Much of the Falcons head coaching search revolved around Bill Belichick and Rich McKay. Hell, it was somewhat painted as Bill Belichick versus Rich McKay, but in the end, Arthur Blank chose neither.
Atlanta made Raheem Morris the 19th head coach in franchise history and the first full-time black head coach. At the same time, Blank also relegated McKay, pushing him out of football operations.
To say the outcome was surprising would be an understatement. Not because Raheem Morris isn’t qualified, he certainly is and deserves another shot at being a head coach, but rather because it seemed that Blank was fixated on Bill Belichick.
It’s obviously the owner’s decision at the end of the day, but he weighed his confidants’ opinions. McKay, Terry Fontenot, and other subordinates’ roles would be reduced because there was a feeling that Belichick would bring in a lot of his own people for positions up and down the organization. Naturally, there was pushback from people within the building whose jobs might be negatively impacted.
Moreover, Albert Breer discussed the Falcons’ decision to go with Raheem Morris over Belichick, and he had an interesting statement. “Arthur Blank wanted to hire, and I have that on good authority, Arthur Blank wanted to hire Bill Belichick, the head coach”
There were very obvious logistical issues between Blank and Belichick. The Falcons owner wanted his cake and to eat it as well.
“It was everything else that was going to have to happen, and the amount of people around him that Bill is going to need here, and the amount of people outgoing because of it. I think people in that building knew like ‘hey if Bill comes here I probably won’t be here for much longer,’ and so those people wind up getting in Blank’s ear,” Breer added.
"Arthur Blank wanted to hire Bill Belichick the head coach… it was everything else that was going to have to happen"@AlbertBreer & @tomecurran discuss the Falcon's decision to go with Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick as their next head coach pic.twitter.com/ynQoB5gzBO
— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) January 25, 2024
I think a lot of Blank’s reluctance stems from the respective timelines and the relationships he’s built.
Moreover, Belichick’s refusal to budge on football operations would have forced some of Blank’s people out. I do believe Belichick would’ve relinquished some power instead of demanding autonomy as he had for so many years in New England; after all, he said as much at a press conference before parting ways with the Patriots.
However, with Raheem Morris, the structure of the organization remains as is, and the coaching staff is the only one that changes. That is perfect for Arthur Blank. I do believe Morris deserves a fair shake, but this entire process has made me lose even more confidence in the Falcons owner.
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Photographer: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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