Throughout a rollercoaster of a head coaching search, the Falcons appeared to be set to select Bill Belichick until it was reported unexpectedly that Raheem Morris had been given the position.
Arthur Blank was reportedly pushed away from Belichick owing to the impact he would have on the organization, since he was expected to bring his entire entourage to Atlanta.
However, there appear to be contradicting sentiments currently. Boomer Esiason, a WFAN host and former NFL quarterback, learned from an NFL executive that it was Belichick who was not interested in the Falcons, and that owner Arthur Blank made him an offer.
“I was told yesterday, and I do believe it from the source that I got it from, that supposedly Arthur Blank was bought into Bill Belichick and could have offered him the job,” Esiason stated while appearing on the “Boomer and Gio” radio show on Monday.
“I’m not sure why guys say no, but an NFL executive really informed me that they believe Arthur Blank offered Bill the position. Now, there could have been some conditions to that offer; you never know; it’s never ‘OK Bill, I want you, here’s a five-year deal, do anything you want.’ “I do not think it was one of those.”
This is undoubtedly new knowledge, but that does not make it false. Blank was enamoured with Belichick, and Albert Breer stated that he wanted to hire him as “the head coach” but not for all of his other positions in New England. There were also rumours that Belichick and McKay would not work together. That certainly appears to be a factor in either side’s refusal to concede.
“The way it was made and sounded to me was like ‘OK, I understand your concerns, but you’re gonna have to deal with some of this and we want you to come in, we want you to be the coach,’ and then maybe he just thought better of it,” he added.
“And perhaps he said, ‘You know what? I don’t want to go back inside. I want a year off. I’d like to see what occurs,’ because, as we all know, there will be around five or six job openings next year, and there might be a better circumstance where an owner says, “You know what? I want to go down this route with you, and I want you to take over my facility and run it in the same way you did with the New England Patriots.”
I have no idea which tale to believe because the Falcons were immature in this quest, rather than a world-class franchise. Rumours, reports, and other information are routinely leaked.
Even after Raheem Morris was hired, the Falcons announced that Rich McKay would leave football operations. Then Brett Jewkes posted on a PR Twitter thread about how thorough the process was and how Blank didn’t panic — blah, blah, blah. It just felt like a direct response to the clamour outside the organization.
I can keep my enthusiasm and belief in Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot while staying wary about Arthur Blank and Rich McKay.
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