Falcons will retain Mike Smith for 2014 season

[ThomasTomasz]

Coming off an NFC Championship game appearance in 2012, the Atlanta Falcons had pretty high expectations going into 2013. At 2-8 through 10 games though, it's probably safe to say that the Falcons won't be meeting those expectations.

Despite the team's struggles this season, owner Arthur Blank has no plans to fire coach Mike Smith. Blank has already assured Smith that he'll be back for the 2014 season, according to NFL.com.

The low point of the Falcons 2013 so far was probably their 41-28 loss to Tampa Bay in Week 11. After that game, Blank gave Smith a vote of confidence.

Here was Blank's response when he was asked after the loss to the Buccaneers if he still had confidence in Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff (via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution).

"I absolutely, do. They've earned it over the last five years. This is a tough business. We've had a lot of injuries and there have been a lot of issues on top of the injuries and that is pretty obvious. The guys are proven leaders and proven by success. Their records speak for themselves. They'll do the work that has to be done with my full support. We'll get back to what we have to do. Right now, we have six more games that we have to play this year and we plan on competing hard in those games, winning if not all, as many as we can."
Smith's track record most likely has a lot to do with why Blank plans to keep him. Smith was hired in 2008 to take over a team that went 4-12 in 2007. With rookie quarterback Matt Ryan running the offense, the Falcons went 11-5 in 2008 and made the playoffs for the first time in four years.

Under Smith, the Falcons have made the playoffs four of the past five seasons, including three years in a row from 2010-12. Before Smith was hired, the Falcons had never made consecutive playoff appearances at any point in franchise history.

It's been a busy week as far as owners giving their head coaches a vote of confidence. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones also gave his coach a vote of confidence on Thursday, telling the media that Jason Garrett would definitely be returning for the 2014 season.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on...hur-blank-says-mike-smith-will-return-in-2014

 

[Aso]

It would be retarded to get rid of such a good coach after one bad season riddled with injuries. I always hate the hot-seat talk for coaches because the majority of the time they arent really on the hot seat. It's made up bs to talk about on TV.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

It would be retarded to get rid of such a good coach after one bad season riddled with injuries. I always hate the hot-seat talk for coaches because the majority of the time they arent really on the hot seat. It's made up bs to talk about on TV.

My guess would be similar to the Andy Reid situation. Smith has certainly brought the Falcons back from mediocrity and this is just one bad season. But you could argue that he has a lack of success to get into the Super Bowl, and that the Falcons could benefit from moving on.

I don't agree with that right now. Smith still has a few more years to prove that he can win that game.

 

[Point Blank]

I would like a better O and D coach honestly.

 

[Aso]

My guess would be similar to the Andy Reid situation. Smith has certainly brought the Falcons back from mediocrity and this is just one bad season. But you could argue that he has a lack of success to get into the Super Bowl, and that the Falcons could benefit from moving on.

I don't agree with that right now. Smith still has a few more years to prove that he can win that game.

Thats also retarded. Andy Reid coached the Eagles from 1999 to 2012. Thats 14 seasons. He had a 6-10 season after the Superbowl, franchise QB secured and all. Andy Reid was on the media's hot seat for a solid 5-6 seasons before he was fired. This is Mike Smith's 6th season as head coach and his very first losing season. You have your franchise QB in Matt Ryan, young stud in Julio Jones and good young players on the roster. One bad season riddled with injuries is just that. Nothing more. This is all media created. He was never going to be fired. If you think any differently then you're a fool. There was never any evidence that anyone in the organization wanted to get rid of him. This is just a story so ESPN and NFL Total Access have something to talk about on their garbage shows.

 

[NAHSTE]

He's not a good coach, though.

 

[NAHSTE]

 

[dave]

Dimitroff/Smith deserve another year. I get that Falcons' fans want to jump off a tall building right now, but that duo made that franchise legit. With all those injuries, give them one more year.

 

[NAHSTE]

Smith has certainly earned (at least) one more year, I am just fairly confident that his deficiencies as a HC will never be fixed.