Matt Ryan on new coaches and transition

Falcons players and fans alike seem pretty excited about the beginning of the Dan Quinn era, but no matter what, this is a big adjustment for players. Matt Ryan shared his thoughts on the transition with the Atlanta media yesterday. So far, it seems that Ryan is very pleased with how things are going with Quinn, offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur.

There's a lot to accomplish in a short time as the Falcons install an entirely new offensive scheme.Ryan's most overwhelming task so far has been watching film of what Shanahan's offenses have done over the course of his career.

"[Shanahan's] a young guy, but has a ton of experience, and he's got a ton of cut ups to be able to go through. So for me, it's been a lot of, on my own time, trying to watch and process the seven or eight years of cut ups that he's got," Ryan said. "We've got cut ups all the way going back to Houston and what Matt Schaub did there. So there's a lot of film to go through, and so I've been trying to do that."

Shortly after he was hired by the Falcons, Shanahan said that collaboration and communication with Ryan would be part of his approach in Atlanta. According to Ryan, Shanahan is following through on that, and it's part of what Ryan likes about working with Shanahan so far.

"I think the best part of being able to work with those guys is that there's open input from both sides, and obviously I have my own experiences and things that I've done during my career, and I think being able to really blend a little bit of both and to be able to learn some new things and use some of the things that they've done successfully, and then incorporate some of the things that we've done successfully or I've done successfully here in the past, I think that collaboration is probably the best part," Ryan said.

While Ryan has gone through the transition of having a new offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach in the past, this is the first time he has experienced adjusting to a new head coach. Everything Ryan has known as a pro -- the schedules, the way the team approaches meetings -- has changed.

"It's certainly different. We're starting a couple of weeks earlier, which is a good thing for us with new schemes on both sides," Ryan said. "Just little things like the schedule and how meetings are run -- how all those kinds of things go. That's kind of the biggest difference."

Ryan is pleased with how Dan Quinn is managing the transition and likes what Quinn brings to the table.

"I've really enjoyed getting to know Dan these last probably two months or whatever it's been -- two, three months. I've really enjoyed just getting to know him as a person," Ryan said. "He's got great energy. He's awesome here in the building. I think you guys probably already sense that in the time that you've had to spend with him."

And Ryan believes that Quinn's personality and approach make the transition easier for everyone. "So it's not that difficult of a transition, because Dan's, I think, made it easy for everybody and made it exciting day in and day out," Ryan said.

For Ryan, who has only had defensive-focused head coaches as a pro, a point of emphasis is making sure the offense gets enough time with and guidance from Quinn. "I think the biggest thing for me is the offensive side of it," Ryan said. "You know, when you have a defensive head coach and you're on the offensive side of the ball, I think you're not spending as much time as probably the defensive side is spending with him, so we're kind of more trying to build a foundation with Kyle and with Matt LaFleur and with the rest of our offense to try and get that going."

Your thoughts on the new coaching staff and Ryan's thoughts on the transition?