Falcons CEO Confident in Coach Arthur Smith, General Manager Terry Fontenot?
Atlanta Falcons coach Arthur Smith and general manager Terry Fontenot took the stage for their end-of-season press conference in Flowery Branch on Wednesday afternoon, just under two years after accepting their respective jobs.
Through two seasons, the Falcons have showed startling consistency, finishing 7-10 and drafting No. 8 overall each year. They've arrived at that point in two vastly different ways, fielding an experienced albeit rag-tag group of veterans in year one to the second-youngest team in the league in year two.
By all accounts, Smith and Fontenot have outperformed expectations and played well with the cards they were dealt - an aging roster with expensive veterans and very little cap space to boot.
But still, two seasons, no playoffs ... and naturally, some have begun to wonder whether the duo is the best for Atlanta to move forward with.
One person who's not in that group is Falcons CEO Rich McKay, who, according to ESPN, said that he's "as confident or more confident" in Smith and Fontenot than when they arrived in Jan. 2021.
McKay led the search to hire Smith, formerly the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator, and Fontenot, previously the assistant general manager of the New Orleans Saints, before owner Arthur Blank officially signed off.
The biggest reason for McKay's optimism stems from what's gone on behind the scenes. Despite operating under challenging circumstances from the previous regime, Smith and Fontenot haven't wavered - and it's left McKay impressed.
"What I've seen is they described a plan and the way they were going to play games and the way they were going to build a roster and they've really followed that and not varied from it," McKay said. "And the hardest thing in this business, in my time, for people to do is to stay to the plan, because usually something happens.
"There's a distraction; there's an opportunity; there's an injury and you change, and they have not done that. They have stayed to the plan."
That "plan" included taking on the largest dead cap hit in NFL history - but setting up the Falcons to have north of $80 million this offseason. The transition to such a youthful team fostered close losses and growing pains, but Atlanta played 13 one-score games this year, one shy of a league record, and built a clear foundation.
The arrow of the Falcons organization appears to be pointing in the right direction ... and ultimately, that's what McKay truly cares about. He's no focused on setting a do-or-die requirement because he understands the bigger picture of what Smith and Fontenot are doing.
Thus, there's nothing the two necessarily have to achieve to keep their jobs in 2024 - creating a sense of security for at least two more years, at least on the surface.
"You can have your expectations for next year, and you can have your idea that we're in a better place now," McKay said. "We've got more cap room, all those things. It doesn't mean that all those variables are going to line up that way. That's my one thing, I always say as a caveat. When somebody says they have to go to the playoffs, or you got to win this many games, I think all of that is not appropriate. I love it in the media."
Instead of wins and losses or postseason appearances, McKay views success in a different light - growth.
"Internally, that's just not the way we look at it," said McKay, of numerical success. "Internally it's, 'Are we going in the right direction? Are we following the plan?' And 'are we making progress, dealing with the variables?'"
Smith, Fontenot and the rest of the Falcons are staring down a critical offseason, one that certainly could dictate how long and successful their regime proves to be.
With a young, developing team and the cap space to add proven difference makers, the "plan" is in full effect ... and Fontenot says they're already into the next phase.
Now, the challenge becomes adding the correct pieces, both on and off the field - and considering that Smith and Fontenot have done that several times throughout their tenure, McKay is left with nothing but confidence.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft
Get your HOTlanta Falcons game tickets from SI Tickets ... here!
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Falcons? Click Here.
Follow Falcon Report on Twitter.
Want even more Atlanta Falcons news? Check out the Si.com team page here
