Falcons Owner Arthur Blank Talks About Relationship With Bill Belichick: “never about power”

Six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick was passed over by the Atlanta Falcons, along with a whole NFL head-coaching cycle. Naturally, many wanted to know why, and Tom Brady was one of them.

Falcons Owner Arthur Blank Talks About Relationship With Bill Belichick: “never about power”

Belichick desired the same power structure he had with the New England Patriots when he was essentially the team’s general manager as well as head coach, which is the rationale for his continuing free agency that has been extensively conjectured and published. Teams may find it unsettling to have a 71-year-old applicant with those issues, considering his advanced age and the drastic adjustments needed.

For 24 seasons, Bill Belichick was in complete charge of New England.
Many speculated that the head coach lost out on a position because he wanted to be in charge of roster choices in his next act, but Arthur Blank, the owner of the Falcons, the only person to interview him, shot down that theory on Friday.

“I want to be clear really on behalf of Bill, just as a human being and as a storied coach in the history of our league,” Blank said on Super Bowl Live. “Been a coach 49 years in the NFL. Bill, during all of our discussions with him, it was never about power, control, needing people to work for him, etcetera. He was interested in coaching. He definitely wanted a collaborative relationship with personnel, and scouting. He had done his reference checking on our department, had committed to me that he’d be happy to work with our people. In fact, did it in writing through a text message he sent to me at one point.

“Bill was really focused and is focused on being a great head coach, which is clearly what he has been. We looked at all the candidates that we interviewed, all the time together, and we felt for a variety of reasons that the best choice for us at this point in our lives, the life of the franchise going forward, is Raheem Morris.”

Bill was invited to discuss the role with the Falcons twice before Raheem Morris, the defensive coordinator for the Rams and Atlanta’s interim head coach for 11 games in 2020, was hired. Terry Fontenot, general manager, will be in charge of personnel while Morris would oversee all coaching choices.

Morris, the Rams DC from 2021–23, was ultimately chosen by the Falcons. Morris had previously coached in Atlanta, having taken over as temporary head coach after Dan Quinn was sacked after the team’s 0–5 start to the season. Morris had previously served as assistant head coach from 2015–19.

If Belichick had been hired, perhaps that arrangement would have been different, even if Blank would have us know that the need for GM authority was never discussed or taken into consideration when making the decision to look beyond.

Which coach has the most Super Bowl rings?

Bill Belichick has won six Super Bowls.

What happened with Bill Belichick?

At a news conference at Gillette Stadium, the 71-year-old—who, with quarterback Tom Brady, built one of the longest title runs in pro football—and Patriots owner Robert Kraft made the announcement. After their meeting on Wednesday, Kraft said that he and Belichick “mutually agreed to part ways amicably.”

 

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