Why I Believe In Pat Hill

A little while ago, Twitter follower Matthew Skinner asked me to put together a bit of a profile on Pat Hill to help fans feel good about the mustachioed offensive line coach. Who am I to say no?

So here's what you need to know about Pat Hill: He was a successful head coach at Fresno State for a long time, which is a point in his favor. What he really has in his favor, though, is his history of successful offensive lines, including the gifted Mr. Logan Mankins of the New England Patriots.

Hill has shown a long proficiency in developing linemen, which is why the Falcons hired him in the first place. Given that track record, it's not a surprise in the least that the team chose to invest two draft picks in linemen.

For those who don't know his history, Hill was a center in college who started coaching at the college level the year after he graduated, in 1974. He spent 17 years coaching offensive line in college before moving up to the pro level for five seasons. That was followed by his long tenure at Fresno, where he was mostly a success.

The point here is that Hill has been coaching for close to 40 years, knows his stuff when it comes to the offensive line and was certainly the right choice to develop guys like Peter Konz and Lamar Holmes, not to mention former Fresno lineman Andrew Jackson. If anyone's going to do a salvage job on Sam Baker, it's him.

That boils down to the essence of why you should feel good about Hill: He's replacing Paul Boudreau, who struggled to get a lot of out his linemen during his last season in Atlanta, and he has all the experience and knowledge in the world.

What are your thoughts on Hill?