The Falcons added a couple familiar faces Tuesday, bringing back former OCs Dirk Koetter to the same position and Mike Mularkey as TE coach.
Koetter was the offensive coordinator for the Jaguars from 2007-2011 before being hired by Mike Smith to the same position for the Falcons. He held that position for the next three years.
In that time, Matt Ryan excelled, throwing 76 total touchdowns and made two of his four Pro-Bowls. The Falcons also finished in the top 10 in total offense two out of the three seasons Koetter was the offensive coordinator. According to all reports, Ryan feels comfortable in Koetter’s system, which was also going to be a key factor in the decision making.
Koetter was relieved along with head coach Mike Smith in 2014 and took the OC job down in Tampa. A year later, he was named the head coach of the Buccaneers, and their offense broke into the top 10 in 2017 and finished third in total offense in 2018.
Mularkey has served as the head coach for the Jaguars and Titans since his departure from Atlanta, but his time with both teams was nothing more than a pit stop. That has been the trend with him as a head coach. However, the former tight end who was thought to be a finalist for the OC job should make a fine tight ends coach, and adding any NFL head coaching experience to your positional staff is always a plus.