Falcons hire Raheem Morris as head coach

[Mecca]

Here I found it...

Before the Falcons even parted ways with Arthur Smith, there were murmurs that Arthur Blank was intrigued with the idea of bringing in Bill Belichick to replace him.

That was even before the Patriots and Belichick went their separate ways. Once both sides were available, national pundits one by one reported that Belichick was Blank’s top target.

At one point, it was basically assumed that Bill Belichick would be named the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. As of yesterday, they’ve satisfied the Rooney Rule and are free to hire whichever coach they please without any penalties, but they haven’t.

Most recently, Adam Schefter went as far as to say on Get Up that he shouldn’t be considered the favorite, considering the Falcons have only expanded their search, interviewing more than a dozen candidates with half of them already interviewed twice or scheduled to.

That’s quite a turn of events from the beginning of the process. So, what’s happened between then? Well, there’s clearly an internal power struggle going on within the Falcons organization.

Albert Breer pointed out on The Rich Eisen Show that the organizational structure component to bringing Bill Belichick into the fold with Rich McKay and Terry Fontenot could be a holdup.

To add even more context to the situation, Zach Klein recently expanded on the situation with Brian Barrett on the Off The Pike podcast.

Klein went as far as to say that Belichick would 1000% not be reporting to Arthur Blank via Rich McKay every single Monday after a game. Klein says that Blank has met with his head coaches every single Monday for the entirety of his tenure as Falcons owner, and as he’s aged, his confidant, McKay, has as acted a liaison of sorts.

None of this is new information, though. The organizational structure with Belichick and McKay was always thought of to be a hurdle that Blank would eventually have to get over. However, Klein did have something to add that was jarring. His sources around the league say that Arthur Blank is “panicking, in total disarray, doesn’t know what to do.”

“I have heard from so many people around the league that say Arthur Blank is panicking, in total disarray, he doesn’t know what to do,” the Atlanta-based reporter told Brian Barrett on the Off The Pike podcast.

Before that statement, Klein brought up Belichick working in Atlanta for three or so years and how he would impact the front office personnel, rhetorically asking if that’s what he (Blank) wants. Klein added that Blank wants Belichick but doesn’t want everything that comes with him.

Arthur Blank wants to have his cake and eat it too, which doesn’t seem possible with Bill Belichick, Rich McKay, and this Falcons head coaching search. He seems to be struggling with the decision.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Here I found it...

Arthur Blank wants to have his cake and eat it too, which doesn’t seem possible with Bill Belichick, Rich McKay, and this Falcons head coaching search. He seems to be struggling with the decision.

And that's the rub.

Would I rather have McKay and Fontenot with Morris in charge? Or Belichick and a couple of the inner circle lackies we all know he'll choose from?

I mean that's just not a question, is it? McKay is really good and Fontenot is highly regarded in his own right. That's the foundation for a long and productive front office. If you have that in place, you're only ever one hire (and a good QB) away from being a division winner.

You don't scuttle that for a coach with an expiration date.