OFFICIAL: Falcon confirmed the appointment of key staff and NFL specialist to a new Role

Rich McKay’s position with the Falcons is among the team’s most enigmatic elements.

During his tenure as general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1994–2003), McKay led the team to a Super Bowl in 2003 and enjoyed great success there. His resignation after the Super Bowl triumph resulted from disagreements with Jon Gruden. The Atlanta Falcons hired him as general manager, but he was free to sign with any team.

Regretfully, McKay’s dominance in Atlanta was not nearly as fruitful as it was in Tampa Bay. In his first season, the Falcons made it to the NFC Championship, but they lost to the Eagles. But after they failed to make the playoffs the following three years, Arthur Blank appointed Thomas Dimitroff as the Falcons’ new general manager. McKay continued to work for the company as the team president in spite of this. This is when things started to get unclear regarding his role on the squad.

The Falcons recruited Dimitroff and Dan Quinn, ending McKay’s tenure as general manager. However, Blank retained McKay close to assist him construct a new stadium in Atlanta, according to the now-retired Jeff Schultz, one of the most influential people when it comes to the Falcons. After everything was over, McKay desired to return to managing football. Blank reportedly answered “yes” at this point, while Thomas Dimitroff was leaving the room. Now, even though Rich McKay was named general manager, Terry Fontenot really has the ultimate say.

All of this became abundantly clear after Arthur Smith was let go. The Falcons held a press conference to announce the choice and go over the team’s future after receiving the news. Terry Fontenot was not present, but Arthur Blank and Rich McKay were. The two acknowledged that Fontenot would have a vote in selecting the new head coach, but they also revealed Atlanta’s power structure.

Schultz continued by saying that prospective head coach and general manager candidates have always had an unfavourable opinion of Rich McKay’s involvement in the company. Schultz was unable to confirm whether such was the case for Belichick, the team’s presumptive front-runner for the open head coaching position.
A source close to the team said, “Belichick would take the job only if McKay is completely frozen out of football operations,” according to a report Mike Florio published about a week ago.

Whether you think Bill Belichick should take over as the Falcons’ head coach in the future or not, it makes sense that he wouldn’t travel to Atlanta if Rich McKay is still in charge of the team. Belichick recently left a position in New England where, for almost twenty years, he had total control over hiring decisions. Wherever he coaches next, maybe that won’t be a must, but he won’t want to answer to Rich McKay and a general manager. Honestly, the bigger problem is that no coach with any experience would.
For years, Rich McKay has done nothing except hinder the Falcons organization. Arthur Blank has retained him for this long for whatever reason, and if he keeps his say in football operations, it will be difficult to believe that the Falcons will select the best candidate to be their next head coach.