10 questions for Falcons’ coaching candidates

Former players are landing front office jobs around the NFL, such as John Lynch in San Francisco.

“I think (hiring Ryan is) similar,” former coach and NBC analyst Tony Dungy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. “You take really good players that have played at a high level. They’ve been around. They’ve been on winning teams. They know what it takes to win. I think there is a common thread there.

“I think it’s a good move for Atlanta. I really do.”

Of course, Dungy, who was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, was Lynch’s coach at Tampa Bay from 1996 to 2001.

Here are 10 questions for Ryan to ask candidates during their interviews:

1. What is your plan for practices and exhibition games? Most NFL teams don’t tackle to the ground in practices nor do they play their top players in the exhibition games.

“I look at the big turnarounds this year,” Dungy said. “Chicago and New England. I interviewed both of those coaches. We had them late in the year and they talked about bringing accountability (and) bringing toughness. (Bears coach) Ben Johnson told me that was the No. 1 thing that he wanted to do.”

How do you get toughness without tackling and playing in the exhibition games?

“In this day in age you can’t really do that. Well, he did,” Dungy said.

2. Who’s on your staff? Johnson was intentional about hiring the best coaches available and not just his coaching buddies.

“He hired Eric Bieniemy because he wanted a tough running back (group),” Dungy said. “He hired Antwaan Randle El to coach the wide receivers because he wanted his receivers to be tough, physical and block. He hired (defensive backs/defensive pass-game coordinator) Al Harris because Dallas’ secondary took the ball away more than anybody else. That was his vision, and he wanted to create that.”

3. What about the basics? The Falcons struggled at times with some of the basics. Like getting the play called. Like calling a time out and then having a delay of the game.

The 19-penalty game at Tampa Bay was abysmal even though the Falcons managed a 29-28 win.

“(New England coach Mike) Vrabel said, ‘hey, I’ve got to get fundamentally sound,’” Dungy said. “We’ve got to be tough. We’ve got to be physical, and this is how we are going to do it. I think you can create that, and I think maybe more people are looking at that than just, oh, I’m going to get a play-caller to fix the quarterback. It’s more than that.”

4. How to change the culture of losing? The Falcons have posted a franchise-record eight consecutive losing seasons. They have tied the low point set by the teams from 1983 to 1990.

“I think that’s where the coach has to have a philosophy,” Dungy said. “This is how we are going to do it. Then he’s got to have the ability to get everybody believe in it and buy into it.”

The coach is the tone-setter.

“Again, when you go into the building in Chicago, you go into the building in New England, everybody believes in what the coach is selling,” Dungy said. “That is super, super important.”

5. Can you provide real examples of leadership? All the candidates have prepared for these interviews and are going to be very polished.

“That to me is the tricky thing about picking a head coach, because it can all sound good,” Dungy said. “But can he then transfer that and get people to believe in it and get people to do it?”

Don’t let the coach’s demeanor fool you. Ryan said he wants an emotionally stable coach.

“That was one of the knocks on me: oh, he’s just low-key,” Dungy said. “He doesn’t get hyped up. Will he be able to get people on board. I always said in my interviews, look at my defenses. Don’t look at me. What do you see when you see my players play?”

6. What are your areas of expertise? The Falcons are looking at former head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators.

“A lot of times, owners get enamored with a personality of a guy or reputation,” Dungy said. “You see people who can deliver and get that turned around and maybe you wouldn’t think that they would. But that to me is what it’s all about — the people who’ve done it and done it well.”

7. Can you lead the locker room? The group dynamics of a football team are unique.

“The (Bill) Parcells, (Bill) Belichicks, and what you are seeing now, (Lions coach) Dan Campbell, those guys can energize a group,” Dungy said. “That’s what you are looking for.”

8. What is your plan for schemes and special-teams plan? The Falcons are looking at an overhaul on the offense and on special teams.

Former offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has interviews with the Buccaneers and Lions, while quarterbacks coach D.J. Williams left for the Commanders.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was blocked from interviewing with the Cowboys for a lateral move.

9. What’s your conditioning plan? The Falcons lost games in overtime to the Colts and Panthers.

With the score 13-10, they couldn’t overtake the 49ers in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons blew a 24-17 fourth-quarter lead against the Jets before losing 27-24.

10. What’s your clock management/analytics plan? The Falcons were inconsistent with their clock management under the previous regime. They had a near flawless operation against the Eagles in 2024, and then things went haywire in other big situations.

We are seeing a lot of teams gamble on fourth downs unnecessarily.

That likely cost Detroit a trip to the Super Bowl in 2024.