We are most likely days or weeks away from having a head coaching vacancy here in Atlanta. The Falcons are not going to keep Dan Quinn and most likely have begun to lay the ground work for what will be one of the most important coaching searches in the history of the Falcons.
Now, during this abysmal 1-6 start, I’ve heard a lot of Falcon fans reminisce of what could have been if the Falcons had promoted former Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan to the HC positon over Dan Quinn
“Shanahan schemes so well on offense!” “The 49ers went from worst to first under Shanahan’s watch!” “We would be at least a 500 team with Kyle as our HC right now!”
Whoa..really?
I could not disagree more.
Listen to me when I say this, the Atlanta Falcons would be 1-6 if Kyle Shanahan was their head coach right now and I can explain why.
The Falcons should not be jealous of the 49ers getting Kyle Shanahan, they should be jealous of the 49ers for getting John Lynch.
Since making John Lynch the new GM of the 49ers in 2017, the 49ers have hit on a ton of rookies, undrafted free agents and free agent players.
The Falcons have done the exact opposite.
Listen to these names the 49ers have acquired since making John Lynch the GM 3 years ago:
- CB Ahkello Witherspoon 3rd round
- TE George Kittle 5th round
- QB Nick Mullens undrafted free agent
- RB Matt Brieda undrafted free agent
- WR Kendrick Bourne undrafted free agent
- FB Kyle Juszczyk FA
- CB Richard Sherman FA
- C Weston Richburg FA
- QB Jimmy Garoppolo Trade
- OT Mike McGlinchey 1st round
- LB Fred Warner 3rd round
- RB Tevin Coleman FA
- LB Kwon Alexander FA
- DE Dee Ford Trade
- DE Nick Bosa 1st round
That’s a ton of talent that the GM John Lynch and his scouting department have sniffed out in later rounds of the draft, free agency and on the trade market. That’s called hitting on players.
In that same three year stretch under current Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff, the Falcons added guys like:
- DL Jack Crawford FA
- TE Levine Toilolo FA
- DE Takk McKinley 1st rd
- LB Duke Riley 3rd rd
- RB Brian Hill draft
- WR Russell Gage 6th round
- CB Isaiah Oliver 2nd round
- TE Logan Paulsen FA
Take away Calvin Ridley, Deon Jones, Ricardo Allen and Demontae Kazee and the Falcons have done a horrific job drafting and signing players over the last 3 years.
The San Francisco 49ers did not all of a sudden become good because they have a young, offensive-minded head coach in Kyle Shanahan. They became good because John Lynch and the 9er front office have hit on stud player after stud player during a 3-year span.
Likewise the Falcons did not all of a sudden become bad because Dan Quinn is a sorry coach (although he does deserve some blame). They became bad because Thomas Dimitrov and the Falcon front office whiffed on bad player after bad player during a 3-year span.
In order to be successful in this league you have to constantly be hitting on players or you’ll have a winning famine. Look at Atlanta, look at Philadelphia and look at the Rams. All 3 of these teams made it to a Super Bowl in the past couple of years. Recently though, they have all three failed to draft and sign new star players leaving them with a roster of either aging stars or average to below average talent.
You want to know why the Patriots are good every single year? Like really know why? Look past Brady and Belicheck. They hit on draft picks, and free agents, and undrafted players year after year after year.
Kyle Shanahan (While being great for the long-term future of the Falcons) would not have fixed anything this year. The Falcons (With GM Thomas Dimitroff or someone else at the helm) need to start hitting on draft picks and free agents or there isn’t not a coach in the world who can win serious games in Atlanta.
