There is still a lot of uncertainty around whether or not Arthur Smith will return as the Falcons Head Coach next season, but if he does one big reason may be because of how well Ryan Nielsen has coached up the Falcons defense in his first season in Atlanta. Some Falcons fans have even been pushing the idea of firing Arthur Smith, and making Ryan Nielsen the Head Coach, but earlier today The Morning Shift explained why it’s not that simple.
It’s just not a realistic situation for Arthur Smith to be fired and Ryan Nielsen to be made the Head Coach. Nielsen was hired by Arhut Smith, and usually when a Head Coach is fired most or all of his staff is fired as well, so if Arthur Smith is fired it’s more than likely Ryan Nielsen could be fired too.
However, with the way the Coach Nielsen has coached up and developed Atlanta’s young defensive players such as Zach Harrison and Clarke Phillips, and the way he’s coached up this Falcons defense to just about be a top ten defense in the NFL could be a major reason why Arthur Smith is potentially given one more year because Arthur Blank and Terry Fontenot don’t want to lose Nielsen.
The best case scenario right now is that the Falcons beat the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday, the Panthers find a way to beat the Buccaneers on Sunday, Atlanta becomes the 2023-24 NFC South Division Champions, go to the postseason, and Arthur Smith and Ryan Nielsen both return to the Falcons next season and do everything they can to make sure they control their own destiny next season, but it all starts with a Falcons win over their division rival Saints in New Orleans on Sunday.