Falcons hire Bush Hamdan as quarterbacks coach

In their search for a quarterback coach, the Atlanta Falcons have managed to hit all the major notes you look for in a prime candidate. Those factors are, as follows:

• A connection to Steve Sarkisian’s old school
• Deep experience on offense
• An awesome name

Folks, I give you Bush Hamdan.

Hamdan has a cool resume. In addition to his time as Washington’s WRs coach and passing game coordinator from late 2015 to present, he was the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator at Davidson in 2014, and spent time as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas State. Before that, he was the wide receivers coach at Florida way back in 2012. All of this is to say that he’s an interesting candidate for this job, in that he’s more of a bright offensive mind from the college ranks than an established NFL choice. The Falcons have shown a willingness to make somewhat unorthodox hires, though, and Hamdan has both interesting experience and represents an unexpected choice.

In Atlanta, he’ll work closely with Sarkisian and stud quarterback Matt Ryan as the team tries to repeat a brilliant offensive season without offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, who is off to San Francisco to coach that awful team. He’ll need to develop a good rapport with Ryan and potentially coach up a young backup, though that’s far from certain at the moment.

Here’s hoping Hamdan is another piece of a successful puzzle.