1
00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:03,040
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another episode of The Falcons Audible, presented

2
00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,400
Speaker 1: by AT and T. I'm Derek Rackley once again going

3
00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:07,040
Speaker 1: to be guiding the ship here a little bit for

4
00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,680
Speaker 1: at the next twenty plus minutes, and as always, I

5
00:00:09,680 --> 00:00:13,360
Speaker 1: got my fellaws, Dave Archer and DJ Shockley along for

6
00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,400
Speaker 1: the ride. And Fellas, we've obviously got a lot more

7
00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:19,520
Speaker 1: to talk about than action on the football field. Biggest

8
00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:21,440
Speaker 1: news of the week for the Falcons, of course, and

9
00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,239
Speaker 1: across the NFL unfortunately, it's been the dismissal of head

10
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:29,080
Speaker 1: coach Dan Quinn and their general manager Thomas Dimitroff. So, Fellas,

11
00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:30,880
Speaker 1: let's kind of dive right into a Dave, you've been

12
00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,559
Speaker 1: around this organization, probably the longest of all three of

13
00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:35,919
Speaker 1: us on this Let's get your first impressions on the

14
00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,320
Speaker 1: moves that the Falcons ownership made this week. Yeah, not

15
00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,120
Speaker 1: a surprise, a rack and shock as to what happened here.

16
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,279
Speaker 1: This is a results oriented business and all of us

17
00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,319
Speaker 1: have had to go through coaching changes and we'll tell

18
00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:51,120
Speaker 1: some of those stories maybe coming up, but this will

19
00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,880
Speaker 1: be my fourth interim coach coming up with Raheem Morris.

20
00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,960
Speaker 1: But the longest scenario we've seen normally, it's been towards

21
00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,680
Speaker 1: the end of seasons, and you two guys were involved

22
00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:03,360
Speaker 1: in a couple of the seasons I'm talking about. We'll

23
00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,680
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about that, but I guess just

24
00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:11,880
Speaker 1: initial quick hit. Not surprised again, results oriented business. The

25
00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,240
Speaker 1: only thing that did surprise me at TAD was the

26
00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:21,399
Speaker 1: change at the personnel department with this early, that the

27
00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:24,959
Speaker 1: DQ was shown the door this early. But I've got

28
00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,319
Speaker 1: some insights into that having talked to Rich McKay yesterday

29
00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:31,160
Speaker 1: about it and the fact that there's not a lot

30
00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:34,840
Speaker 1: of personnel stuff going on during the season. During the offseason, yes,

31
00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:36,880
Speaker 1: but not during the seas. He said this, and this

32
00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:38,640
Speaker 1: is not something I'm sharing. It was private. This is

33
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,840
Speaker 1: something he said on Sports stock Radio ninety nine game

34
00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,800
Speaker 1: yesterday in our interview that we had that the GM's

35
00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,000
Speaker 1: role is diminished some during the regular season as far

36
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,640
Speaker 1: as the importance of personnel and evaluating personnel and all

37
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,480
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. So this was the right time

38
00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:56,880
Speaker 1: to do it. So I give I gives mister Blank credit,

39
00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,480
Speaker 1: and I give I give Rich McKay credit. They tried

40
00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,320
Speaker 1: to ride this ship as long as they could give

41
00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,200
Speaker 1: them a chance to flip it around and it just

42
00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,040
Speaker 1: didn't happen. DJ, how about you, But similar to what

43
00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:12,160
Speaker 1: Arts just mentioned, I think the fact that when it happened,

44
00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,400
Speaker 1: I think everybody wasn't surprised. Everybody looked at it as

45
00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:21,960
Speaker 1: it was a foregone conclusion the way you started this season. Obviously,

46
00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,480
Speaker 1: the fact that you know, Arthur Blake mentioned this in

47
00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,600
Speaker 1: his press conference the other day about at the end

48
00:02:27,639 --> 00:02:29,680
Speaker 1: of the season, you were at the top of many

49
00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,320
Speaker 1: statistical categories which gave them opportunity to come back for

50
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,200
Speaker 1: this next year trying like ar say, right the ship.

51
00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,120
Speaker 1: The fact that they weren't able to write the ship,

52
00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:44,200
Speaker 1: I thought was unfortunate. It's disappointing. I think we all have,

53
00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,760
Speaker 1: you know, had our own special contact with Dan Quinn,

54
00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:51,120
Speaker 1: so we know what type of guy he is, so

55
00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,800
Speaker 1: to see it happened this way is definitely disappointing. But

56
00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:57,160
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, like Art said, you

57
00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:00,760
Speaker 1: got to understand it because it's all about wins and

58
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,840
Speaker 1: you weren't able to get it done. And to the

59
00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,080
Speaker 1: fact that you know, this city deserves a winner. We

60
00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:09,880
Speaker 1: got some die hard loyal fans in this city that

61
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:14,120
Speaker 1: love their team, and I remember being in the stadium

62
00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,080
Speaker 1: this past weekend and they were fans yellow than me,

63
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:18,959
Speaker 1: like what are we supposed to do? Shock? Like well

64
00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,400
Speaker 1: what what? What? How do we get this better? So fans,

65
00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:26,080
Speaker 1: regardless of the record, we're still all laid on their team.

66
00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,440
Speaker 1: And like ars just mentioned, you know, big kudos Art

67
00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,919
Speaker 1: the Blank were finally actually pulling the plug because this

68
00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:35,200
Speaker 1: wasn't the start to want it. Yeah, I'm speaking of

69
00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,000
Speaker 1: Arthur Blank. I mean he mentioned along with Richard McKay

70
00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:41,240
Speaker 1: yesterday that you know, these decisions are very difficult because

71
00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:43,840
Speaker 1: throughout the course of time, especially with Thomas de Mitroff

72
00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:45,880
Speaker 1: that's been there for thirteen years. I mean, Arthur talked

73
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,200
Speaker 1: about it that he's been with him for thirteen of

74
00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,360
Speaker 1: his twenty years. As a member of the Atlanta Falcons organization,

75
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,040
Speaker 1: you get to know people on a personal level. And

76
00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:56,960
Speaker 1: he talked about how beloved that dan Quinn is across

77
00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,480
Speaker 1: the NFL and how liked he is in the coaching

78
00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,280
Speaker 1: circle and amongst the players as well. That there's a

79
00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,400
Speaker 1: personal element to it, but he's also responsible for the

80
00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,720
Speaker 1: most important part as an owner is the business side

81
00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:10,760
Speaker 1: of it. And he said on a couple of occasions

82
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:12,960
Speaker 1: when asked the question where did they fall short, and

83
00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:16,200
Speaker 1: he just simply said, wins, because it's all about wins.

84
00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,279
Speaker 1: And they talked about the fact that coming into the

85
00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,279
Speaker 1: season it was going to be kind of playoff or bust,

86
00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,160
Speaker 1: if you will, And I think Dan Quinn knows that.

87
00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,800
Speaker 1: I think Thomas de Mitchell knows that, because we all

88
00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:27,279
Speaker 1: know it's a results based business. You can be liked

89
00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,640
Speaker 1: as much as you want, but they like you a

90
00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,480
Speaker 1: whole lot more when we're w's and there's a whole

91
00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,640
Speaker 1: lot less els. So kind of let's talk a little

92
00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:37,640
Speaker 1: bit more about this because guys, I think the interesting

93
00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,920
Speaker 1: perspective that we have as former players and Dave as

94
00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,719
Speaker 1: a broadcaster as well as we've been through this. So Dave,

95
00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,000
Speaker 1: let's start with you, because you've been through this not

96
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,719
Speaker 1: only as a player, not necessarily during the season but

97
00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:51,279
Speaker 1: right after the season, but also as a broadcaster for

98
00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,240
Speaker 1: the Falcon seeing all these interims. So just kind of

99
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:56,960
Speaker 1: relay to the folks that are listening and watching what

100
00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,000
Speaker 1: your experience is now that we're in an interim basis,

101
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,559
Speaker 1: how players can react to the new guy and maybe

102
00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,560
Speaker 1: positively or negatively. Yeah, I think that there's when you

103
00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,040
Speaker 1: tart talking about all of a sudden you're under a

104
00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,400
Speaker 1: little bit more of an evaluation. It's not a little

105
00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,599
Speaker 1: bit more of an evaluation. It's a lot more of

106
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,400
Speaker 1: an evaluation, okay. And if it's near the end of

107
00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,240
Speaker 1: the year, it may be magnified. I don't think it is,

108
00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:21,559
Speaker 1: because now you have a full year left to play

109
00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,280
Speaker 1: and you don't know whether Raheem Morris is going to

110
00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,520
Speaker 1: remain the head football coach or not. He's certainly coaching

111
00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,600
Speaker 1: to try to maintain a head coaching job here. So

112
00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,480
Speaker 1: the players are also going to be in that realm

113
00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:38,280
Speaker 1: of Okay, I'm trying to I'm playing for my opportunity

114
00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,279
Speaker 1: to play here in Atlanta, or as we all talk about,

115
00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:43,520
Speaker 1: there's tape that's going to be put on for the

116
00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,919
Speaker 1: next eleven weeks of what am I doing? Do I

117
00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,159
Speaker 1: show a little less effort, Do I show why I've

118
00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,200
Speaker 1: cranked it up a little bit? Those are all things

119
00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,919
Speaker 1: that are going to be detected on tape. But in

120
00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:59,120
Speaker 1: talking with players in the interim basis, we had one

121
00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:02,240
Speaker 1: with you Raq mentioned with Wade Phillips. We had one

122
00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:06,560
Speaker 1: in oh seven, we had one in six with some

123
00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,800
Speaker 1: changes there, and then of course we've got our situation here.

124
00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,200
Speaker 1: How are they different. They're not a lot different in

125
00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,839
Speaker 1: the fact, maybe from a time frame standpoint, But what

126
00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:21,720
Speaker 1: does resonate is that you've got players that, ultimately no

127
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,160
Speaker 1: inside they're culpable in this situation. The reason their coach

128
00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,400
Speaker 1: isn't here anymore they didn't play well enough. Okay, so

129
00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:30,599
Speaker 1: how do they change that? And so that's that's the

130
00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,719
Speaker 1: thing that I remember getting from players is those guys

131
00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:35,640
Speaker 1: ramped it up. And I'll tell a story and just

132
00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:37,440
Speaker 1: a little bit, let's Shock jump in here and talk

133
00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,320
Speaker 1: about his experiences in yours as well. Rack, I'll talk about,

134
00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,800
Speaker 1: you know, how a player can potentially handle this. But

135
00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,760
Speaker 1: in my perspective from a broadcaster, all the players that

136
00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:50,640
Speaker 1: I talked to, and I give the credit for those

137
00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:54,200
Speaker 1: that are around the Atlanta Falcon organization, in these four instances,

138
00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,680
Speaker 1: for the most part, the team, the players stepped up

139
00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,280
Speaker 1: and they played and played like their for their jobs. Yeah,

140
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,520
Speaker 1: and Shock, before you interject, I would say that your

141
00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:06,839
Speaker 1: situation was probably a little bit unique in the fact

142
00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:09,720
Speaker 1: that I think most people wanted that change to happen,

143
00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:11,880
Speaker 1: and probably sooner they were just more shocked of the

144
00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,240
Speaker 1: way that Patrino left, but kind of relay your experience

145
00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:16,800
Speaker 1: was with how that went down when you were a

146
00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,600
Speaker 1: part of the Petrino era and then after Yeah, And

147
00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:22,160
Speaker 1: I think that's the one part of this story that's

148
00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:25,560
Speaker 1: a little bit different is on one hand, with Dan Quinney,

149
00:07:25,720 --> 00:07:27,880
Speaker 1: was we met it, we said already he was beloved,

150
00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,680
Speaker 1: he was a guy and everybody enjoyed being around. That

151
00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:35,400
Speaker 1: wasn't quite the story. And those seven when close Patrino

152
00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:37,000
Speaker 1: was around, and it's a player who was in that

153
00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:41,360
Speaker 1: locker room, guys did not jail well with him as

154
00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:44,320
Speaker 1: far as how he handled situations in a locker room.

155
00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,240
Speaker 1: So when he was finally I wouldn't say when he

156
00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,520
Speaker 1: left in the middle of the night, it finally was

157
00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,040
Speaker 1: a spot for a lot of players that were like,

158
00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,480
Speaker 1: thank you, We're glad. And I think guys actually played

159
00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,360
Speaker 1: a little bit better because every day you came in

160
00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,720
Speaker 1: actually did not enjoy being there, and it was because

161
00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:08,280
Speaker 1: of the circumstances and the situations you're in. And during

162
00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,440
Speaker 1: that time, I thought guys stepped their game up, similar

163
00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,520
Speaker 1: to what Arcshus talked about, simply because of the future.

164
00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,040
Speaker 1: And that's I think the number one thing for all

165
00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,640
Speaker 1: these players and then for the coaches as well, because

166
00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,280
Speaker 1: you think about the coaching fraternity around the National Football League,

167
00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:28,320
Speaker 1: guys usually hire guys who they've been with or guys

168
00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,440
Speaker 1: they know they can trust. So there are some coaches

169
00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:34,160
Speaker 1: on the staff that throughout this whole process they're going

170
00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:36,360
Speaker 1: to be evaluated as well on how they get these

171
00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,760
Speaker 1: players prepared, ready to play and what is their energy like.

172
00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:44,200
Speaker 1: Now that the quote unquote head coaches not there and

173
00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,400
Speaker 1: now you have a different role, So we think it's

174
00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:49,640
Speaker 1: all about the players as of course it is about

175
00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:51,959
Speaker 1: the players as well, but these coaches are being evaluated

176
00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,040
Speaker 1: is just as much because their features are in jeopardy

177
00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,079
Speaker 1: as well. So situation Old seven was totally different where

178
00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,880
Speaker 1: we actually wanted that coach to be like a you know,

179
00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,600
Speaker 1: it happened in a crazy way where he just left

180
00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:08,040
Speaker 1: in the middle of ninety levels a note in the

181
00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:11,040
Speaker 1: middle of the locker room. But I think everybody was

182
00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,600
Speaker 1: pretty good about moving forward. Shock. Let me ask you

183
00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,280
Speaker 1: a question about that. And that was such a weird

184
00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,480
Speaker 1: year as the O seven season, and you know, obviously

185
00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:22,839
Speaker 1: things happened to Michael the quarterback. Was it gonna be

186
00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:24,280
Speaker 1: the quarterback you thought it was going to be. There

187
00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:28,440
Speaker 1: a lot of things that surrounded that, but there was

188
00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:33,319
Speaker 1: also some some maybe some devisive stuff that was going

189
00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,320
Speaker 1: on in the staff. Hugh Jackson was the offensive coordinator

190
00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,520
Speaker 1: on that staff. He wanted to be named the interim

191
00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,120
Speaker 1: coach and they didn't name him. Memorim coach. Remember Mike

192
00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:43,640
Speaker 1: Zimmer who's now the head coach of the Vikings, ironically enough,

193
00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,480
Speaker 1: who we see this weekend. He was the defensive coordinator

194
00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,280
Speaker 1: on the staff. Emmett Thomas, who was the DV coach,

195
00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:52,440
Speaker 1: was elevated to be interim and Hugh Jackson, if I

196
00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:54,440
Speaker 1: remember correctly, and you tell me if I'm wrong here,

197
00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,720
Speaker 1: shock he created a big stink in the building about

198
00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,240
Speaker 1: the fact that he wasn't named the offense or named

199
00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:03,760
Speaker 1: the head coach, and that can kind of permeate this

200
00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:06,120
Speaker 1: thing too. So I think that the Falcons in the

201
00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,560
Speaker 1: way they've handled this, with Raheem being elevated, Jeff Olbrick

202
00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,320
Speaker 1: becoming defensive coordinator, there seems to be a lot more

203
00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,080
Speaker 1: synergy within the staff and the waters are much calmer

204
00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,520
Speaker 1: in a turbulent time, but much calmer than that situation.

205
00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,560
Speaker 1: Am I wrong about that. Yeah, I mean that's a

206
00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,480
Speaker 1: spot on call. And going back to that time, I

207
00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:30,000
Speaker 1: remember him going to the players who were the stars

208
00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,520
Speaker 1: of that team and vouching for himself. And during a

209
00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,800
Speaker 1: time where everybody's looking for who's going to be that leader,

210
00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:38,360
Speaker 1: who's going to be the guy we could depend on,

211
00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:41,800
Speaker 1: it was more of a singular focus, and that also

212
00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,559
Speaker 1: led to a little division of I don't want to

213
00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:47,640
Speaker 1: let this coach now, but also we have a coach

214
00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,160
Speaker 1: that's supposed to be our interim coach. How do we respond?

215
00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,640
Speaker 1: So guys are being pulled in different directions, which was

216
00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:55,560
Speaker 1: an uneasy situation for a lot of players. I mean,

217
00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:56,839
Speaker 1: this was my second end of the the league, so I

218
00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,520
Speaker 1: didn't understand all the division. I didn't know, you know,

219
00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:02,760
Speaker 1: which way to go. So I'm sure I wasn't the

220
00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:04,560
Speaker 1: only player on the team who was like this. So

221
00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,800
Speaker 1: he definitely had the ear of certain players, and then

222
00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:12,199
Speaker 1: it was definitely one of those not cohesive situations for

223
00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:15,800
Speaker 1: our entire ball club. Yeah, you know, my situation goes

224
00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:18,240
Speaker 1: back a few years before you jumped into the league Shock,

225
00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:21,200
Speaker 1: and I was around when Dan Reeves was let go

226
00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:23,840
Speaker 1: and they elevated Wade Phillips. And again, as we talked

227
00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,200
Speaker 1: about that happened later on in the season, Wade Phillips

228
00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,400
Speaker 1: was just the head coach for three weeks, and you

229
00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,480
Speaker 1: know we ended up doing I think we went two

230
00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:32,839
Speaker 1: and one down the stretch. And I don't think that

231
00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,120
Speaker 1: that's a situation where guys were happy that Adeves left.

232
00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,520
Speaker 1: There was a genuine love for Dan Reeves. And I

233
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,440
Speaker 1: can just tell you from my personal opinion, like I

234
00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,560
Speaker 1: learned more about the the wise of the game of

235
00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:46,839
Speaker 1: football from Dan Reeves than I did from any of

236
00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,400
Speaker 1: the coaches I had before. Because as everybody knows, in

237
00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,920
Speaker 1: the NFL, there's always a rhyme or reason, like when

238
00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,760
Speaker 1: you run a crossing route at four four yards across

239
00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:58,720
Speaker 1: the formation, it's not supposed to be at six yards.

240
00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,719
Speaker 1: It's at four yards because of a reason, because you've

241
00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:03,959
Speaker 1: got another guy that's running behind you at six yards

242
00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:05,760
Speaker 1: and your job is to rub somebody else. So I'm

243
00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:08,560
Speaker 1: not trying to get into the mechanics of football, but

244
00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,559
Speaker 1: he was one that really taught me the whys about football.

245
00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,120
Speaker 1: Why you have to run around at twelve yards versus

246
00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:20,040
Speaker 1: eleven or thirteen or fifteen. So it wasn't like players

247
00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:22,679
Speaker 1: were happy to see him gone because everybody loved him.

248
00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:24,720
Speaker 1: It was just time for a change. Wade Phillips did

249
00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:26,760
Speaker 1: a really good job. And I think you guys talked

250
00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,760
Speaker 1: about that word division. There wasn't any division when he

251
00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,040
Speaker 1: took over for those final three games. So Arch, I'll

252
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,760
Speaker 1: throw it back to you, is how does Raheem Morris

253
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,760
Speaker 1: navigate these final eleven games so he doesn't create any

254
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:40,760
Speaker 1: division in the locker room and make this a worse

255
00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,560
Speaker 1: season than it's already started. Well, I think that some

256
00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:45,719
Speaker 1: of that has already been taken care of because this

257
00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:49,200
Speaker 1: might be the most respected coach that's in the locker room.

258
00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,240
Speaker 1: This guy has a tremendous appeal to the player. He's

259
00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:57,160
Speaker 1: got a magnetism about him that draws just the casual conversation.

260
00:12:57,320 --> 00:12:59,640
Speaker 1: He is one of these guys much like Dan Quinn,

261
00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:02,319
Speaker 1: but he was a guy that really asked about your

262
00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,680
Speaker 1: family things, like he's one of those kind of guys,

263
00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,040
Speaker 1: and he is a very particular like you're talking about

264
00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,119
Speaker 1: that Dan Reeves was. He's very particular about the techniques,

265
00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,280
Speaker 1: but he can set the techniques aside and also had

266
00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:18,120
Speaker 1: that casual conversation with So there's a natural draw from

267
00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,120
Speaker 1: the player to the coach. And I also throw in

268
00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,560
Speaker 1: the fact that Wheheem's coached on both sides of the

269
00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:25,679
Speaker 1: ball with his team. This is not a guy that's

270
00:13:25,720 --> 00:13:28,000
Speaker 1: an offensive guy being an elevator or a defensive guy

271
00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,920
Speaker 1: being elevator. And yes, he's the DC and he's becoming

272
00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,440
Speaker 1: the guy, but remember he was the wide receiver coach

273
00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,679
Speaker 1: prior to being moved over a year ago. So this

274
00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,199
Speaker 1: is a guy that has coached both sides of the football,

275
00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,480
Speaker 1: not just in the last couple of years, throughout his career,

276
00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,360
Speaker 1: and so there's a nice draw and an understanding, and

277
00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,480
Speaker 1: you guys can attest to it as much as I can.

278
00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:50,280
Speaker 1: You like to know that the coach kind of understands

279
00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:52,559
Speaker 1: what you're going through and you don't necessarily have to

280
00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:54,520
Speaker 1: play it on the field. But if you have managed

281
00:13:54,559 --> 00:13:56,840
Speaker 1: that side of the ball or portions of that side

282
00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:58,920
Speaker 1: of the ball, he's done that on both sides, and

283
00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,680
Speaker 1: so he hasn't understand what's going on. I think that

284
00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,760
Speaker 1: also makes this a much easier and much better choice

285
00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:08,720
Speaker 1: by mister Blank and by Rich McKay and Raheem Morris

286
00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:11,320
Speaker 1: being the guy DJ before you jump in I'm gonna

287
00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,160
Speaker 1: put you back in your cleats a little bit, put

288
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,640
Speaker 1: you back as an active player. And if you are

289
00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:17,800
Speaker 1: a player on this team right now, what are you

290
00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,120
Speaker 1: looking to see or hear from Raheem Morris for these

291
00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,000
Speaker 1: final eleven games that get you energized to finish out

292
00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,560
Speaker 1: this season on a high note. I think the number

293
00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,760
Speaker 1: one thing is the belief that he has and each

294
00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,960
Speaker 1: guy and there's a reason why they're on that football team.

295
00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,360
Speaker 1: And as a guy who was the defensive coordinator on

296
00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:38,160
Speaker 1: this football team, he saw every draft pick, he saw

297
00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,359
Speaker 1: every free Asian guy that come in, so he understands

298
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,040
Speaker 1: their role on his football team. And as a player,

299
00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:47,080
Speaker 1: I want to know you still believe in me because obviously,

300
00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:49,880
Speaker 1: like Arch mentioned, you guys mentioned already, it's a reason

301
00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,640
Speaker 1: we're in this spot right now because we haven't lived

302
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,200
Speaker 1: up to the expectations of this ball club. And for Raheem,

303
00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:57,840
Speaker 1: I think the number one thing he has to do

304
00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,720
Speaker 1: is coming here and reset. The folks say, hey, there's

305
00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,080
Speaker 1: nothing we can do about the first quarter of the season,

306
00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,480
Speaker 1: but we do have a say so about what happens

307
00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,520
Speaker 1: in the remainder of eleven games. And if he comes

308
00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:12,120
Speaker 1: in with that mindset and also continues that that same

309
00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,320
Speaker 1: kind of fiery competitive nature that he has arch mentioned.

310
00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:17,640
Speaker 1: He's one of those type of guys that if you're

311
00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:19,440
Speaker 1: walking out the hallway and there's gonna be a tim

312
00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:21,440
Speaker 1: minute conversation with him, and that's the kind of guy

313
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,640
Speaker 1: you want to be running the show now, because for one,

314
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,960
Speaker 1: you know, he understands, like Archer, what you're going through,

315
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,320
Speaker 1: but also he understands this situation is a lot bigger

316
00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,240
Speaker 1: than a lot of people may think. And if he

317
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,280
Speaker 1: comes and elevates himself as in a point of I

318
00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,120
Speaker 1: understand where you guys have been. But at the same time,

319
00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:43,680
Speaker 1: we have a new goal, we have a new mindset,

320
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,440
Speaker 1: we have a new identity that we can have in

321
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,320
Speaker 1: these next eleven games that will set him apart. But

322
00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:54,520
Speaker 1: it also gives these players another opportunity to say, I

323
00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,120
Speaker 1: didn't play my best football in the first four games,

324
00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,360
Speaker 1: but unlike a lot of second chances, I got an

325
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,280
Speaker 1: opport to continue to show that put the next eleven games. Yeah,

326
00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:06,360
Speaker 1: you know, and I think guys that it's it's I

327
00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:07,880
Speaker 1: think we're all going to be kind of curious to

328
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:11,200
Speaker 1: see how Raheem Morris navigates this thing throughout the final

329
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:14,120
Speaker 1: eleven games. But I think the bigger story here and

330
00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,120
Speaker 1: what most people are already discussing, is what are the

331
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,760
Speaker 1: next steps for Atlanta? Because as soon as you end

332
00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:22,800
Speaker 1: up dismissing a head coach and a general manager, everybody

333
00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,000
Speaker 1: wants to talk about what is the what is the

334
00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:26,920
Speaker 1: roster going to look like? What is the head coach

335
00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:28,720
Speaker 1: going to look like? Should it be an offensive a

336
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,960
Speaker 1: defensive guy? And I think Arthur and Rich address that

337
00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,840
Speaker 1: in their press conference by saying we're not looking at

338
00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:37,200
Speaker 1: just getting an offensive or defensive guy. We're going to

339
00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:38,960
Speaker 1: take a look at everything. I think one of the

340
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:41,560
Speaker 1: biggest things he said is we want to see are

341
00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,040
Speaker 1: they a leader of men. They have to have shown

342
00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:46,400
Speaker 1: a history that they can be a leader. Number one

343
00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:50,160
Speaker 1: and number two and intelligent football mind sports specifically talking

344
00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:52,120
Speaker 1: about the head coach. So Arch, let me get you

345
00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:55,240
Speaker 1: back into this conversation by saying, in your opinion, you've

346
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,960
Speaker 1: seen a lot of different head coaches, You've seen a

347
00:16:57,960 --> 00:16:59,920
Speaker 1: lot of different football in your time around this or

348
00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,840
Speaker 1: organization as a broadcaster, what do you think should be

349
00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,919
Speaker 1: the most important next steps for this organization? Well, I

350
00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:08,639
Speaker 1: think there's a myriad of things you're going to be

351
00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,760
Speaker 1: able to do, are going to want to do rack

352
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,360
Speaker 1: because there's going to be Okay, are we maximizing the

353
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:18,040
Speaker 1: talents of the guys on this team, or are you

354
00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,760
Speaker 1: looking to change the dynamic of the team. So there's

355
00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:24,119
Speaker 1: a lot of areas in there, And mister Blank and

356
00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,040
Speaker 1: Rich McKay were very adamant about the fact that they

357
00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,959
Speaker 1: did not say declare that Okay, this guy is going

358
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:31,639
Speaker 1: to be this, and this guy's going to be this,

359
00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,159
Speaker 1: regardless of the coach and the GMR. We're going to

360
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:36,760
Speaker 1: let those guys come in and dictate what we're going

361
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,840
Speaker 1: to look like as a team. So I think that

362
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,199
Speaker 1: that's important to remember in the fact that you're not

363
00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,639
Speaker 1: tied necessarily to anything. I do think there's there's some

364
00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:48,160
Speaker 1: money ramifications that are probably going to come into play

365
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,320
Speaker 1: to a certain extent with some of the players. But

366
00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:54,680
Speaker 1: I thought that that was very very transparent of both

367
00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,160
Speaker 1: the owner and the president and CEO of the team saying, hey, yeah,

368
00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:00,480
Speaker 1: we're in charge of selecting those people. Well, we're gonna

369
00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:02,040
Speaker 1: get the best people we can get for you as

370
00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,520
Speaker 1: Falcon fans. But when then we're gonna let them do

371
00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:07,040
Speaker 1: their jobs because that's why we've hired them. I think

372
00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,919
Speaker 1: that's that to me is number one is to sticking

373
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,520
Speaker 1: to your guns on that and allowing that to happen

374
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,640
Speaker 1: and not try to tailor or corner something in because hey,

375
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:18,639
Speaker 1: we got this guy play in this position, or we

376
00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,000
Speaker 1: have a guy right here that's playing like this, so

377
00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:24,080
Speaker 1: we need to tailor our our coach and our GM

378
00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:26,320
Speaker 1: to the players we already have. They have not made

379
00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:29,760
Speaker 1: that statement, so I thought that was important to reflect on. Yeah,

380
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,440
Speaker 1: and shock, you know before everybody wants to talk about

381
00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,560
Speaker 1: when there's a new head coach and a new GM

382
00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,080
Speaker 1: coming in, like what is the personnel going to look like?

383
00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,280
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna ask you this question, and I don't

384
00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,480
Speaker 1: want you to go into the the analysis of trying

385
00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,199
Speaker 1: to say this guy or that guy should not be

386
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,199
Speaker 1: around anymore. But most people want to say should it

387
00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,280
Speaker 1: be a rebuild with this new coach? Because personally, I

388
00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:53,720
Speaker 1: don't think so. I think they've got some some really

389
00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,800
Speaker 1: talented organizational type players on this team. But I want

390
00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,160
Speaker 1: to get to your opinion, like is this a rebuild

391
00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,320
Speaker 1: for a new coach and general manager? Or do they

392
00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:03,280
Speaker 1: work with the pieces that they have, and it still

393
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,400
Speaker 1: has a chance to be a team that maybe within

394
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,920
Speaker 1: a year or two is competing to win the division,

395
00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,480
Speaker 1: is back into the postseason. I think that's a good question.

396
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,320
Speaker 1: Your polls right, because I think a lot of people

397
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,400
Speaker 1: that would be the forefront of how do we get better?

398
00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,840
Speaker 1: Because a lot of fans are gonna look at and say, hey,

399
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,880
Speaker 1: with the way the roster designed, we're all and five,

400
00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,679
Speaker 1: So obviously there is something on that roster that is

401
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:29,480
Speaker 1: not right. But I also and with you, was saying,

402
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,760
Speaker 1: there are some integral pieces on this roster right now

403
00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:35,440
Speaker 1: that are going to help you win ball games. This

404
00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:37,320
Speaker 1: is not a time or I don't think this is

405
00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:41,480
Speaker 1: a team that needs to be rebuilt. Your quarterbacks still

406
00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:43,320
Speaker 1: play in a high level. You got, you know, some

407
00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,680
Speaker 1: really young receivers on the outside gauge and really being

408
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:49,280
Speaker 1: I think one going to be two of the best

409
00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:50,920
Speaker 1: that come around in all the time. You got some

410
00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,879
Speaker 1: stalemates on the defensive side of the ball. I don't know,

411
00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:55,879
Speaker 1: some guys have been a little banged up, but you

412
00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,120
Speaker 1: have some key pieces and some key spots that are young.

413
00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:03,320
Speaker 1: They still a plan at a high level. But I

414
00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:08,119
Speaker 1: believe there will be whoever is the coach that comes

415
00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,840
Speaker 1: in those tough decisions on a few players will have

416
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,359
Speaker 1: to be made. Ye. With that being said, there are

417
00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:18,199
Speaker 1: still pieces a part of this roster that have to

418
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,960
Speaker 1: stay in tax if you want you to continue to

419
00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,639
Speaker 1: be competitive and get back to what Arthur said, winning

420
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,240
Speaker 1: ball games. I'll tell you, guys, having gone through a

421
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,040
Speaker 1: coaching change, rack and shock. We went through a coaching

422
00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,320
Speaker 1: change my third year. The guy that brought me into

423
00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,480
Speaker 1: the league, Dan Henning. I was an undrafted free agent,

424
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,159
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, I look up five weeks

425
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:41,960
Speaker 1: into the second year of my career and I'm the

426
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,520
Speaker 1: starter here in Atlanta and we're playing. We're doing some

427
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,480
Speaker 1: good things, we're doing some bad things. There's which happens

428
00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,959
Speaker 1: with a young quarterback. And then they bring a veteran

429
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,840
Speaker 1: guy in after my second year, so essentially win the

430
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:54,920
Speaker 1: job and take the job. I guy have been successful

431
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:56,680
Speaker 1: in the league before I beat the kid out. I

432
00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,359
Speaker 1: beat the guy out, and I became the starter my

433
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,159
Speaker 1: third year. Well, I got hurt in week ten or

434
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,399
Speaker 1: eleven and I'm out the rest of the season and

435
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,399
Speaker 1: they fired the head football coach. All that was the

436
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,119
Speaker 1: guy that gave me my opportunity, gave me my shot.

437
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 1: I'll be honest with you, I did not handle that

438
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:16,560
Speaker 1: situation very well as a young player. Is that the

439
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:18,840
Speaker 1: Smith family brought in a new head coach, elevated the

440
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:22,040
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, ironically enough, and brought it a new offensive coordinator.

441
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,119
Speaker 1: And I did not blend with that guy at all.

442
00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,640
Speaker 1: In fact, we look reflecting back on it, I didn't

443
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,959
Speaker 1: make the effort to blend with him. I said, oh,

444
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,959
Speaker 1: I'm a the incumbent here. I can say, hey, this

445
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 1: is the way we're going to do things, and he

446
00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:38,719
Speaker 1: pushed back against me, and there was not a good blend,

447
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:41,560
Speaker 1: and we struggled that fourth year I was in the

448
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:45,159
Speaker 1: league and that staff didn't last very long, and that

449
00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,280
Speaker 1: was something that I struggled. So the reason I say

450
00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:49,480
Speaker 1: that I tell that story, it's going to be incumbent

451
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 1: on the players to be able to be versatile. We've

452
00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,120
Speaker 1: seen Matt Ryan do this. It is not the first

453
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:57,359
Speaker 1: coach Matt Ryan's loss, the first offensive coordinator Matt Ryan's loss.

454
00:21:57,880 --> 00:21:59,480
Speaker 1: But there are going to be some players. Look at

455
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,400
Speaker 1: that defensive side of the football. When you talk about

456
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,520
Speaker 1: Kiane O'Neill, and Dion Jones and Rage guys. You know,

457
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,480
Speaker 1: those guys were brought in by Dan Quinn and I

458
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,240
Speaker 1: think they'll adjust. They're good team players, but that's gonna

459
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,280
Speaker 1: be one of the hurdles they're gonna have to overcome here,

460
00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 1: is they're gonna have to adjust. If Raheem's the guy,

461
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:18,159
Speaker 1: so be it. If he's not, if somebody else comes in,

462
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:20,399
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to adjust to that new philosophy and

463
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,080
Speaker 1: a new way of doing things that wasn't necessarily why

464
00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:25,240
Speaker 1: they were brought in here. It'll be interesting and it'll

465
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 1: be a very good challenge for the player to answer

466
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 1: that call. Yeah, they're adaptable, I think is a great

467
00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:32,480
Speaker 1: word to use Dave forout the rest of the season,

468
00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 1: because they're gonna have to be adaptable. And I think,

469
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:36,600
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of people want to point to

470
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:38,560
Speaker 1: the quarterback in Matt Ryan because he was asking the

471
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,879
Speaker 1: press conference yesterday, and you know, personally, I still feel

472
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,119
Speaker 1: like he's got the ability to be the starter in Atlanta.

473
00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 1: I still think he's got the ability to be an

474
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,719
Speaker 1: impact player because guys, you look at it, and I

475
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,560
Speaker 1: was pulling this up earlier, how many MVPs in the

476
00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,800
Speaker 1: NFL are still active right now. I mean I think

477
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,200
Speaker 1: I counted seven guys that are still active. So Atlanta

478
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,760
Speaker 1: has one of those guys that has been recognize as

479
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,320
Speaker 1: one of the best players in the NFL. But but

480
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,840
Speaker 1: when this happens, everybody's really quick to say, well, they

481
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,920
Speaker 1: should just tank and go get Trevor Lawrence. There's there's

482
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,959
Speaker 1: no guarantees that Trevor Lawrence is going to be great. Okay,

483
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 1: yes he's a great college quarterback, Yes he is from

484
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,160
Speaker 1: the state of Georgia, but there's no guarantees that he's

485
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,280
Speaker 1: going to be better than what they've got with Matt

486
00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,920
Speaker 1: Ryan right now. So I just I don't really buy

487
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 1: into the concept of tanking to get a draft pick.

488
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,040
Speaker 1: I think guys are too professional, coaches are too professional,

489
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:29,560
Speaker 1: and there's too much on the line for their futures

490
00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 1: in order to let that happen. Guys, Before we end

491
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 1: up kind of wrapping this up, we talked a lot

492
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,919
Speaker 1: about Dan Quinn, Thomas de Mitroff, and Dave. I know

493
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:40,280
Speaker 1: you've probably been fortunate enough to talk to these guys

494
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,320
Speaker 1: one on one the most of all three of us.

495
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,359
Speaker 1: So let's kind of put a little bit of a

496
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,199
Speaker 1: Bow on their legacy in Atlanta, and I'll start with

497
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,160
Speaker 1: Dan Quinn. Just give us a kind of your synopsis

498
00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 1: of what he's been able to do and how the

499
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,080
Speaker 1: team jelled around him during his time in Atlanta. Yeah,

500
00:23:55,119 --> 00:23:57,960
Speaker 1: I thought the Q's a man's man, and we talked

501
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,360
Speaker 1: about his Really, he's a relationship guy. He knew everything

502
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:05,080
Speaker 1: that he that he could possibly know about each individual player,

503
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,399
Speaker 1: knew their families, knew their wives names, knew their kids' names.

504
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 1: That's who he was. He dove in and knew his team.

505
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:17,159
Speaker 1: He hurt and when they lost, he was joyous, but

506
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 1: got ready to play the next week when they won.

507
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,239
Speaker 1: But he was a guy that cared deeply about the

508
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:25,160
Speaker 1: club to the point where he built which has become

509
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,760
Speaker 1: a bit of a cliche now and maybe even some

510
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,439
Speaker 1: are scoffing at it, But he created a brotherhood on

511
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,159
Speaker 1: this football team that the players truly believed in. And

512
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,320
Speaker 1: you can, if you're a fan out there and say, oh,

513
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:38,879
Speaker 1: that didn't amount to anything. It did. It does amount

514
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 1: to something to be able to play together one another.

515
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,040
Speaker 1: You hurt when you lose, you love it when you win.

516
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 1: He guided this team to the mountaintop. They went all

517
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 1: the way to the mountaintop and it didn't work out.

518
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:51,440
Speaker 1: They got They got just a couple steps away from

519
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:54,240
Speaker 1: putting a ring on their finger, and that probably hurts

520
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 1: more than anything else. But what I will say is

521
00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,840
Speaker 1: he cared about his players, and he cared deeply about

522
00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 1: his commitment to the military and his commitments to honoring

523
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,080
Speaker 1: those that have have served our country. He went out

524
00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,200
Speaker 1: above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak,

525
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,240
Speaker 1: about no pun, intended to do some of the things

526
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:15,120
Speaker 1: that he thought he could draw the community in. From

527
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,080
Speaker 1: a veteran standpoint, those are things I'll remember mount him.

528
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:20,200
Speaker 1: I enjoyed my conversation. I talked to him twice a

529
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:24,359
Speaker 1: week during the season to get ready for broadcasts. He

530
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,480
Speaker 1: was a genuine guy and he's also the only guy

531
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 1: that I know of from an head coaching standpoint, he

532
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:32,359
Speaker 1: invited the media in and sat him down with his

533
00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,879
Speaker 1: coordinators and position coaches and talk the media through the game.

534
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:38,920
Speaker 1: What are you trying to do? What are you trying

535
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 1: to accomplish? This is why we call this, this is

536
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,200
Speaker 1: why we do that. I have not heard another coach

537
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,879
Speaker 1: do that before, and Dan Quinn did that with his staff.

538
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:49,200
Speaker 1: DJ I'll go ahead and let you switch gears and

539
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,320
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about your thoughts on Thomas de

540
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:55,359
Speaker 1: Mitrof and his time with Atlanta. When you think about TD,

541
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,040
Speaker 1: I think the number one thing you think about are

542
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 1: the number of Hall of Famers that he brought to

543
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 1: this city. And obviously right down Matt Ryan still playing

544
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,520
Speaker 1: Julio Jones isn't for sure hall of Famer bringing in

545
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 1: Tony Gonzalez. I mean those type of moves, Alex Mack

546
00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:14,040
Speaker 1: bringing him in, I wrote down a few more. You

547
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:17,800
Speaker 1: got Grady Jail, who's part of the culture, Mike Turner,

548
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,119
Speaker 1: Devin Hester, you know some of those things. Some of

549
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 1: those guys. I look at it and say, wow, But

550
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 1: we had a good here bringing in some of those

551
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,320
Speaker 1: type of players that change the entire culture of what

552
00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:34,639
Speaker 1: the Falcons looked like for a long time. And I

553
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 1: love what Arch mentioned about dan Quinn. I actually shot

554
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:43,879
Speaker 1: him a text today and anytime I ever text him,

555
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,440
Speaker 1: he always got back with me. He always text me back.

556
00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,080
Speaker 1: The personal part of him. I think it's what makes people.

557
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:53,159
Speaker 1: And I think, at the end of the day, yeah,

558
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,879
Speaker 1: you always remember the wins, you remember the lost a

559
00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,000
Speaker 1: lot of times too. But I think The thing that

560
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:01,679
Speaker 1: people will remember him most is the man, the person,

561
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:03,639
Speaker 1: how he made you feel when you were around it.

562
00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,919
Speaker 1: And that's so evident when you watch and he listened

563
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,760
Speaker 1: to the players that he's coached, not even just in Atlanta,

564
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 1: from his days of Seattle. I mean, you hear guys

565
00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:17,080
Speaker 1: and they talk about him. It's next level. But I

566
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:20,280
Speaker 1: just love what they did together. Like Art you mentioned,

567
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,080
Speaker 1: they answer a lot of good times. It's hard to

568
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,440
Speaker 1: winning this league. It's hard to stay on top of

569
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:28,800
Speaker 1: this league, and to do it at the rate that

570
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 1: they did it with the style of players, the caliber players.

571
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,480
Speaker 1: I speak volume about both those guys. And one thing

572
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:37,600
Speaker 1: we do know is they wanted the best for this city.

573
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,440
Speaker 1: They wanted the best for this organization, and they only

574
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 1: did it on this field, but they did it off

575
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,560
Speaker 1: the field as well. Yeah, and I think all three

576
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:46,840
Speaker 1: of us would agree that these these guys are very

577
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,879
Speaker 1: talented in what they do and they're not going to

578
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,879
Speaker 1: be out of work for very long. Both of these

579
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:53,840
Speaker 1: guys were going to land on their feet quickly. And

580
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,000
Speaker 1: you know, I got a chance to text both of

581
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: them now, Actually that I didn't. I don't have either

582
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,159
Speaker 1: of their phone night I didn't get a chance to

583
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:04,280
Speaker 1: text either of those guys. We no, we didn't get

584
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:06,760
Speaker 1: into their opponent for this week, but the Falcons will

585
00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:08,959
Speaker 1: be traveling to Minnesota to face off the Vikings, who

586
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:11,720
Speaker 1: just come off a heartbreaking loss to the Seahawks. So

587
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,800
Speaker 1: we'll see all this new Raheem Morris Atlanta Falcons ends

588
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,480
Speaker 1: up faring in their first week. And guys, I know

589
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: we talked about being adaptable, so let's us three do

590
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 1: it as well, because we're gonna be talking about a

591
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,159
Speaker 1: new head coach and different performance on the field. We

592
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,840
Speaker 1: get back on the horn and do this Falcons Audible

593
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,680
Speaker 1: presented by AT and T one more time next week

594
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 1: on behalf of my fellas Dave Archer and DJ Shockley,

595
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:35,439
Speaker 1: Um Derek Rackley. We're gonna sign off this week, but

596
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 1: we'll be back next week to talk about some more

597
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:39,680
Speaker 1: Falcon news. Thanks a lot for joining me, fellas. We

598
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:44,800
Speaker 1: will see you all next week. Goodbye. You're listening to

599
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:48,360
Speaker 1: Falcons Audible presented by AT and T