Dirty Birds Dispatch: Roddy White talks Matt Ryan, coaching search

‘ALL THIS EXCUSE MAKING, THAT AIN’T GOING TO WORK’

Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC file photo

Credit: Curtis Compton/AJC file photo

Former Falcons wide receiver Roddy White played with the new Falcons president of football, Matt Ryan, from 2008 to 2015.

They clicked immediately, as White posted five consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons from 2008-12 with Ryan delivering the passes.

“So, I know from my experience from playing with Matt that there is going to be a lot of accountability around there,” White told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m going to tell you that. There’s going to be an expectation that everybody does their job at a high level.”

The Falcons, from executives down to the equipment-room workers, better roll up their sleeves and get ready to work.

“All this excuse making, that ain’t going to work with him.”

White believes in Ryan even while acknowledging he has no front-office experience.

“Being a leader, but I don’t know about putting no team together,” White said. “But he’s going to do a good job. I think he knows what good football looks like. … I know one thing that Matt is going to do is make sure that he’s got competent people in the right places to make sure that everybody is on the same page.”

GM FIRST, THEN COACH?

White is counting on Ryan to get the hiring order correct. He said the order guarantees a shared vision.

“It ain’t going to be two different visions of how a football team should look,” White said. “Everything is going to be to the point with everybody on the same page when it comes to drafting people, what we need. Where the team is at now. What quarterback are we choosing?

“It ain’t going to be divided across the board. Some of these people like this person and some like (someone else). … He’s not about to be doing all of that. He knows how important consistency is. Just being with the same coaching staff. Being with the same people, year in and year out and building something good.”

✅ The Falcons have completed head coach interviews with the following:

IN SEARCH OF SOME STABILITY

White is looking for stability from the Falcons.

“That’s the only way that you win in this league,” he said. “You don’t win every two to three years getting rid of people. You ain’t gone never find a winner.”

White knows that Ryan can be a taskmaster.

“That ship is going to be tight because his name is on it,” White said. “I think he’s going to do a good job.”

QUICK HITTERS

Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC file photo

Credit: Alyssa Pointer/AJC file photo

Here’s White on a couple other topics:

🗣️ On the quarterback situation and the coaching search: “That’s what I’m saying, that’s a whole other thing. You’ve got to get some people that want this quarterback. You’ve got two quarterbacks. … What if the coach says, ‘I don’t want neither one of these’? … You’ve got to start over.

“You can’t do that. That’s what people don’t understand. When somebody comes in and they are going to take a job, it’s like Chicago. Ben Johnson came in and said, ‘look, I want this, this and this. If I can’t get this, I don’t want the job.’

“If you are locked in on a candidate, even with the GM down there in Jacksonville. Didn’t he get fired because the coach wanted (someone else). … These coaches ain’t just coming in here if you want them. … People have got to go.”

🗣️ On not attending games regularly: “They need to (turn it around) because it’s horrible out here right now. It’s bad. It’s just too much bad football. I stopped watching. They said, ‘Roddy, come to the game.’ Man, I don’t like to watch losing, bad football. I can’t do it.”

🗣️ On Matt LaFleur: “Man, (Green Bay) ain’t getting rid of LaFleur. That man wins too much.”

HEAD COACH RODDY WHITE?

White, who has been coaching in the high school ranks, wanted the head coach position at Alabama-Birmingham, where he starred before being drafted by the Falcons in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft by then-GM Rich McKay.

“Yeah, man,” White said when asked if really wanted the job. “I did want that job. Yeah, I talked to the guy. But what happened was Trent Dilfer ran such a bad ship around there. They were scared to go in the same direction again with somebody who didn’t have experience or lack of experience of actually having any college coaching experience.

“But then they told me they wanted me to be on staff, and I said, ‘Nah, I don’t want to do that.’”

MAILBAG TIME

📬 From reader Phil Smith: Hello D Led:

I like your articles. (Falcons owner) Arthur (Blank) did all of the right things: he assessed the performance of his team over several years, he hired experienced consultants to inform and guide his decision. Firing decisions are difficult decisions. I neither agree, nor do I disagree with Arthur’s decision. However, it’s his team. It’s his business. He has the right to make the final decisions. He was very patient in the process of collecting and evaluating facts. He was careful in arriving at his decision.

I hope that the decision was the best for everyone involved.

My response: Thanks Phil for the kind words. That’s a good assessment. Hopefully, he’ll get things turned around.

I know he hates the eight losing seasons after having so much success early in his ownership tenure.

📬 From reader Rick Woodward: Dear Orlando: I think Arthur Blank is a big part of the problem with the Falcons. That said, one thing the consultants should have told Mr. Blank is to stay the hell off the field before, during and after all games, the exception being a Super Bowl win.

My response: I understand he thinks that is part of his servant leadership and showing support for his players.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

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