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Falcons Round Out Coaching Staff, Hire Three

The Falcons have all but completed their coaching staff overhaul, promoting two coaches from within and hiring one from the Miami Dolphins. With the Senior Bowl in the books and the Combine coming faster than you'd think, it was important to get the staff together.

Kudos to the unstoppable D. Orlando Ledbetter for the report.

The first hire—defensive backs coach—isn't a surprise. I saw a report that Joe Danna had been hired as defensive backs coach almost a full week ago, but the team didn't make it official until now. He's familiar with Mike Nolan and did a good job with a young Dolphins secondary the last two years. I like the hire.

Glenn Thomas is not a name I knew, but he's the new quarterbacks coach. The offensive quality control assistant under Mike Smith since 2008, he's a guy with organizational familiarity and...well, that's about what we know about his tenure in Atlanta. Feel free to extrapolate based on your opinion of the offense over the last four years.

His history is pretty intriguing, though. As the offensive coordinator for Midwestern State from 2005-2007, Thomas twice helmed offenses that were among the NCAA leaders in yardage. You would also assume he has familiarity with Matt Ryan, which might be a major factor after the Falcons made their second switch at quarterback coach in two years. I'm cautiously optimistic.

The final hire is Andrew Weidinger, who is a new offensive assistant. He's a young, promising assistant, but this is the last time you'll hear me mention him in 2012 unless he tackles a player during a game. There you go.

What are your thoughts on these hires?

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Thomas

Sounds like he knows how to get Qb’s to chuck the ball down the field!
I really hope and pray this all GELS this year.
I can’t wait for the draft, combine and FA!
This is going to be wild I bet! TD will pull some tricks out of the hat I bet!

by Sbaron55 on Feb 1, 2012 9:00 AM EST via mobile reply actions  

fast to get coaches, hopefully fast to good draft, FA, and of course season

Falcon staff looks promising on paper, but without the players not so much. Look forward to following the rest of the transactions leading up to a hopefully promising season with a real beat down of the Aint’s!

by mice2 on Feb 1, 2012 9:25 AM EST reply actions  

That's all good but I'm more interested in FAs right now.

So do they have to wait until March 31 to talk to their own players or can they start contract negotiations now? I’m expecting Lofton to be signed first and soon. I mean really, do they really have to “evaluate” him? Everybody else is a toss up IMO.

by Fear Me on Feb 1, 2012 10:16 AM EST reply actions  

Doesn't matter that much

I imagine Thomas Dimitroff will accidentally trip, pick up the receiver on his phone and dial Curtis Lofton’s number before the league year begins.

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by Dave Choate on Feb 1, 2012 12:41 PM EST up reply actions  

Glenn Thomas Quality Control Assistance...

I def hope this dude has our perspective and shares the same oppinions on what the quality or lack there of produced over the last couple years. The talent is there but MMs calling was bad and lacked creativity. Hope he agrees and can help develop Matty further into his maximizing his potential.

by Bigru3 on Feb 1, 2012 11:18 AM EST via mobile reply actions  

hope matt signs off on this

Atlanta will win a championship....someday

by maxxj3 on Feb 1, 2012 1:34 PM EST up reply actions  

I am sure...

he was consulted.

At the end of the day though, I am just glad the coaching is solidified so the emphasis can shift to player personnel and let’s get cracking on FA and the draft!!

"I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl." - Joe Jacoby, formerly of the Redskins
"To win, I'd run over Joe's mom too." - Matt Millen, formerly of the Raiders

"We now have exactly the same situation as we had at the start of the race, only exactly the opposite" - Murray Walker, Sportscaster

by Blood_Talon on Feb 1, 2012 3:53 PM EST up reply actions  

Yea mos def and hes up in Minn making really bad play calls...

Vikings fans hate him…he is messing with Ponders development by constantly bringing in Joe Webb in a two headed qb system. Ponder drives the ball then gets pulled for Webb who stalls out

by Bigru3 on Feb 1, 2012 6:46 PM EST via mobile up reply actions  

Yeah he failed in Jax as OC too

But I think he is a great QB coach. It could’ve been the slip in OL play this year but Matty seemed a lot more confident in what he was doing the 3 years Musgrave was here

by FLA_Falcon on Feb 1, 2012 7:13 PM EST via mobile up reply actions  

Glenn Thomas

Even though MR’s numbers were better this year, I think he took a step back.
Imo, he didnt go through all his reads at times, didnt step up in the pocket and throw with authority (partially due to bad OL early in the year), could not slide step to avoid the rush, and inaccurate at times (based on his first three yrs). His all around bad foot work led to bad throws and sacks which I hope can be cleaned up.
I see elite QBs hitting there receivers instride, out in front, leading to yac.
With Ryan, it seems like our receivers are making accrobatic catches or falling down after the catch (TG).
I dont know if Glenn Thomas can coach up MR, but we need someone to work on MRs footwork to take him to the next level.
Yes, better play calling and better line play will help, but the elite qbs help themselves by extending the play with their feet, and putting their receivers in position to run after the catch…things I saw MR failing at this past season.

by Magellan55 on Feb 1, 2012 4:42 PM EST via mobile reply actions  

Not entirely Matt's fault for not throwing to WR's in stride

MM called a zillion curl routes. Its tough for a WR to get YAC on curl routes when they have to turn all the way around then accelerate.

by leonw92 on Feb 1, 2012 5:54 PM EST up reply actions  

That pretty much sums up Mattys year...

Good assesment…I agree with it. But I dont think hes tapped out yet I just think his development to a hit this year due to inadequate blocking and play calling so alot of times he had to improvise using the skills that he has. I still think he has untapped potential and alot of his flaws can be worked on hopefully Glenn can get the most out of him and we’ll see that.

by Bigru3 on Feb 1, 2012 6:08 PM EST via mobile up reply actions  

Magellan55

expresses my sentiments exactly. Our receivers have to be acrobats to catch Ryans passes.

by old cuss on Feb 1, 2012 8:35 PM EST reply actions  

Ryan

I agree too, although he completes about 60%, he almost never help his receiver and forget about it in crunch time when it is just a crumble which is even more important.

by Whopper Dawg on Feb 2, 2012 3:26 AM EST up reply actions  

A quality control coach

Seems to break down film
If he works with Matt Ryan and break down film of games and plays, he might be theoretically a good QB coach.

by brotherbrown on Feb 1, 2012 11:15 PM EST reply actions  

Familiar

Smith has worked with all these folks, D to O, that is not necessarily a bad thing especially with folks hanging the short comings on Smith rather than TD which is where the real problem is. I would want coaches I know too, he might not have a another year after next to figure it out.

Question if we want to be the jags and dolphins though, we’ll see.

by Whopper Dawg on Feb 1, 2012 11:23 PM EST reply actions  

No, the problem was coaching...

and now that MM and BVG are gone that problem has hopefully been rectified.

"I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl." - Joe Jacoby, formerly of the Redskins
"To win, I'd run over Joe's mom too." - Matt Millen, formerly of the Raiders

"We now have exactly the same situation as we had at the start of the race, only exactly the opposite" - Murray Walker, Sportscaster

by Blood_Talon on Feb 2, 2012 12:12 AM EST up reply actions  

So

you really, really think that we are going to have pass rushers, a quality OLine and cover corners show up next year without new players????

I sure as heck don’t, and if not, that is not on Smith, it is on TD.

by Whopper Dawg on Feb 2, 2012 3:21 AM EST up reply actions  

Actaully...

we already have “most” of these already and TD (yes TD) will find some quality in FA. The draft will be a weak one this year (and yes, I know you don’t agree with the JJ move), so he should stay away from drafting OL or DL this year unless his staff find a gem that everyone else has overlooked.

We have very good players that were badly managed by both coordinators. TD can only find the pieces; it is up to coaching to put them in the right places to succeed.

I am not taking “ALL” the blame off of MS, he should have recognized well before MM and BVG left that there was a problem there. This is a mistake I don’t expect him to make twice (he better not!!)…but this is just how I see it.

"I'd run over my own mother to win the Super Bowl." - Joe Jacoby, formerly of the Redskins
"To win, I'd run over Joe's mom too." - Matt Millen, formerly of the Raiders

"We now have exactly the same situation as we had at the start of the race, only exactly the opposite" - Murray Walker, Sportscaster

by Blood_Talon on Feb 2, 2012 10:27 AM EST up reply actions  

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