False Start
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We all love to make predictions and nowhere is that more than in sports.
Not only do we love to predict which teams will win and what players will receive end of the year honors, but each sport’s draft is predicated entirely on how a team predicts a particular player will perform.
For the most part I try to stay away from making predictions as much as I can; I’m not very smart and there are so many outside factors it can be a pretty risky business.
However, when it comes to the length of Urban Meyer’s tenure in Jacksonville, I’m willing to make an exception.
If I had to guess as to how much time will elapse before Meyer has another medical condition forcing him to retire, I’d put the over/under at 3 years. And just to clarify, I’m not mocking anyone with a medical condition, just those who seem to have them at the most opportune times.
There are a myriad of reasons why I don’t think this relationship between Meyer and the Jaguars will work out, but they all come back to one single fact most others have already touched on- Meyer isn’t in college football anymore.
There’s a reason why Pete Carroll’s transition from college to the NFL is the exception and not the rule- it’s damn hard.
Meyer was an excellent college coach and the one person I believe would’ve given Nick Saban a run for his money had he stuck around in either Gainesville or Columbus.
But, besides not being sure his systems will work in the NFL, I’m not convinced his approach to coaching will work.
The fiasco that was the Chris Doyle hire, followed by the even more ridiculous press conference, is a perfect example.
In college you may lose a player or two after bringing in someone with the history of a Doyle, but for the most part it’s a storm that passes without much fallout.
(The student athlete has become much more vocal recently, so in all fairness, the storm may be louder now than a few years ago.)
As Meyer found out really quickly, those types of hires don’t fly in the NFL. Players aren’t relying on a head coach to get them to the next level, they’re already there.
And specifically speaking to a strength coordinator, most of the work NFL players do is on their own with their own trainer. Making a decision like that is almost all risk with absolutely no reward, not that the possible reward is an excuse to sell that hire anyway.
Meyer’s history of making these types of bonehead decisions and choices to double down on them because he could in college, is an indication he isn’t really prepared for what he’s about to embark on.
Winning cures a lot of ailments, but it doesn’t cure them all. If he’s going to be successful, he’s going to have to change more than just X’s and O’s.
Who knows, maybe Meyer has been able to figure out how to manage the day-to-day stresses of being a head coach and put those issues behind him.
Maybe he’ll wind up having a very successful stint as Jacksonville’s head coach, lasting into the next decade. Those are all things that could very well happen, I’m just not willing to predict it.
Drop The Puck
By: Jeff Doke
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Over the last year, COVID has caused some pretty significant sports cancellations – March Madness, the Olympics, UGA vs. the North Avenue Trade School Alumni Slush Fund Referees.
For me, the most significant cancellation was the Savannah Hockey Classic.
I was more than a little disappointed when the 2021 tournament was cancelled, but that just made me that much more happy when the news broke of the East Coast Hockey League coming to the Coastal Empire.
The ECHL, one of two official mid-level minor leagues of the NHL, has teams that include the Jacksonville Icemen, the South Carolina Stingrays, and the Atlanta Gladiators.
The new franchise in Savannah, scheduled to start play in 2022, is yet to be named.
You can follow the developments ramping up to the puck drop (including a name-the-franchise contest) at savannahprohockey.com.
In the meantime, here’s a few suggestions I’d like to put forth.
Savannah Banana Spiders – okay, full disclosure; I am NOT a fan of the Savannah Bananas.
Now, don’t get me wrong; I love minor league baseball. I had season tickets to the Sand Gnats. Call me a codger, but dagnabbit, baseball isn’t supposed to be goofy! And the Bananas have goofiness in spades.
Never mind the fact that bananas don’t grow in Savannah…but banana spiders do. Not sure how our arachnophobic fans will react, but at least it’s an ecologically accurate franchise name.
Savannah Banana Hammocks – Okay, picture this; Borat in his swimsuit as celebrity spokesman…on second thought, don’t. Nevermind. Moving on…
Savannah Hunters – This one tips the hat to both the Army presence in Savannah (Hunter Army Airfield), as well as the rapidly dwindling “good ol’ boy” demographic in the Low Country.
You saw which counties were blue vs. red back in November. Tell me I’m wrong. The only question is whether or not the “bro country, lifetime NRA membership, RealTree camo” demographic will go for hockey. Now, before you get your Salt Life t-shirt all wrinkled, chill out. I’m in every one of those categories, too.
Savannah Midnight – it’s been almost thirty years since “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” put Savannah back in the national consciousness for the first time since Sherman’s march, and it still draws some serious tourist dollars.
Just imagine the cross promotions with Club One! We’d run the risk of alienating the previously mentioned demographic, but from what I understand, every list of potential franchise names is required to have a non-plural noun (Magic, Wild, Kraken, et. al.). I think it’s a law. Maybe just an executive order. I’ve lost track.
Savannah Shamrocks – This one was my favorite until I remembered that there’s already a squad going by that moniker.
The Savannah contingent of USA Rugby as a matter of fact, and I’d rather not be the one to approach those guys about co-ownership of the name.
I know some of those guys. Some of them are teddy bears, some are wildebeests, and it’s impossible to tell the difference until it’s too late. My HMO recommends we pass on this one as well.
Savannah Spirits – Here’s another sneaky one. Do we mean Spirits as in the ghostly beings that fuel the numerous haunted tours downtown, or Spirits as in the liquid courage that fuels the numerous questionable life choices downtown?
I guess we’ll have to wait to see the mascot to decide. (Bonus points if you remember the short-lived CBA franchise of the same name!)
Chatham Artillery – This one is my absolute favorite. It references an old school Savannah recipe known as Chatham Artillery Punch.
When the recipe calls for three *bottles* of liquor and three *bottles* of champagne mixed in a bucket, you know this is a beverage that DOES NOT FOOL AROUND. And it’s one that screams “Savannah.”
Remember the quote from “the book” as it is known to the locals; “If you go to Atlanta, the first question people ask you is, ‘What’s your business?’ In Macon they ask, ‘Where do you go to church?’… But in Savannah the first question people ask you is ‘What would you like to drink?’”
Hopefully soon, the second question will be “wanna go watch some hockey?”
Crean Of The Crop?
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It has been three years since The University of Georgia moved on from former head basketball coach Mark Fox and hired Tom Crean, who seemed to be a perfect fit for what the Bulldogs were looking for at the time.
However, looking back at his past three seasons with the Bulldogs, things do not appear to be getting any better.
Before coming to Athens, Crean coached at two basketball powerhouses in Marquette and Indiana also coaching two of the NBA biggest stars to date in Dwyane Wade and Victor Oladipo.
The resume Crean had established seemed promising for Georgia fans and were hopeful to be able to return to the NCAA tournament in a few short years after his hire but so far, the only thing to show for it is a first overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft in Anthony Edwards.
Upon Crean’s hire the main focus of the Bulldog basketball program was to be competitive not only within the conference but also earning NCAA tournament bids and winning tournament games. After a 9-34 start in conference play, it is safe to say that Crean has definitely underachieved to this point.
Crean began his tenure at Georgia by talking about his recruiting successes at Indiana and Marquette with the idea that would be able to do something similar in Athens.
He was able to come through on his quest to sign the nation’s top guard in 2019 in Anthony Edwards.
Since the signing of Edwards, the Bulldogs have let some of the best recruits coming out of the state slip away. Other schools like Auburn, Alabama, LSU and even some mid major schools are poaching recruits from my home state.
However, heading into the 2021 season the Bulldogs had some solid pieces coming back from last year with Sahvir Wheeler and Toumani Camara.
They were also able to add some transfers as well to improve their roster. The Bulldogs began their season with an undefeated 7-0 non-conference record, but their biggest win was against an unranked Cincinnati team.
The Bulldogs dropped to 7-4 after going 0-4 in the first four SEC games of the season losing to Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas (by 30), Auburn (by 18).
So, it is safe to say that although it was the best start since their 1982-83 season it wasn’t as good as some thought.
These losses triggered some “worrisome” emails in the newly appointed AD in Athens Josh Brooks’ inbox.
Patience is key for Brooks, if you look at head baseball coach in Athens Scott Strickland, who had four straight losing seasons in Athens before the Bulldogs appeared at number 8 in top 25 back in 2018.
Athletic Director Josh Brooks is adamant that if you want to build a successful program ‘the right way’ it takes some time.
Although Crean is just 39-43 overall in Athens, it seems that Tom Crean has the right people believing in his abilities to get the Bulldogs where they need to be.
Picks Of The Litter
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After a very disappointing 2020 season, the Jacksonville Jaguars are making major changes to their organization.
First, the Jaguars promoted Trent Baalke to General Manager and then hired Urban Meyer as their Head Coach.
Both Baalke and Meyer have their work cut out for them to rebuild this depleted roster. The good news is the Jags have the most cap space in the NFL and multiple first round draft picks.
Here is a breakdown of the Jaguars overall picks in the 2021 NFL draft.
Round 1: The Jaguars have their pick the first overall and the Los Angeles Rams via the Jalen Ramsey trade number 25.
Round 2: Jags have the 33rd overall pick and the 45th overall pick via trade with Minnesota for defense end Yannick Ngakoue.
Round 3: Jags have the 65th overall.
Round 4: Jags have their own selection and Los Angeles’ part of Ramsey’s trade.
Round 5: Jags have two picks: their own and The Cleveland Browns via the Ronnie Harrison trade.
Round 6: Jags have no picks due to trading for Kamalei Correa.
Round 7: Jags have their pick and Tennessee Titan’s pick.
Reminder: there will likely be compensatory picks at the end of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth round, so the total number of picks will not be determined until all compensatory picks are awarded by the NFL.
The Jags will determine their draft needs after shopping in the free agent pool. The Jags are projected to have $74 million in cap space, so the “Urban Renewal Project” is underway.
I will be assessing the Jags’ needs heading into the 2021 offseason starting with the least significant to the most significant.
Secondary: The Jags had a huge drop off in secondary play. Injuries within the group only made things worse, and as a result they were ranked 30th in the NFL.
At safety, the Jags could use one starter alongside Jarrod Wilson. I could also argue Wilson needs to be replaced.
The 2021 free agent class is very strong with Justin Simmons, Anthony Harris, Marcus Maye and John Johnson.
Where Would You Be?
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Another recruiting cycle is complete and the Georgia Bulldogs finished with another top 5 recruiting class.
Kirby Smart is one of the top football coaches in the business. The naysayers will say that Smart can only recruit. Well to those experts let me break a little secret to you, recruiting is the life blood to any successful college football program.
When Smart was hired in 2015, UGA was a football program that wasn’t living up to the expectations.
Expectations meaning competing consistently for conference championships and national championships.
The only time UGA was a legit contender for a National Title under Mark Richt was in 2012, they lost a heartbreaker to Alabama in the SEC title game. Alabama went on to crush an overrated Notre Dame team for a national title.
Georgia had developed a reputation of being a soft program. Soft meaning not physical enough along the lines of scrimmage. That weakness showed up in some of UGA’s biggest games late in the Richt tenure like 2015 Alabama and Florida games.
That lack of physicality led to Richt’s firing.
Enter Kirby Smart who immediately began to build the UGA program from the inside out, starting with a focus both lines of scrimmage.
Year one in 2016 he finished 8-5 and changed the culture surrounding the football program in Athens.
Then In the 2017 season, Smart led the Bulldogs to their first 9–0 start since 1982 and won the SEC East after a victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Smart coached Georgia to its first SEC title since 2005 and only the fourth 12-win season in school history.
Georgia was ranked No. 3 by the College Football Playoff Committee and played No. 2 Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Georgia rallied from a 31–14 first-half deficit, ultimately defeating Oklahoma 54–48 in double overtime, completing the largest comeback in Rose Bowl history.
The Bulldogs went on to lose to the Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game 26-23.
The 2018 team finished 11-3, but ended the season on a two-game losing streak. The critics came out of the woodwork and started taking Kirby to task about how he handled the Jake Fromm/Justin Fields QB situation.
Fields ended up transferring to Ohio State. The 2019 team finished 12-2 with a win over Baylor in the Sugar Bowl.
In the COVID-19 season of 2020 UGA finished at 8-2. The 2020 season was caught up in QB controversy, but after JT Daniels took over the job the UGA offense took off.
Now going into 2021, UGA looks to be a preseason contender for a national title. A season opening game with Clemson in Charlotte will reveal a lot where this program is on a national scale.
What Smart has done in five quick years is have UGA in the playoff discussion annually. His 52-14 overall record is one of the best in the nation. His 32-9 conference record is outstanding.
At only 45 years of age Smart should be in Athens for another 10-15 years minimum.
The UGA program is on a solid foundation currently the best foundation it has been under since the great Vince Dooley years of 1980-83.
It took Dooley 17 years to win a National Title at UGA. Kirby Smart has UGA on track now going into year 6.
Trust the process UGA fans. a National Title is very close. Auburn, Florida, and Tennessee would trade places with UGA in a heartbeat currently.
Kirby Smart has built a winning culture in Athens and the best is still to come.
Leaving The Pack
By: Jason Bishop
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Camden County Wildcat football program will be seeking a new Head Football Coach in the coming weeks.
Bob Sphire resigned as Head Coach Thursday morning.
Sphire was coming off of a 5-6 season with the Wildcats. The 2020 season was one full of ups and downs. Camden knocked off defending state champ Marietta midway through the season and also beat both Raines and Oakleaf. Raines and Oakleaf were playoff teams in Florida.
However, blowout losses to Coffee, Warner Robins and Colquitt in three consecutive games were certainly a low for the season.
In the Warner Robins game, Camden was put on a running clock in the 4th quarter for the first time in the program’s history.
Sphire took Camden to 3 playoff appearances during his 4-year tenure. Those 3 playoff appearances ended up all being losses in the first round to Walton, Marietta and Parkview, respectively.
The Camden Head Coach was 23-20 during his time at Camden, but was 3-9 in the region. Sphire’s only wins in the region were against Tift County. He was 3-1 against the Blue Devils
The Wildcats now former coach went 0-8 against region foes and powerhouses Lowndes and Colquitt in his time as head coach.
Camden seemed to play better at the end of the season, going toe to toe with Lowndes and maybe a personal foul call away from winning that game.
The Wildcats also played tough in the Parkview playoff game, erasing a huge 4th quarter deficit to eventually fall in overtime.
Camden’s wins this season came against Glynn Academy, Raines, Oak Leaf, Marietta and Tift. The Wildcats fell to Richmond Hill, Coffee, Warner Robins, Colquitt, Lowndes and Parkview.
Sphire inherited a team that was coming off of a 1-9 season when he took the job in 2017.
Signing Day
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The most challenging year recruiters have ever faced is finally over as one of the most anticipated days for college football fans on National Signing Day came and went.
Alabama was once again able to grab the top ranked class followed by Ohio State, Georgia, Clemson, and Oregon to round out the top-5.
Once again, the legendary Nick Saban brings in the top ranked recruiting class of 2021. Alabama was able to land arguably the best class of offensive linemen Tuscaloosa has ever seen.
Scary to hear those words coming off of a National Championship season as well as landing the third best running back in Camar Wheaton out of Texas.
It feels like Alabama is always grabbing the number one spot in anything football related, and they don’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Saban’s protege, Kirby Smart, has modeled his program at Georgia to be much like the one he came from in Tuscaloosa back in 2016.
Since Kirby was hired, he has been nothing short of a great asset in recruiting for the Bulldogs and this year proves no different as they got their 11th top-10 recruiting class in a row.
The Bulldogs came in at number three this year with a lot of help from the late dual-threat QB commit Brock Vandagriff, who is the latest addition to the very talented UGA QB room.
The other name often mentioned along with Georgia in the SEC east are the Florida Gators.
However, I would say that Dan Mullen bringing in just the 10th best recruiting class this year is a little bit of a letdown.
The Gators had a phenomenal 2020 season through a tough schedule, earning the SEC east championship and a shot at Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
Many of those players have declared for the NFL draft bringing Dan Mullen and company back to the drawing board. However, with the 10th ranked class in this year’s recruiting race Mullen was able to reload in some key positions for the Gators.
Mullen Landed tight ends Gage Wilcox and Nick Elksins as well as bringing in Caros Del Rio and Jalen Kitna at quarterback replacing one of the most famous duos last year in Kyle Pitts and Kyle Trask.
As for the other national powerhouses, Clemson and Ohio State were able to make their presences felt once again by reloading what have been two great programs for the last five to seven seasons.
Lastly, many high school athletes dream of becoming a college athlete but few are able to achieve it. Each recruit signing on NSD is giving themselves an opportunity to make an impact at the next level, make your mark!
Congratulations to all of the 2021 signees on the Georgia Coast!
Brunswick High School
Amarion Whitefield – Georgia Military College
Tyrease Jones – Savannah State University
AJ Wilson – Georgia Military College
KJ Lee – Georgia Military College
Josiah Bess – Greensboro College
David Newbauer – Greensboro College
Keegan Carroll – Greensboro College
Kyle Rehberg – Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
Kaleb Hampton – Reinhardt University
Glynn Academy
Jordan Swain – Georgia Military College
Chase Gabriel – Florida International University
Marvin Dallas – Louisville University
Ryan Seay-Savannah State University
MCA
Trenton Johnson-Savannah State University
Ryan Burkhart-Savannah State University
Miles Wood-Washington and Lee University
Khay Loyd-Army
Camden
Darryl Williams-Georgia Military College
Deterias Glover-Austin Peay University
The Good Job
By: Robert Craft
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Danny White left UCF to be the new Athletic Director at Tennessee and White didn’t go far in his search for a new head coach.
White hired Josh Heupel for the second time, having brought him down to the Sunshine State to coach UCF just a few years ago.
When Heupel left for Tennessee, UCF’s starting quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, made it known that he was not happy. Gabriel turned to social media to express his feelings.
Gabriel posted on his Instagram that he was surprised Heupel didn’t notify anyone on the team prior to his departure. “No goodbye? Not even a phone call? Crazy,” Gabriel posted.
Gabriel wasn’t finished throwing shade at his former coach, “This has been the best two days since I’ve been on campus! Tomorrow is gonna be a great day!”
It should be interesting to see who UCF will hire as their new head coach, but it is very clear who the players want. The players leading candidate among former and active players is Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby.
Lebby was at UCF in 2018 and 2019 and was universally loved by his players.
The list of rumored names and interested parties needs to be narrowed by the preferences and plans of the A.D.
Here is an example: If you see Louisiana Tech’ Eric Wood hired, that might mean someone like Skip Holtz. Until the A.D. is hired, the field is too big to handicap.
That’s why UCF is one of the best coaching opportunities in recent memory and maybe the best in the 2020-21 cycle.
Yes, I know the 2020-21 cycle included Texas. No, I do not think UCF is a better coaching job than Texas, Auburn or Tennessee, but it is a better opportunity to win immediately and is considerably less stressful than any of those other places. A considerable reputation builder before being thrown to the Power 5 dogs.
Unlike many of its American Athletic Conference peers, UCF has an on-campus stadium, The Bounce House. UCF also built Florida’s first full size indoor practice field. In every manner of physical construction, UCF has outfitted itself like a Power 5 program.
UCF paid Heupel and Scott Frost a starting salary of $1.7 million, which at the time was considered to be big money for a non-Power 5 school.
Today, Houston’s Dana Holgorsen makes about $2 million a year and Cincinnati’s Luke Fickel is making $3.4 million annually.
I expect UCF to keep financial pace with their AAC rivals. I guess that UCF will exceed them immediately or structure an incentive-based contract to catch their next Head Coach. Also, expect UCF to lead the salary pool for assistant coaches.
You don’t have to win a national championship at UCF with these expectations from your fans, donors and the media: win a lot of games, win the AAC, and stay yelling from the rooftops of the Playoff debate.
How many Power 5 programs with unrealistic expectations can claim this? None.
It is not a realistic way to sell the job but imagine if you’re discussing UCF as the idea of being a P5 to potential coaches without the unrealistic pressure.
All UCF has to do is choose wisely from the group that wants the AD job, and then the person the Knights choose needs to select correctly from an even larger pool of football coaches.
If recent history is any indicator, even with a late coaching search, UCF will get the right guy.
The QB Sweepstakes
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As the recent exchange of quarterbacks between the Rams and Lions becomes finalized, it looks like the NFL’s offseason has started a week early.
With other quarterbacks (Deshaun Watson and Aaron Rodgers) either requesting to be traded or hinting they may look elsewhere; this offseason is shaping up to be a memorable one.
So, with that in mind, which of those two quarterbacks should each NFC South team go after, hypothetically speaking.
Atlanta Falcons: On the surface, Rodgers seems like the obvious choice.
He is currently the better of the two quarterbacks and comes with a price tag that will probably be a little less hefty than the two 1’s, two 2’s, and two young defensive players the Texans are reportedly asking for.
Of course, having said all that the correct choice is Watson.
The Falcons will need to draft a quarterback within the next year or two with one of those draft picks anyways, and I’m sure they would happily give up two 1’s if you were guaranteed a player the level of Watson; giving up two 2’s would hurt, but it’s not the end of the world.
There’s just enough talent on their roster to be able to absorb the loss of two defensive players and not completely set them back. It’s not going to happen, but I don’t think the idea is too far-fetched.
Carolina Panthers: The Panthers going after Rodgers would be as much of a waste of time as Eminem recording an avant-garde jazz album- not that it wouldn’t be interesting to see the end result.
I know Carolina is interested in Watson, it’s just whether or not they’re willing to pay the ransom Houston is asking for.
Similar to Atlanta, they’ll be drafting a quarterback this year or next, but unlike Atlanta they aren’t in the position to lose young talent. (The Panthers did have interest in Stafford, but as a friend of mine texted me “I’m overjoyed the Panthers “lost” the Matthew Stafford sweepstakes”. I couldn’t have agreed more.)
New Orleans Saints: I wanted to go with Watson here too, but I actually like Rodgers in this situation.
As strange as it to say, Rodgers would be an upgrade from Brees and the Saints are already Super Bowl contenders.
Neither Jameis Winston nor Taysom Hill are the long-term answers so I wouldn’t blame New Orleans if they made a run at Watson.
However, adding Rodgers would have a very 2020 Tampa Bay Buccaneers feeling to it, only with a better starting off point.
I don’t believe Atlanta is going to be a player for either quarterback and Carolina will throw their name in for Watson, but probably come up short.
I wouldn’t be surprised though to see the Saints name come up with at least one, if not both guys. Besides all the financial and roster considerations, they are probably the most attractive team in the division.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Trevor Lawrence, some quarterback that hasn’t even been born yet; it doesn’t matter who would be the better fit because Tom Brady is never going to retire and we all just need to deal with it.
With the way this season has gone everything yet nothing surprises me anymore.
The only thing I’m hanging my hope on is if Aaron Rodgers somehow ends up in Charlotte there will be an Eminem/Herbie Hancock album soon to follow.
Spreading Their Wings?
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Looking around the NFL as the Super Bowl gets closer, teams that didn’t make the playoffs this season have begun making beneficial moves for their future.
The Atlanta Falcons, much like the Jacksonville Jaguars, had some soul searching to do while figuring out how to put their best foot forward.
Leaving the fans to speculate on what will happen throughout the crucial 2021 offseason for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Atlanta Falcons franchise has a clean slate, without a General Manager or a Head Coach, to make the 2021 offseason the most important in Franchise history.
First, the Falcons hired former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, who throughout the past two seasons led one of the most balanced offenses in the NFL.
This past season Smith’s offense ranked second in defensive efficiency, fourth in points per game at 30.7 and third in yards per game at 396.4.
Looking at Smith’s numbers alone is encouraging for Falcon fans as they have seen their best offense turn into a stand still through the last four seasons.
Unfortunately for Smith, Falcons fans are not going to be easy to work with as the young offensive minded coaches before him (Sean Mcvay, Matt Lefleur, and Kyle Shannahan) have set the bar very high with little time to make their mark.
Arthur Smith will look to do something very similar in Atlanta as he hopes to turn around a franchise with a horrendous record of 4-12.
After the Falcons found their guy to lead them out of the locker room on Sundays, their next mission was to find the best fit for General Manager for the future of the Franchise.
The Falcons decided to hire 40-year-old Terry Fontenot, who has spent the last 18 years working with the New Orleans Saints in various positions.
Fontenot was most recently acting as the assistant general manager and began in the marketing intern before moving his way up through the ranks.
Fontenot attracted the Falcons attention considering the position by demonstrating tough decision making that resulted in championship contending teams year in and year out.
Where does this leave the Falcons?…
For starters… Anyone that is entering the 2021 offseason $37 Million over the salary cap after going 4-12 the season before is in a rough spot.
That is exactly where the Falcons are sitting, so Terry Fontenot and Arthur Smith have their work cut out for them in their first season.
Fontenot’s New Orleans experience shows that he has been a part of an organization that has prioritized winning over money and finding ways to make it work. Given his background and the recent success in New Orleans, it seems like the Falcons franchise is in good hands.
The only question that remains is whether or not the Falcons are going to try and win now or begin to rebuild for the future.
From ownership down to newly hired head coach Arthur Smith the goal is to make it possible for the franchise to establish consistent success.
As far as Matt Ryan and Julio Jones’ future in Atlanta, Owner Arthur Blank says that those decisions are completely in the hands of Smith and Fontenot to be able to create their own clear path for success within the Franchise.
