About five minutes ago, I hit publish on a story reporting that Terry Robiskie had a level of interest in the Falcons running backs coach job. About five minutes before that, Alex Marvez reported that the Falcons had already hired a new running backs coach. February is crazy.
That new coach is Bernie Parmalee, who played several seasons in the NFL for the Dolphins and Jets, piling up over 2,000 yards on the ground and well over 1,000 through the air as a part-time player. After his playing career, he joined the Dolphins as a coach and has spent time on the staffs of the Chiefs (tight ends coach, 2010-2012) and most recently the Raiders (2015-2017).
Source tells @sportingnews that
— Alex Marvez (@alexmarvez) February 14, 2018
the @AtlantaFalcons are hiring Bernie Parmalee as their new running backs coach.
This is a roundabout way of saying this is a sensible hire for the Falcons, as Parmalee has plenty of experience and worked with young backs in Oakland over the last few seasons. He’ll be joining a team with one of the league’s premier 1-2 punches in Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman, and will be tasked with ensuring those two remain effective and whoever the Falcons add to the depth chart this year gets coached up in case the team moves on from Coleman after 2018. It’s a pretty sweet gig, but it will come with some added pressure in the years to come if the Falcons need to break up their all-world tandem.
Congratulations to Parmalee, who I hope will prove to be a good hire, and who hopefully will provide a few years of stability at the position after Bobby Turner and Keith Carter bounced in back-to-back years.