Fire Boudreau, hire Nolan: A productive day for the Falcons
Paul Boudreau had early success here, but less lately. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Remember Mike Smith, the dullard who’d rather hang out with his old coaching pals than do something like, oh, maybe win a Super Bowl? Turns out he’s not so wild about his old pals that he’ll let that bond stand in the way of progress.
Smitty the alleged dullard — so alleged for having hired Dirk Koetter, with whom he worked a year in Jacksonville, as offensive coordinator — just fired Paul Boudreau, the offensive line coach whose success in 2008 helped get the whole Smith-as-Falcons-coach operation off the ground. And then he turned around and hired Mike Nolan as defensive coordinator.
Pretty instructive day, I’d say. First the Falcons make a move they needed to make. (As noted, GM Thomas Dimitroff wasn’t pleased that his smallish line couldn’t produce the push required to make it on fourth-and-inches twice against the Giants.) The Boudreau Method — coaching up smallish-but-bullish O-linemen — had run its course. Time to find a new man. And now the Falcons will.
As for Nolan: He was one of the two hottest DCs on the market, Steve Spagnuolo being the other. Nolan could have had his pick of jobs. He picked this one. That’s another good sign, and one very productive day.
By Mark Bradley
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127 comments Add your comment
RedandBlackPeachy
January 18th, 2012
6:23 am
1. Love this hire. @ D3, this also was my choice so I truly can understand the sentiment. 2. We are just as far away from a good 4-3 as we are a good 3-4 so that doesn’t concern me. 3. Nolan has installed a hybrid of the two defenses in the past so running a 4-3 would not be an issue for him. 4. The few guys coming out of college that can fill the NT position are projected to start going in the second round so that doesn’t put us out of it. 5. Not all stupid comments are racist. Wasn’t offended by Great Signs comment; just rolled at my eyes at the ridiculousness of it. Let’s move on.
Bill
January 18th, 2012
7:36 am
Great sign,
Perhaps it would help if I explain why your comment was racist. You said first that we need more Black OLs. Is Black the characteristic that makes a different. Later, you said that they were stronger and tougher. This makes sense. Tougher and stronger are the key characteristics. If Black was the important characteristic, the we could just move Jacquizz Rogers to the OL. Clearly, Black is not what matters. Why not just say that we need OLs who are tougher and stronger and leave race out of it, since it is of no consequence.
elroy
January 18th, 2012
7:36 am
fire bradley & most of the other columnist, that would be a productive day for the AJC
GT
January 18th, 2012
7:53 am
There was the inch against the Saints earlier this year too. Never understood why they didn’t sprint one of those runs wide. Everybody was bunched up in the middle, but a pro team of any quality should be able to get an inch and it defined our year.
GT Grad '08
January 18th, 2012
8:00 am
IF, and granted this is a BIG IF, we can get a 3-4 nosetackle through draft or FA, then why not try the 3-4? Can Sidbury drop back to a 3-4 outside LB w/ Witherspoon? He seems atheletic enough. Make Babineaux a 3-4 DE. Let Abraham go and use that $ to pick up another 3-4 lineman and it could work. Our linebackers are already the strength of this team why not make them the full focal point?
Adam
January 18th, 2012
8:19 am
@ Paddy
January 17th, 2012
5:26 pm
Hmmmm…..
Were you watching any of the games this past weekend?
Tree rollins
January 18th, 2012
8:54 am
Pariah Jerry is the big powerful DT we need to anchor that 3-4! Just ask Thomas – the guy that spent our first round pick on him.
Call it like it is
January 18th, 2012
9:00 am
Want make any difference, Falcons got no heart. Ever notice with the teams that are winning, how they react with their fans? Run along the wall giving high fives, jump into the stands after TD’s. They want to win, they want to please their fan base. The dome is a sterile environment and so are the Falcons. Tired of blowing my money on a team that has never produce a ring.
crossdawg
January 18th, 2012
9:14 am
CMR could learn from Smith. Go Dawgs
Vince Butts
January 18th, 2012
9:37 am
KOETTER WON’T IMPROVE THE FfALCONS OFFENSE.I THINK WE TOOK A STEP BACKWARDS..TIME WILL TELL.
DEFENSE WE ARE A BETTER TEAM WITH NOLAN ..
VAN GORDER A GOOD GUY BUT MORE OF A COLLEGE DEFENSIVE COACH. HE WILL IMPROVE AUBURN. BAD NEWS FOR DAWG FANS.
duronimo
January 18th, 2012
10:04 am
Nolan is a good choice. I always hate to see people fired because think of their families. It’s about as tough being an assistants coach as it is being and assistant in come church.
colelinski
January 18th, 2012
10:05 am
Fans will be suprised at how much better Matt Ryan will be with a decent OL. Give him time to throw and he’ll do very well.
As for the defense, I don’t think the Falcons are that far away fromm having the players to play a
3-4. Nose tackle would be the biggest concern. But maybe someone now on the team could fill the position.
Is’nt Ratliff,the Cowboys NT on the the light side. I think he’s around 300lbs. and plays pretty well.
St Simons - we're on Island time
January 18th, 2012
10:22 am
Flacco’s still playing
Flacco’s still playing
This cements that GM as maybe the worst talent scout in NFL history
a half century of futility in loserville continues
RM
January 18th, 2012
10:36 am
Can Boudreau take most of the O linemen with him? Clabo was absolutely terrible this year. they reallly screwed up by signing him instead of Dahl. Dahl provided the nastiness and they really missed that this year.
James
January 18th, 2012
11:24 am
Why don’t AB really open up in pocketbook and splurge on the QB coach and go get Steve Young, Kurt Warner, Steve Bartkoski, someone who was known how to throw down field with accuracy! These coaches have enough to fix already and this way he can be taught one-on-one and they can concentrate on what they have to do @ hand! Last but not least can you say NOSE GUARD.
Sid
January 18th, 2012
11:26 am
Michael January 17th, 2012 4:57 pm
This is a football blog, anybody who comes on here talking about race needs to get shunned.
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Blog police, every one be cool.
David
January 18th, 2012
11:28 am
I thought the o-line coach did a good job considering the talent he had to work with.
Sid
January 18th, 2012
11:30 am
Son Of Bart January 17th, 2012 7:52 pm
Dumb incestuous hire after dumber incestuous hire. Falcons 6-10 2012. At best.
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Say, how is Mr Simpson anyway??
Falcon Realist
January 18th, 2012
11:41 am
Draft and sign terrible offensive linemen. Let your best OL, Clabo, leave via free agency and throw the OL coach under the bus.
Sid
January 18th, 2012
11:43 am
Notice how the Peeshwank trolls from the Bayou will barely come out………….and if they do it’s Falcon trash talk under a different handle. No mention of their team going down in flames and being snuffed out in a wispy cloud of smoke off of the Pacific.
The anticipation of eating crow tastes almost as bad as the crow itself. C’mon back, we only want to kick you while you are down.
SAL
January 18th, 2012
12:12 pm
let’s all coeleste
t_height
January 18th, 2012
12:35 pm
The play calling had nothing to do with the O-Line coach. It was all Matt Ryan and Mularky. You have to have some type of designed plays other than just trying to find a hole to run through.
Season Ticket Holder
January 18th, 2012
12:39 pm
Geaux Saints! OH, I’m sorry. They are no longer in the playoffs
DawggoneFalcons
January 18th, 2012
1:32 pm
@Mark Bradley,
Who do you think the Falcons are looking at, as far as, a new Offensive Line Coach?
Hillbilly D
January 18th, 2012
2:09 pm
Changing the O-Line coach is a step in the right direction.
Thoughts on the release of Paul Boudreau | Falcons Focus – Atlanta Falcons Blog, Opinion and Analysis
January 18th, 2012
3:40 pm
[...] line took a significant step backwards this season, which is why some view the release of Boudreau as a good thing. But it’s hard to fault Boudreau (who is a good coach) for the overall lack of talent that was [...]
joh
January 20th, 2012
10:54 am
Harvey Dahl – GONE- Falcons cannot gain less than a yard- Any Connection ?
Oh yeah-he is white……