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Speaker 1: What's going on? Falcons fans Tory mclahaney here and boy

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Speaker 1: oh boy here. I thought that the off season was

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Speaker 1: gonna be nice and simple and I was gonna have

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Speaker 1: some time off, and that didn't actually end up happening

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Speaker 1: because the Falcons are going right into a defensive coordinator

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Speaker 1: search to find their fifth defensive coordinator since Rahem Morris

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Speaker 1: had the job in twenty twenty six if you count

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Speaker 1: Jeff Ulbrick, who was an interim. But I digress. This

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Speaker 1: is what we're going through all of this right now.

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Speaker 1: We are going through a defensive coordinator search. So there's

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Speaker 1: gonna be interviews, there's gonna be names thrown out, and

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Speaker 1: before we really get into all of this, I wanted

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Speaker 1: to kind of level set a little bit and let's

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Speaker 1: talk through some of the top candidates, at least that

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Speaker 1: I see as being options. Now. I'll say this after

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Lake was let go this past Saturday. I wrote

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Speaker 1: this list on Atlanta Falcons dot Com on Sunday, and

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Speaker 1: I have to say that I do think that my

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Speaker 1: opinion on some of these names have changed and evolved.

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Speaker 1: I've also thought about some other names. So I just

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Speaker 1: want to preface that by saying this, But if you

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Speaker 1: go to Atlanta Falcons dot com, there is a story

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Speaker 1: that I wrote ran on Monday titled five names to

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Speaker 1: consider in the Falcons search for the next defensive coordinator. Now,

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Speaker 1: none of these are approved, none of these are reported.

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Speaker 1: These are all just from my brain. So take that

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Speaker 1: with a grain of salt. Take with it what you will,

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Speaker 1: but we're gonna go through these names really quickly. So

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Speaker 1: first things first, Steve Wilkes. This is a guy who

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Speaker 1: has had a lot of experience as a head coach

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Speaker 1: and also a coordinator. Some of his resume highlights include

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Speaker 1: being the Carolina Panthers defensive backs coach, assistant head coach

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Speaker 1: and defensive back coach from twenty twelve to twenty sixteen,

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Speaker 1: the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator in twenty seventeen.

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Speaker 1: He was the Arizona Cardinals head coach in twenty eighteen

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Speaker 1: before returning back to the Panthers to be their pass

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Speaker 1: game nador and secondary coach before spending the final six

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Speaker 1: games of the twenty twenty two season as the interim

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Speaker 1: head coach. He spent one season with the San Francisco

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Speaker 1: forty nine ers in twenty twenty three when they went

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Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl, he was the defensive coordinator for them,

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Speaker 1: and he's kind of just been floating about in the

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Speaker 1: last year. In twenty twenty four, I think I would

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Speaker 1: like to think trying to get back into the league.

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Speaker 1: He actually came to a couple of Falcons practice practices

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Speaker 1: during training camp, which I think there were a lot

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Speaker 1: of reports that came out during that time. He's kind

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Speaker 1: of been a long time defensive mind that's been connected

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Speaker 1: to the Falcons for a while now, and I think

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Speaker 1: that he's extremely respected. Like a lot of names on

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Speaker 1: this list, but this is someone who I think is

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Speaker 1: particularly intriguing because of the fact that he was around

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Speaker 1: Atlanta a little bit in the last year, just kind

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Speaker 1: of poking around seeing what's up. He has a good

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Speaker 1: relationship with Raheem Morris. As far as scheme goes, I

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Speaker 1: think that he would fit well with what Raheem Morris

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Speaker 1: wants to do and Jerry Gray what he wants to

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Speaker 1: do in the secondary and kind of marrying a little

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Speaker 1: bit of everything together. So that's one option. Another option

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Speaker 1: is a name I already previously mentioned, Jeff Olbrick, who

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Speaker 1: has just spent the last few months as the interim

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Speaker 1: head coach for the New York Jets. He is a

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Speaker 1: name that you should know well Falcons fans because he

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Speaker 1: actually was here before. He's worked with Raheem Morris before.

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Speaker 1: They both were on the dan Quinn staff from twenty

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Speaker 1: fifteen to twenty twenty. Olbrick held multiple titles linebackers coach,

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Speaker 1: and he was also the co defensive coordinator in twenty twenty.

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Speaker 1: And here's the thing about jeff Olbrick and Raheem Morris

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Speaker 1: that I think is really interesting as a duo. Back

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Speaker 1: in the twenty twenty season, when Dan Quinn was let

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Speaker 1: go and Raheem Morris took over as interim head coach

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Speaker 1: and jeff Olbrick was full on defensive coordinator, what they

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Speaker 1: did in terms of play calling was actually very interesting.

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Speaker 1: Jeff Olbrick would take the early downs, first and second down,

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Speaker 1: so he would gain plan and call for those, while

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Speaker 1: Raheem Morris was laid down third down. So I really

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Speaker 1: like the idea of that partnership continuing. Raheem Morris has

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Speaker 1: talked extensively about jeff Ulbrick even this past season, about

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Speaker 1: being somebody that he liked working with really respected and

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Speaker 1: I think that matters in the grand scheme of changes

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Speaker 1: that you're trying to make within your own defensive staff. However,

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Speaker 1: the one question that I have about Jeff Olbrick in

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Speaker 1: bringing him essentially back to work with Raheem Morris, is

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Speaker 1: whether or not that's history repeating itself and you going

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Speaker 1: back to something that, let's be honest, didn't really work

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Speaker 1: the first time around. There's a reason why dan Quinn

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Speaker 1: the Falcons parted ways with dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitrov

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Speaker 1: when they did, and there's a lot of things that

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Speaker 1: can be said about the defenses that the Falcons put

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Speaker 1: out in the Matt Ryan era. So I think that

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Speaker 1: if I had a pause about that, it would be

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Speaker 1: kind of just this the idea of you're doing something

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Speaker 1: again when I thank you. There are a lot of

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Speaker 1: options out in this market that for defensive coordinators that

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Speaker 1: could be different and add a different layer to something

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Speaker 1: that we have seen the Falcons do in the last five, six,

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Speaker 1: seven years. But I do think that because of Jeff

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Speaker 1: ulbricks connection with Raheem Morris, we should put him on

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Speaker 1: the list. So moving forward, this is someone who I

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Speaker 1: think is a bit I don't know. I go back

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Speaker 1: and forth on this one. It's Brandon Stately, who is

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Speaker 1: right now the assistant head coach for the San Francisco

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Speaker 1: forty nine ers. Everybody probably knows him best though, for

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Speaker 1: being the Los Angeles Chargers head coach from twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: one to twenty twenty three. He was the defensive coordinator

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Speaker 1: for the Los Angeles Rams in twenty twenty before Raheem

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Speaker 1: Morris took that job with Sean McVay. So this is

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Speaker 1: someone who comes from kind of that McVeigh tree that

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Speaker 1: Raheem Morris has been very, very connected to over the

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Speaker 1: course of the last few years since his time his

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Speaker 1: first stint in Atlanta ended. I think what I'm really

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Speaker 1: curious about with Brandon Staley as as an assistant head

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Speaker 1: coach to the forty nine ers, is that a lateral

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Speaker 1: move to go from being an assistant head coach to

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Speaker 1: a defensive coordinator. I would assume that Brandon Staley, considering

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Speaker 1: where he is in his career, would want more nods

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Speaker 1: at a head coach opportunity. Does he need to go

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Speaker 1: back to the play calling sheet and kind of show

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Speaker 1: his repertoire as a play caller? As a defensive coordinator

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Speaker 1: as someone who's leading specifically a unit, and I think

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Speaker 1: like that's something that is weighing in my head as

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Speaker 1: to what his next movie could be, and is the

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Speaker 1: Falcons and what the Falcons are doing defensively. My thing

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Speaker 1: is too, is like, if you go with someone like

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Speaker 1: a Brandon Saley or another name on this list that

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Speaker 1: we're gonna get to, are you just running out again

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Speaker 1: the same thing that you did with Jimmy Lake or

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Speaker 1: are you wanting to fundamentally change what you're doing from

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Speaker 1: a defensive standpoint. I don't know if you can fundamentally

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Speaker 1: change it. Because a big part of this, and a

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Speaker 1: big piece of this decision has to do with the

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Speaker 1: fact that Raheem Morris is a defensive minded head coach.

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Speaker 1: I know he's coached on both sides of the ball,

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Speaker 1: but his bread and butter's with defensive backs, where he

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Speaker 1: had his start back with Tampa Bay. And then you

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Speaker 1: have Jerry Gray, who is your assistant head coach slash defense,

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Speaker 1: but his primary function is to work with this secondary

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Speaker 1: and he's very respected by the members of this secondary.

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Speaker 1: And I so, do you want someone to come in

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Speaker 1: and kind of fall in line with what these two

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Speaker 1: minds want to do, or do you want someone who

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Speaker 1: can kind of shake things up a little bit? Is

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Speaker 1: Brandon Staley a bit too like minded? And that's something

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Speaker 1: that I think you can talk about regardless of kind

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Speaker 1: of what name we're talking about. There are a lot

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Speaker 1: of names that I feel like could kind honestly, if

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Speaker 1: we're being honest, could change things up extensively. And then

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Speaker 1: there are other names that may not change things up

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Speaker 1: all too much. When you make a decision to let

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Speaker 1: go of a defensive coordinator because of lack of production, defensively,

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Speaker 1: I almost tend to think that you want something different.

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Speaker 1: That's why you aren't with the person that you decided

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Speaker 1: to be with first off. And so that's kind of

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Speaker 1: where I am on it. But let me know where

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Speaker 1: you are if you want to comment on the YouTube channel,

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Speaker 1: let me know. I like to hear you guys opinions

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Speaker 1: on these things as we're moving forward. This was kind

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Speaker 1: of a dark horse is probably not the right word,

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Speaker 1: but it's the only word that's coming to mine. Seawan Decih,

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Speaker 1: who is the current defensive assistant for senior defensive assistant,

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Speaker 1: I should say, for the Los Angeles Rams, another Rams

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Speaker 1: connection another Sean McVay kind of brought him into the

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Speaker 1: fold this past year. Something about Sean is that I

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Speaker 1: think a lot of people know him from being the

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Speaker 1: defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles back in twenty twenty three,

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Speaker 1: and that stint as defensive coordinator probably didn't end the

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Speaker 1: way that he probably wanted to, or even probably the

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Speaker 1: Eagles wanted to. By the end of the season, the

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Speaker 1: Eagles essentially made a switch at defensive coordinator and who

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Speaker 1: is play calling before the season had even ended, and

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Speaker 1: then after that, Shawn Decih was let go. He's since

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Speaker 1: been with the Rams, and I wonder if this is

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Speaker 1: somebody who could come back with a second chance stronger

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Speaker 1: than they were before. And did he learn something in

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Speaker 1: that year with the Eagles where things didn't go according

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Speaker 1: to plan and kind of had to go back to

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Speaker 1: the drawing board a little bit about his own career.

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Speaker 1: I haven't talked to him. I don't know, but I

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Speaker 1: just imagine that could be a thought process. I'm all

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Speaker 1: about giving people second chances to right the wrongs and

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Speaker 1: to see to again tap into potential. I think there's

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Speaker 1: potential with someone like Sean de Sai and I'm curious

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Speaker 1: to see if he would be someone that the Falcons

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Speaker 1: would even consider, so just throwing that name out there

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Speaker 1: just for kicks and giggles. Probably the biggest name, though,

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Speaker 1: of I think this coaching search for defensive coordinators specifically,

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Speaker 1: is Robert Sala, who spent the last three seasons twenty

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Speaker 1: two twenty three. In the first few games of twenty

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Speaker 1: four as the New York Jets head coach. Jeff Ulbrick

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Speaker 1: took over as interim for him when Robert Sala was

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Speaker 1: let go in the early weeks of the twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: four season. I really like the idea of Robert Sala.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if he's gettable. I know that's not

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Speaker 1: a word, and that's probably not the right way to

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Speaker 1: say that, but I think he is going to be

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Speaker 1: the standout defensive coordinator higher for a team that's looking

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Speaker 1: for a defensive coordinator in twenty twenty five. I think

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Speaker 1: he is the premiere probably name of this entire thing,

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Speaker 1: and I think for good reason, because of what he

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Speaker 1: did with San Francisco from twenty seventeen to twenty twenty,

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Speaker 1: is their defensive coordinator. Even though things didn't go necessarily

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Speaker 1: the way that he probably hoped that it would with

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Speaker 1: the New York Jets as head coach. I sometimes think

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Speaker 1: that you can see guys use Dan Quinn as an example.

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Speaker 1: Dan Quinn, it didn't work out with the Falcons, he

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Speaker 1: goes to Dallas, puts together a really good defense, a

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Speaker 1: really sound defense, and then has another opportunity to be

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Speaker 1: head coach in the league. And look at what Washington

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Speaker 1: is doing right now, and they just beat Tampa Bay

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Speaker 1: and they're moving on to the next round of the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: and they're a fun team to watch. So I don't

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Speaker 1: think it's out of the realm with possibilities that a

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Speaker 1: lot of these guys who do have head coaching experience

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Speaker 1: want to have the dan Quinn experience, where it's like

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Speaker 1: you go back to being a coordinator and you do

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Speaker 1: good work and then it gets you back in the

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Speaker 1: conversation of being a head coach once again. And Robert

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Speaker 1: Sala I would absolutely put in that category. So those

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Speaker 1: are five names. But I also don't want to discredit

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Speaker 1: the idea of someone like a Dennis Allen. Dennis Allen,

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Speaker 1: I think a lot of people well know he has

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Speaker 1: been with the Saints for many, many years. No longer

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Speaker 1: with the Saints, but considering the fact that he has

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Speaker 1: connections with Caden Ellis, David on Yamata, Terry Fontineau, and

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Speaker 1: I liked what you saw from a Ryan Nielsen led

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Speaker 1: defense a couple of years ago, and how aggressive they

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Speaker 1: were and how much fun and how much I enjoyed

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Speaker 1: watching that group specifically play because of I think the

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Speaker 1: energy and the mindset that Ryan Nielsen infused into that unit.

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Speaker 1: And Ryan Nielsen comes from a Dennis Allen coached New

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Speaker 1: Orleans Saints team. New Orleans Saints. I know this is

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Speaker 1: a Falcons podcast, but you got to give credit where

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Speaker 1: credit is due that the New Orleans Saints have been very,

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Speaker 1: very good defensively, regardless of what was going on offensively,

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Speaker 1: They've consistently put out a really good defense more often

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Speaker 1: than they haven't, and Dennis Allen is a big part

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Speaker 1: of that. So is that somebody who could have an

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Speaker 1: opportunity here in Atlanta, is that somebody that the Falcons

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Speaker 1: would consider also someone like I'm gonna butcher his name.

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Speaker 1: I know, I am lou on Aramu. I love podcasts,

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Speaker 1: but also at the exact same time, I hate podcasts

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Speaker 1: because it makes me second guess things that I know.

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Speaker 1: But also I hope I said his name right. I'm

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Speaker 1: ninety percent sure I did. But with Lou he's someone

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Speaker 1: who is the former defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals,

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Speaker 1: and you know who he coached, Jesse Bates the third,

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Speaker 1: And I think that that would be a very intriguing

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Speaker 1: combination once again to reunite a former play caller that

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Speaker 1: got a lot of good things out of certain Falcons players. Now, now,

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Speaker 1: do you make these decisions solely based on the fact that,

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Speaker 1: like these defensive coordinators have coached guys who are on

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Speaker 1: the current roster for twenty twenty five. No, that's not

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Speaker 1: what you're making a decision about. But I do think

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Speaker 1: it's to consider and when you're trying to pull guys

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Speaker 1: in you have someone that you really like, but they're

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Speaker 1: also interviewing for other positions that smart of it too.

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Speaker 1: So as we kind of wrap up, though, I do

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Speaker 1: want to make one final note about just a potential thought.

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Speaker 1: Do I think that this thought is realistic at all?

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Speaker 1: Probably not. I'm gonna go out and say that right

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Speaker 1: off the bat. I don't think this is realistic, But

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Speaker 1: I hate this is the podcast we're just throwing things

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Speaker 1: at the wall and seeing what sticks. This is what

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Speaker 1: I'm calling the no name candidate. And the reason I

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Speaker 1: say it's the no name candidate is because what if

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Speaker 1: the Falcons didn't backfill the position at all? And hear

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Speaker 1: me out on this, we know that Raheem Morris and

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Speaker 1: Jerry Gray have defensive coordinator experience in their past, even

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Speaker 1: though I know that it's been a while for Jerry Gray,

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Speaker 1: but I don't think he could not do it double negative,

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Speaker 1: but whatever. I think that it's really interesting because I

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of knowledge between the two and as

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Speaker 1: the Falcons are entering into the search for their next

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Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, I have to imagine, going back to what

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Speaker 1: I was saying earlier, that the opinions of Raheem Morris

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Speaker 1: and Jerry Gray and how they could meld and mesh

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Speaker 1: their thought process and their scheme and their goals into

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Speaker 1: what a defensive coordinator wants to do is going to

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Speaker 1: be paramount in this search, because that's this is defense

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Speaker 1: I feel like is as much theirs as it is

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Speaker 1: whoever is coming in now. The reason why I don't

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Speaker 1: think that this is a realistic option is because of

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Speaker 1: something that Raheem Morris said very very early on. I

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Speaker 1: think it was actually in his introductory press conference when

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Speaker 1: he was first hired last January, where he made the

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Speaker 1: comment about like wanting to empower his coordinators to make

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Speaker 1: their decisions for their unit, and he can kind of

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Speaker 1: be this like five thousand foot view, come to me,

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Speaker 1: I'll check things off, Let's make sure that everything's working

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Speaker 1: according to plan. Like I'll make some tweaks where I

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Speaker 1: need to. But basically, Raheem Woor's being the figurehead and

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Speaker 1: being very focused on game management, clock management, that kind

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Speaker 1: of stuff where he's not being pulled in different directions

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Speaker 1: to have to play call for the defense, for example,

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Speaker 1: and he doesn't. I don't believe him. It's only been

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Speaker 1: a year, but I believe it to be the case

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Speaker 1: that he still foresees his role as head coach with

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Speaker 1: the Atlanta Falcons in that same realm and in that

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Speaker 1: same thought process, which kind of makes him like the CEO.

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Speaker 1: And then you have your vps who are specializing in

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Speaker 1: one part, in one unit of the business. And I

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Speaker 1: think that that is going to continue to be the

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Speaker 1: case with this hire, and I don't foresee that changing.

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Speaker 1: But again, I just wanted to throw something out there

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Speaker 1: just to get your wheels going a little bit, even

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Speaker 1: if nothing else, to show you that there is a

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Speaker 1: lot of opinions. There are a lot of opinions that

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Speaker 1: are gonna matter within the realm of this coaching search

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Speaker 1: and who the Falcons could ultimately go after. So I

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Speaker 1: know I've been talking for a very long time. I

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Speaker 1: fear my coffee is getting really cold, and I haven't

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Speaker 1: had coffee today and I really really need it. So

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna just put a pause on this conversation for

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Speaker 1: right now. There is so much that is going to

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Speaker 1: come out, probably in the next couple of weeks. There's

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Speaker 1: always gonna be reports about people coming in to interview,

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Speaker 1: and the Atlanta Falcons editorial team and video team and

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Speaker 1: our entire digital team is going to be on top

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Speaker 1: of that from start to finish, and we will have

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Speaker 1: a defensive coordinator tracker up on Atlanta Falcons dot com

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Speaker 1: very very soon. It will include aggregated reports from reporters

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Speaker 1: across the lead about who the Falcons are targeting, who

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Speaker 1: they're looking to interview. We'll be doing some analysis, some

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Speaker 1: film study of some of these guys coming in and

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Speaker 1: what their strengths and weaknesses are, and then hopefully in

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Speaker 1: a couple of weeks, if not sooner than that, there's

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Speaker 1: a decision made and we'll be welcoming in a new

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Speaker 1: defensive coordinator to the Atlanta Falcons. Fold. So all of

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Speaker 1: that to say, make sure you're following along to Atlanta

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Speaker 1: Falcons dot com, the Atlanta Falcons podcast network. You can

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Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at Tory Underscore mclahaney. Again, so

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Speaker 1: much for an off season, you guys, who I mean?

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Speaker 1: This is what now my fourth or fifth off season

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Speaker 1: for covering the Falcons, and you know they've never not

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Speaker 1: been busy, so I don't know why I thought anything different,

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Speaker 1: but I digress. You guys, enjoy the rest of your

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Speaker 1: day and we will be talking very soon