A Falcon once more, Matt Ryan now has to build a winner instead of passing his way to victories. It’s a new challenge for a former player who was once at the top of his profession and finds himself back there, this time with a fresh set of questions. Can he build a winning Falcons team? Will he overcome his lack of experience through smart hires and savvy management? Who is he going to hire?
Ryan knows those questions are out there, and he also knows his return to the Falcons is a feel-good story.
His introductory press conference on Tuesday touched on both, but Ryan took pains to make it clear he does not intend to micro-manage the head coach and general manager he’ll be responsible for hiring.
That was one of the core themes of the day, actually. With the team fighting years of conspiracy theories and reporting alike that indicated the owner and Rich McKay were involved in football decisions, and with Ryan’s own role still new, he repeatedly stressed that the general manager and head coach will have the same level of autonomy and power they’ve enjoyed in the past. Given the way the past decade has gone, I’d welcome the team A) making great hires and B) letting them do their jobs without the specter of shortcuts or rash decisions.
Ryan instead emphasized being a support system for those hires, with the team (likely) providing support in the form of experienced advisors for Ryan himself. That could include ex-Titans general manager Ruston Webster, who is already in the building, or additional hires; that’s yet to come. As tempting as it might be, Ryan emphasized that he’s not coming back to play, either.
He also won’t be coaching quarterbacks, though he said he “loves” Michael Penix Jr. and plans to be a resource for him.
Arthur Blank and Ryan also made it clear the Falcons don’t want any kind of real gap between the head coach and general manager hirings because the duo will need to work closely together, though they did not say which one would be hired first. The Falcons have a long list of head coach candidates but have not conducted any formal general manager interviews just yet.
The tone struck, overall, was the right one. Ryan talked about winning, talked about his role in a way that should reassure general manager candidates and fans who want to see him help pilot this franchise to glory, and left plenty of room for us to see how he grows into the role and what hires he ultimately makes. The team, meanwhile, held up Ryan’s love of the franchise and time in the NFL as evidence that he’s the right man for the job; it’s easy to be cynical about the notion but not the sincerity behind it. A lost franchise is hooking their wagon to one of the few men who ever dragged it on to the right path; they won’t be the last but hopefully will be among the most successful to try it.
Ryan is facing a daunting challenge, trying to make the right hires to lift up a franchise that has eight straight losing seasons and has seemed at turns rudderless and dysfunctional over that span. He’ll need all his know-how, all of the organization’s support, and perhaps a little luck to get the job done, but the team is placing all their trust in him and will give him latitude to do the work; it’s important that he be given the chance to sink or swim without shortcuts or changed minds a year, two years, or even three years from now. We’re all rooting for him to succeed.
