FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – His team coming off a disappointing season in which he admitted that it took a step back, Falcons head coach Mike Smith will go into an offseason like no other in his four seasons, as he will have to replace at least one coordinator and possibly two.
One might say that after four consecutive winning seasons, three of them playoff seasons but with no postseason victories to show for it, the Falcons are at a crossroads for the first time under Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff.
“Well, obviously, I said we didn’t get better, so that would definitely be the case,” Smith said as to whether the team took a step back.
One day after his team was eliminated from the playoffs 24-2 by the New York Giants, Smith announced Monday that defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, who spent all four seasons with Smith but whose defenses never finished above 20th in the league against the pass, has left to accept the vacant coordinator position at Auburn University. Smith described the decision as being for “family reasons.”
Over the last three seasons, the Falcons are 1-5 against New Orleans and quarterback Drew Brees; over the last two, including the playoffs, they are 1-2 against Green Bay.
VanGorder is the former coordinator at the University of Georgia. He spent one year as head coach at Georgia Southern and worked with Smith with the Jacksonville Jaguars for one year as linebackers coach. VanGorder had briefly accepted the job as defensive coordinator at the University of South Carolina before departing to join the Falcons when Smith came calling in 2008.
In addition to VanGorder’s departure, Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, who was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 2004 and 2005, is a candidate for the vacant Jacksonville job and possibly, according to reports, for the Miami and Tampa Bay jobs.
That will make for an offseason like no other under Smith. The Falcons have had relatively few coaching changes since Smith took over, with Emmitt Thomas leaving as assistant head coach/secondary after the 2009 season – the Falcons’ only non-playoff year under Smith and a year in which the team finished 28th in the NFL against the pass – and quarterbacks coach/assistant head coach Bill Musgrave leaving to become the offensive coordinator in Minnesota after the 2010 season.
“It definitely changes (the offseason) because it’s going to be of the utmost importance,” Smith said of his coaching search. “Normally at this point of the year, you are working with free agency, looking at free agents first. It’s going to take priority No. 1 in terms of the emphasis I will be spending on it.”
Smith gave few specifics on the move. He did say that “he was aware” of Auburn’s offer but would not discuss any other details about when Auburn first approached VanGorder. Smith would not reveal whether internal candidates would be considered. Falcons secondary coach Tim Lewis, who joined the team when Thomas departed, served as Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator from 2000-03 and as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator 2004-06.
“We will do our due diligence as an organization and get the guy who’s going to give us the best opportunity to take the next step,” Smith said.
Smith was asked directly about former Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, who hired Smith to be his defensive coordinator there, but would not comment. Another candidate could be former St. Louis head coach Steve Spagnuolo. As Giants defensive coordinator in 2007, he won a Super Bowl over New England, which had one of the best offenses in league history that year.
About the only detail that Smith did reveal was that the Falcons would probably not seek a coordinator who is a disciple of the 3-4.
“Obviously, our drafting has been for a 4-3 defense,” he said.
Smith was asked if he had any personal insight into VanGorder’s decision.
“It was, again, guys, family decision,” he said. “Brian felt it was best for him and his family and Brian has done an outstanding job. The arrow on our defense since we got here has been going up and I believe it continues to go up and again I thank Brian for all of his hard work and everything he has done. He is an outstanding football coach and even a better person.”
On Monday at his season-ending press conference – about as contentious of one as Smith has had in a relatively smooth four seasons --- the coach said that the season was “extremely disappointing” and promised a “diagnostic” evaluation process and “hard look” at everything.
If both of his offensive and defensive coordinators need to be replaced, it could provide him with an opportunity to overhaul his staff and look at some of what the team does philosophically. For the most part, he seems as if he will stay the course with a run-first offense that chews up the clock and a defense that does not go for the exotic, as he coached himself in Jacksonville.
But one thing is for sure: The performance needs to improve.
“Hey, you’re either getting better or you’re going backwards,” Smith said. “There’s no staying the same in this business. You’re going in one or the other direction. There is no neutral.”
