BLOGGER'S NOTE: I'll be providing live coverage of Mike Smith's introduction as head coach through the blog. You can also find live, streaming video at AF.comSo, to bring everyone up to speed from my last post...
The entire Falcons family just got the opportunity to meet the team's new head coach. With that, I can offer three pieces of wisdom about Mike Smith.
One, he seems to be a great family man. His wife, Julie, and 7-year-old daughter, Logan, were in attendance.
Second, the Falcons get someone familiar with Atlanta. Smith said he has family in the area and that his daughter is happy to be around "cousins and grandparents."
Three, he's a fresh face with a fresh outlook.
"I know you had a tough season," he said to the staff. "That's done. This is 2008 and we're going to win a lot of football games."
That's what everyone wanted to hear.
Now, on with some live coverage...
2:44 p.m. EST -- The team meeting room here at Flowery Branch is starting to fill up. The mood is decidedly different than the last time we gathered in this room -- Bobby Petrino's resignation.
2:50 p.m. EST -- Almost forgot. On my way back from the meet-and-greet with Thomas Dimitroff and Coach Smith I ran in to Byron Leftwich. He came out today to show support for Smith, who spent time with him in Jacksonville.
"You're going to love him," he said to the AF.com crew as we cut through the locker room.
2:55 p.m. EST -- Even the media seems to be in a good mood. There's no doubt a majority of the columnist in this city have written great things about the Smith hiring. Now the TV guys are getting into the mix in their own, special way (if you check out our live feed you may get a glimpse of them all acting a fool for the cameras).
You gotta pass the time somehow.
2:59 p.m. EST -- And here we are at t-minus one minute...
3:01 p.m. EST -- Falcons defensive end John Abraham just poked his head into the team meeting room. A few executives have also filed into the back. For the first time in a long time... I have butterflies.
3:02 p.m. EST -- And here we go, Smith's daughter and wife are the first in the room, along with owner Arthur Blank's wife, Stephanie. Blank, Smith and Dimitroff have hit the stage from the side door.
3:03 p.m. EST -- Dimitroff at the podium.
"It seems like just a week ago we met at the Family Office... It's been a week with a lot of interviewing (and) much round-table discussion."
He says the team feels it has performed a good search. He acknowledges the team could have waited until after the Super Bowl, but felt like it found the guy after talking football with Smith.
3:05 p.m. EST -- Going over Smith's ability now. Dimitroff: "He is a talented football mind and he has high character... He has a well-defined plan to put in place and he will adhere to that plan."
Dimitroff says Smith will be "stabilizing" and "consistent."
3:06 p.m. EST -- Smith's first greeting to the media? "How are we doing today? I hope we're doing well."
3:07 p.m. EST -- Smith says he enjoyed the interview process and all the people with the Falcons he got to meet...
"I think there's nowhere to go but up. I think it's a great opportunity here."
3:07 p.m. EST -- Smith announces that Emmitt Thomas will stay on the staff as assistant head coach.
"He's going to be a great reference for me and a guy I look forward to working with. He's a guy who knows this league, knows these players and knows this organization."
3:09 p.m. EST -- A little about philosophy...
"I think, first and foremost we have to be able to stop the run. I think that's the thing I think when we came to Jacksonville and when I was in Baltimore we did a great job of."
"Conversely, on the offensive side of the ball, I think it's important to run the football."
3:10 p.m. EST -- Smith says he's a believer of playing "attacking-style coverages." And that he'll develop a scheme based on players' abilities.
3:11 p.m. EST -- "The guys that have the best character will have the best opportunity to win..."
"I'm committed to making this football team one of the most competitive football teams in the National Football League."
3:12 p.m. EST -- Question about working with Dimitroff...
"Thomas is the general manager of the team and I know we spent hours spending time with each other and getting to know each other... We did not meet until the second interview."
Smith says their ideas meshed on football and personnel.
"Thomas has done an outstanding job putting together personnel for the championship team the New England Patriots are... I'm looking forward to working with him to put together this roster in Atlanta."
3:13 p.m. EST -- Smith says Jags coach Jack Del Rio would help put together game plans during the week, but he would call plays on Sunday.
"Everybody in the room is included in putting together the game plan... I don't believe a head coach can be making calls. He has to manage the entire game."
3:14 p.m. EST -- Smith says in Jacksonville coaches would "take off their whistles" after the season and become more like scouts, writing reports on players and getting involved in personnel discussions. He said he enjoys that part of the job.
3:16 p.m. EST -- Question on mending bridges with players, who may have grown frustrated last season.
"I know it was a very difficult year last year for the Atlanta Falcons... I'm concerned about what's happening from today on. In terms of mending the situation that occured, I'm a very open man and very personable. I like to have relationships with the players.
"I've already visted with a couple players. Over the next couple weeks I plan on visiting with a number of players on the squad -- veterans and rookies -- and talk about what's gone on the last couple of years."
3:18 p.m. EST -- Smith on his strengths...
"I'm the oldest of eight children, so I sat at a dinner table that had a lot of conversations going on. I'm a person I think that has very good communication skills."
3:20 p.m. EST -- Smith on what he was "looking for" in the interviews with the Falcons...
"The thing I think you have to do in this situation is it has to be a great fit. You're going to spend many, many hours together."
Smith says it was "a great exchange" and he thinks Dimitroff (Thomas, as he says) has a great eye for talent.
3:21 p.m. EST -- Question comes in about offense vs. defense, especially on offensive philosophy and turning around the Falcons' ship.
Smith says he watched a few game tapes before his first interview and drew on the offense from the Week 2 game between the Jags and Birds.
"I think we have to get a good, strong look at the roster and make those evaluations... You have to really take a look at as to where we are in terms of the roster."
Smith says his philosophy will be determined on what the team has in terms of personnel.
3:22 p.m. EST -- A great quote on what the team will do in terms of philosophy that Smith says he picked up from his brother-in-law and former boss Brian Billick...
"Brian said 'Don't tell me what a player can't do, tell me what he can do."
Well put.
3:25 p.m. EST -- Blank says the team "referenced" Smith for two weeks and talked to coaches, players and others in the league. There were not a lot of "pimples."
"Players like to play for him," Blank says. "All the things we heard about Mike we heard them very consistently."
3:27 p.m. EST -- Blank said the team saw three candidates for second interviews and "took time."
3:28 p.m. EST -- Dimitroff didn't meet Smith until the second interview. He is asked if Smith was "suggested" to him. Dimitroff responds by saying he was familiar with Smith's name during his research.
"As I saw his name in the process, it was something that gathered my attention."
3:30 p.m. EST -- Just got a glimpse of Smith's Super Bowl ring, which he picked up a few years back with the Ravens -- impressive.
3:31 p.m. EST -- Smith says he's interested in bringing Brian VanGorder (a former coworker in Jacksonville) as defensive coordinator. Talks are ongoing. VanGorder is currently on staff at the University of South Carolina.
3:33 p.m. EST -- Quick fix or long-term fix?
"I'm a very systematic guy," he says. "Any season in this league is a marathon. It's a long process. From year-to-year, there are no quick fixes. The process is going to start here when we start our offseason conditioning programs.
"It's a process and a system that I'll put in place that I think is going to allow our players to grow both mentally and physically.
"Is it a quick fix? I think every year it's long-term."
More on Brian Billick... "I have not talked to Brian about being a member of this football staff."
3:34 p.m. EST -- Question to Blank on "The Rooney Rule" and the decision not to interview Mike Singletary. Blank says the team interviewed two minority candidates -- Jim Caldwell and Leslie Frazier. He adds that Singletary was interviewed a year ago during the search that landed Bobby Petrino.
"His growth as a coach in the National Football League is significant... We just feel Mike Smith was the right choice at this point."
3:35 p.m. EST -- On three hires by Blank with no head coaching experience...
Blank says it's something the team's aware of.
"In this case, one of the things you learn -- one of the things we focused on very, very strongly -- are words that came out in the references: character, loyalty... those types of things."
(No head coaching experience) wasn't a key requirement, according to Blank.
3:39 p.m. EST -- Question about "players coach" vs. "disciplinarian." Smith says he's in the middle. The word "accountable" comes up a lot in his answer.
"I am a very disciplined person and I want all my players to be accountable -- not only to themselves because their body is their business -- but they have to be accountable to the guy they line up next to. I am a disciplined person that wants to be communicative and wants everyone to understand what their role is."
3:40 p.m. EST -- Blank says he doesn't want to have another one of these pressers next year (amen).
"I wanted long-term solutions," he says about coaching searches. "I promised that to my wife. I promised that to our fans. I promised that to our organization and, maybe most important, I promised that to our players.
"We have two young men who have tremendous capacity professionally and personally."
3:43 p.m. EST -- Dimitroff says the next step would be talking "system" with Smith before making decisions on the team's personnel staff and/or the NFL Draft.
3:44 p.m. EST -- Questions on quarterbacks, especially Vick...
Smith says he doesn't know if Vick playing with the Falcons is a possibility and he won't comment.
He says he has a history with Byron Leftwich and Chris Redman, who was drafted by the Ravens when he was on the staff. Other than that, he says he "can't speak about the quarterback situation."
3:45 p.m. EST -- Blank hammers home the fact that "every team that's successful" has a head coach and a general manager working together (he links his hands to illustrate). Mr. Blank has said this many times over the past month, but this one comes with the most force.
"We think we have that here," he says.
3:47 p.m. EST -- I like this question.
When did you think you were ready to be a head coach?
"My dad told me guys who work hard are going to succeed," Smith says. "Don't be out there chasing the next job."
He seems convinced that he was going to get noticed. He says he realized he had an opportunity to be a head coach "about three weeks ago."
3:50 p.m. EST -- On Marcellus Wiley's comments... "I heard about his comments but I didn't see it, so I really can't comment."
Wiley, a former player, had some less-than-flattering comments about Smith when it became apparent he would be a head coach.
Many more opinions have been very positive.
3:51 p.m. EST -- Wow. And we're done. Kinda got here quick.
Bad luck showed up early and often.
