Those lucky Falcons: Mike Mularkey goes to Jacksonville
Double M leaves! Touchdown! (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
The Jacksonville Jaguars, for reasons unclear, have hired Mike Mularkey as head coach. That means the Atlanta Falcons lucked out. They’ve been spared having to fire him as offensive coordinator.
The belief here was that Double M, as he’s known, wasn’t going to be retained, but that’s not to say the decision would have been painless. The Falcons won a lot of (regular-season) games with Mularkey overseeing the offense, and it’s never easy to break a winning pattern even if you know the pattern needs breaking.
Moot point now, though. Mularkey is gone, same as defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. The Falcons have two key hires to make this offseason, and the offensive position is surely the more important. In the end, offensive failings undid this talented aggregation. The Falcons need to find a man who could make these glittering pieces more of a whole.
Mike Martz is a name that keeps surfacing, but I might look first to Rick Neuheisel, who was just fired as UCLA’s head coach but who’s an offensive man by trade and who worked as coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. That’s just a first look, though. There are a handful of good men out there whose addition would constitute an upgrade.
The Falcons, I say again, lucked out. A staleness had come over this coaching staff. That’s inevitable after four years together, and now the team gets to change on both offense and defense without having to fire anybody. Auburn and Jacksonville came calling at the right time, Jacksonville especially. Time now for Smitty and Thomas Dimitroff to make the most of this opportunity. Time to hire even better coordinators.
By Mark Bradley
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465 comments Add your comment
TDB
January 12th, 2012
1:37 pm
Can anyone tell me what Smith said about not using all his timeouts in the first half of the NY game? Out of state and haven’t been able to follow talk radio…
Full Of Mularkey
January 12th, 2012
4:20 pm
The Falcons were Full of Mularkey and the Jags will be in 2-3 years too!
Mularkey Out; Potential Coordinators Being Interviewed | Falcons Blog
January 12th, 2012
6:49 pm
[...] Jaguars hired Mularkey, which apparently was the only thing from keeping the Falcons from firing him. The belief here was that Double M, as he’s known, wasn’t going to be retained, but that’s [...]
Son Of Bart
January 12th, 2012
7:13 pm
“Some guys are good at managing games and calling plays. I’m not one of them.” Direct quote from Mike Mularkey upon taking a head coaching job. Ungodly. What does that say about Mike Smith? About Arthur Blank? About the Atlanta Falcons?? People, this is insanity!! Beyond insanity. Time is now to let Smith go and let the new head coach hire his own offensive and defensive coordinators. What a moron. What a waste of talent. And it is becoming apparent that Blank is stupider than all the other inmates in the asylum. He can’t be serious about this. Blank, you are 2/3 of the way through “the process”. Fire Smith and let’s start over with the same players with a new head coach, new offensive coordinator, and new defensive coordinator. How hard is it to understand simple reason???
D-ROME
January 12th, 2012
10:36 pm
Scott are u serious Roddy ,100 catches 1200 yards Roddy,are you sreious….lol
UGA 89
January 13th, 2012
2:21 am
JSS
I can go back to the 90’s also and name my team’s achievements but just remember where you got your beloved coach Mike Smith(who I like as a coach)…Jacksonville. Before Smith came to Atlanta the Falcons had not had back to back winning seasons. Jacksonville, in their 2nd and 3rd year of existence, achieved this milestone. Don’t be so judgmental. The Jaguars want success as much as the Falcons. The Falcons are no better than the Jaguars. They both have done nothing.
winderdawg
January 13th, 2012
6:55 am
How about Ralph Freigden (spelling?) I’ve always thought was a offensive guru!
dogearedblutic
January 14th, 2012
4:44 pm
Doesn’t matter Who the OC is; How many Balls did Receivers Drop against the Giants, what only Three… Three Too Damn Many !!!
Coastaldawg
January 14th, 2012
8:49 pm
Blank talks about character, but he has none.
Seen This B4
January 14th, 2012
9:16 pm
crickets chirping…..
hiramsaint
January 14th, 2012
9:17 pm
more crickets chirping…..
Runnin with the Dawgs
January 15th, 2012
12:16 am
Costaldawg — What do you base your 8:49 pm comment on?
Mr. Blank
January 15th, 2012
10:38 am
The Falcons just hired Dirk Koetter as OC. We’re doomed! TD has no clue and has to go.
Mr. Blank
January 15th, 2012
10:39 am
Who dat say they gonna beat them Saints. 49ers thats who! hahahaha
JB
January 16th, 2012
11:26 am
Doesn’t seem that Dirk Koetter’s name appeared anywhere in these comments. The article points out that he was in Jacksonville from 2007-2011, that they were 11-5 the year he started but haven’t had a winning season since. Seems like we rushed this.