Way back in October I listed some offensive coordinator targets that I liked. Going on two years now, I’m still singing Mike LaFleur’s praises:
Anyone who has read my stuff knows Mike LaFleur has been my guy for a solid year now. I wanted Mike to replace Koetter last season, sniping Kyle Shanahan’s protege and Matt LaFleur’s brother in one swoop. LaFleur has been with Shanahan since 2014 when he was his intern in Cleveland — and yes, he was on Atlanta’ 2016 Super Bowl staff. He served as San Francisco’s WR coach in 2018-2019, so he has some experience and should be drawn to Atlanta’s elite WR group. Hopefully, he’s been taking notes from Shanny. It’s been seven years; he should have picked some stuff up by now. LaFleur is the ultimate “lightning in a bottle” candidate that could get this offense back to peak form.
I had some similar love for Mike McDaniel, a guy I didn’t think would be ready just yet.
San Francisco has gotten elite production out of UDFA running backs like Raheem Mostert and Matt Breida. Like Mike LaFleur, McDaniel was on the 2016 Super Bowl staff. He worked closely with Atlanta’s WRs, but if LaFleur does end up leaving for somewhere besides Atlanta, McDaniel is an interesting option.
Robert Saleh is likely on his way out to be a head coach somewhere, and while he’s not at the top of my list of candidates for the Falcons job, I do like the possibility of bringing in one of LaFleur or McDaniel to be the next offensive coordinator.
Jets/Lions fans wondering about Saleh and what that means for a young QB…the belief is that he would bring an SF offensive assistant with him as the OC.
A “Shanahan” offense would be implemented.
Names to watch as potential matches: Mike LaFluer and Mike McDaniel@gmfb
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) January 12, 2021
While the rumored clubhouse favorite Joe Brady would likely serve as the offensive coordinator like Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan do, these guys could bring a lot to this offense. Both of them could possibly stay, especially McDaniel for a little more seasoning. I don’t have a preference for either one; they have experience in Atlanta and bring a Kyle Shanahan level of creativity to the offense. Atlanta needs to get back to running the football, using motion, and scheming creative route concepts to make life easier on Matt Ryan — things that former offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter refused to do.
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