about the two years prior to that when we went a combined 10-22? Or the three years after the Super Bowl season, when we went 16-32? It’s easy now to only remember ‘98, but we had some miserable seasons under Coach Reeves.
Smith has been by far the most consistent coach we’ve ever hed. Once he wins a couple of playoff games, this won’t even be a discussion.
Sid
December 14th, 2011
12:24 pm
Joe Tess Fish House December 14th, 2011 12:05 pm
O hyeah this is the caoch who faked a hart atack so he would not have 2 ride on the same plain as his sory team.
*******************************************
ROFLMAO Hey Mark, I thought the minimum age to post comments was 7.
Roymus
December 14th, 2011
12:25 pm
I like Coach Smith and believe he is a good coach and a class act, but the greatest coach ever? Not yet, although he definitely has the potential. It’s by virtue of our past failures that everyone makes a big deal of consecutive winning seasons, an accomplishment that is revered here but simply a given in most other towns. Greatness is a combination of many factors, but the biggest slice of the pie has to be championships…how you elevate and motivate your team and players when it’s all on the line. The stink of last year’s playoff debacle against the Packers will take more than a single season to wash off…a 6 seed demolishing the #1 seed AT HOME points directly to coaching. Mark, I understand the motivation for this article…Smith is a good man, and you are right to admire him…but I’m not ready to deify him just because he had a health scare. Best ever? The jury’s still out.
GTT
December 14th, 2011
12:26 pm
Leeman Bennett was also a professional coach who coached professionally. Unfortunately, the owners he coached for were terrible.
Kudos to Smitty. And Blank.
bigdon
December 14th, 2011
12:29 pm
Love to watch Smitty get pissed off. Face gets so red you could light a cigarette off it and he sticks out that lower lip like a raging bulldog. Stay pissed, Coach Mike. You da bomb, mang. Best coaching in Falcons history last week at Carolina bar none. I was getting ready to change the channel and watch American Restoration and write ‘em off. Stangely enough Mora kept saying over and over to stay tuned, the Falcons would come back. After the Panthers went up 23 to 7 their next offense was three lazy and out and Mora made note of it. I think the Falcons did, too. Mora is still a douche, especially if he treated the lower level workers in the organization like dirt — what a turd — but he was right Sunday. Hopefully that win washes away the TOTAL NIGHTMARE at the dome last January, by far the WORST job of coaching if Falcons hstory, bar none, and that’s a whoooooole lot of pooh from the past.
BillyBob
December 14th, 2011
12:30 pm
You forgot about one winning coach in your list. Wade Phillips, who went 2-1 as coach after Dan Reeves left/was fired. HAHA. Gotcha!
Tommy
December 14th, 2011
12:31 pm
The reason Smith is the best Falcons coach is due to what he did in the team’s worst season since he got here. With three games left in 2009, they were 6-7 and already eliminated from the playoffs. Over the last three games Smith coached them like they were making a playoff run, they went 3-0, including a win on the road against the eventual AFC runner-up Jets, and finished 9-7. Smith willed that team to end the no back-to-back winning seasons jinx when they had nothing else to play for.
Reeves was a good coach when everyone was healthy. As soon as Jamal Anderson blew out his knee, the ‘99 Falcons quit. Same thing in 2003 when Vick broke his leg. Both times the team crashed to 5-11 after a winning season. Smith lost Ryan and Turner together for a month in 2009,and still brought them in over .500. That’s coaching.
So he hasn’t won a playoff game. Both teams he lost to went to the Super Bowl, and no one has touched the Packers ever since we played them. Mora beat a sorry Rams team that shouldn’t even have been in the playoffs, and while Reeves did upset the Vikings to get to Super Bowl XXXIII, the week before that they nearly blew a home playoff game against the 49ers.
Jack shepard
December 14th, 2011
12:35 pm
Leeman Bennett is the best Falcons Coach ever. He built the finest offensive line the falcons ever had. who can forget Van note. Kenn,Warren Bryant and RC Thielman. Steve Bartkowski greatest Falcons quarter back ever. William Andrews great running back. Jerry Glanville Grits Blitz defense. Thank You Leeman for a job well done.
JSS
December 14th, 2011
12:46 pm
Lombardi? Don’t even joke like that… Allie Sherman is more like it… Wait a minute, sorry Mr. Sherman actually won a playoff game!
Dawg79
December 14th, 2011
12:47 pm
Well said Tommy!
JSS
December 14th, 2011
12:49 pm
And sorry Tommy, the Bears and Steelers were both in their contests with the Packers… The Falcons were straight out routed!!!
Fish Bisch
December 14th, 2011
12:50 pm
Good writing MB. I enjoyed every minute of it. Do you remember that year after the SB everyone was mocking the Dirty Bird when they scored? I hated that year. But I also loved it when Ray Buchanon body slammed that one guy for doing it. Can’t remember who it was though.