Falcons Hire Mora Jr.... ??

[KWhit]

Still very tentative and (of course) no official word yet from the Falcons.


Link

[Kodos]

NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!!!!

[The_herd]

Would be a surprise since they have an interview with Saban scheduled. But I think the Bears have the best shot at pulling him away from LSU.

[KWhit]

Linky:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/football/nfl/01/08/falcons.mora/

[BigJohn&TheLions]

Who else did they interview?

[The_herd]

Originally posted by BigJohn&TheLions
Who else did they interview?

Either Ray Rhodes or Denny Green.

[KWhit]

Lovie Smith.

[Denny Green]

I was there at some point. I told them I didn't like running quarterbacks much. Its one of the reasons I "left" Minnesota. Honest.

[wbatl1]

This is being confimed by San Fran Journalists. He is also bringing the San Fran O-Coordinator and O-Line Coach with him.

[judicial clerk]

I hope the Raiders get Cremel or Lovie Smith. If they bring in Neuheisel I am going to kill that old man with his own glasses just like in that assassination scene from Godfather III.

[cthomer5000]

If Knapp ends up in Oakland, the 49ers will have lost their Offensive and Defensive Coordinators... say hello to another high draft pick in 2005.

[wbatl1]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
If Knapp ends up in Oakland, the 49ers will have lost their Offensive and Defensive Coordinators... say hello to another high draft pick in 2005.

Referencing my above post, a woman(forgot the name, sorry) beat writer from San Fran said that Mora had convinced Knapp to come with him to ATL. Him and the O-Line coach. Apparently he didn't want the job in Oakland.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by wbatl1
Referencing my above post, a woman(forgot the name, sorry) beat writer from San Fran said that Mora had convinced Knapp to come with him to ATL. Him and the O-Line coach. Apparently he didn't want the job in Oakland.

Sorry, I completely missed that. Are the 49ers going to just let Knapp walk? Or will he be officially given a promotion to something like "assistant head coach" in Atlanta so he can leave?

[judicial clerk]

Knapp played college ball with one of my old high school coaches. For those of you who do not know who he is, remember that coach who was intently looking at the artificial turf while Terrell owens ripped him a new one on national television...

[miami_fan]

Originally posted by cthomer5000
Sorry, I completely missed that. Are the 49ers going to just let Knapp walk? Or will he be officially given a promotion to something like "assistant head coach" in Atlanta so he can leave?

They may let him walk. Reports have said that Erickson is going to begin putting his own footprint on the offense. More single back and spread formations. Don't know if he will want Knapp to stay

Edit:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...len&id=1703700

[Sharpieman]

Knapp was not needed, he was from the Mooch era....conservative, he runs on third downs a lot. Mora was a great coordinator and the Niners will miss him. Also the O-Line coach Miller was great too, he's another intricate part of the Niners staff. I was sad to see Mora and Miller leave, because they are both great coaches. I could care less about Knapp, it also shows to TO that he won't have the conservative Off. coordinator to deal with, maybe giving him more incentive to come back to a more pass oriented team, but I doubt TO is that smart, he will be franchised and and traded. Also, there has been talk in this "off-season" that the Niners are thinking of dumping Hearst and making Barlow their feature back. I don't know if this is a good idea considering the fact that Barlow can get a case of fumblitis from time to time and also hasn't proved himself to be a credible pass blocker.

[clintl]

Mora is a big loss. Knapp is someone the 49ers might be better off without.

[MizzouRah]

I thought Lovie Smith was going to Atlanta. At least I think the Falcons will wait to see if the Rams loose, that way, they can get Lovie early and let him get his assistants ready.

If the Rams keep going in the playoffs, they might get someone else. I'm not a big Lovie fan, so if he goes.... so be it.


Todd

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by MizzouRah
I thought Lovie Smith was going to Atlanta. At least I think the Falcons will wait to see if the Rams loose, that way, they can get Lovie early and let him get his assistants ready.

If the Rams keep going in the playoffs, they might get someone else. I'm not a big Lovie fan, so if he goes.... so be it.


Todd

I think this train has left the building. The Falcons apparently have a new coach.

With Knapp coming to Atlanta, and given his relationship with TO, I guess this quells the TO to Atlanta rumors, huh?

[MizzouRah]

Hmmmm.... I guess I'll see Lovie next year, unless the Bears want him?


Todd

[Vince]

Jim Mora Jr., you will be missed greatly by this 49er fan.

Edit: Kodos, are you so upset because you wanted him in Miami?

[Craptacular]

I hope he hires his dad to be the team's official spokesman.

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by Craptacular
I hope he hires his dad to be the team's official spokesman.

"Last season didn't mean diddly-poo. Now.. You want to talk about the playoffs?!"

[kingfc22]

I am very sad to see Mora go. He was able to turn the group 99-2000 misfits into a pretty solid group today. Now as a Niner fan, I have to hope that York is the next to go and Brent Jones and Steve Young's ownership group takes over. One can only dream.

[Sun Tzu]

I don't look for the 49ers to drop off on either Offense or Defense. Mora Jr. is a good coach, but that 49er defense has a lot of young very talented players.

Knapp has been killing the 49ers on offense for years, I for one am delighted to see him finaly leave. The 49ers have officialy let it be known that they do not intend to resign Owens. Their plan is to either Franchise him and trade him (granted they can sign Julian Peterson to a only midly ludicrous deal), or let him go freely. Brandon Lloyd is expected to start next year in Owens place. Judging by Lloyds play this last season, there may not be that much of a drop off. We definetely wont miss his on the field antics.

Rattay in 04!

[Vince]

Originally posted by Sun Tzu
Brandon Lloyd is expected to start next year in Owens place. Judging by Lloyds play this last season, there may not be that much of a drop off.

I don't want to sound like an ass here, but seriously...TO is one of the top 3 WR in the league, no question. He does EVERYTHING. Brandon Lloyd is going to be a HUGE dropoff, even if he plays out of his mind good all year long.

[kingfc22]

Originally posted by Sun Tzu
Rattay in 04!

Garcia is fine. The O-line was hurt and so was he most of the year. In the final weeks, he showed why he was a pro-bowler the last few years.

[Sun Tzu]

Vince - The same arguement could have been made for Owens starting in Rice's place.

King - Garcia cannot throw the deep ball. If Erickson truly expects to be an aggresive offense then Garcia is not the man for the job. Even if Garcia could throw a midly bad deep ball it would be ok. But all he does is just hike the ball, wait a few seconds, and chuck it.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Vince
Jim Mora Jr., you will be missed greatly by this 49er fan.

Edit: Kodos, are you so upset because you wanted him in Miami?

Nah. I was just hoping for someone more offense-minded. Like a Mularkey or someone like that. Nothing particularly against Mora Jr.

[GrantDawg]

This sucks. Very disappointed.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Anything that keeps the 49ers regressing is fine by me. Well done Atlanta.

[Celeval]

Not disappointed for the Falcons. McKay has a good track record of identifying assistant coaches who will make good head coaches (he wanted Marvin Lewis in TB instead of Gruden a couple years back), and I would take a solid NFL assistant over a Saban-type any day of the week.

This is the second very right choice I think the Falcons have made in the last few years, along with the trade for the #1 pick (Vick).

[Logan]

Shouldn't the Niners be getting some compensation, for letting everyone go with Mora (but not for Mora himself)?

[Subby]

All the great coaches started as coordinators somewhere...it could be much worse - you could have hired Denny Green.

[clintl]

Originally posted by Logan
Shouldn't the Niners be getting some compensation, for letting everyone go with Mora (but not for Mora himself)?

I suppose they might be able to ask something for Knapp, but according to today's paper, their contract with Morris (the OL coach) expired at the end of the season, so he is a free agent if he wants to leave, anyway.

[KWhit]

Evidently, Mora came in and wowed the Falcons in his interview with a very detailed plan. He had done his homework to the point of already having ideas about who on the roster should be moved out to free up cap space, and the needs that should be most addressed through the draft and free agency.

And he's a young, fiesty, defensive-minded, ambitious guy. We won't know until a few years down the line, but I'm pretty excited.

[GrantDawg]

He is a mediocre coach. I can't believe we handed the reigns over to guy whose only gone to the Super Bowl with a ticket. Just check this article from the ajc

The Falcons had the most attractive job available and an imposing set of candidates -- Lovie Smith, Nick Saban, Romeo Crennel -- from which to choose, and they end up with Jim Mora Jr.? Either Arthur Blank knows something we don't, or Arthur Blank just drew his first managerial blank.

Mora isn't the guy you hire when Smith and Crennel and maybe even Saban are available. (The Joe Gibbs issue should be a non-issue. He was going to return to the NFL for one job only.) Mora is the guy you interview just to say you've interviewed him. Mora creates no buzz. If anything, he spawns the antithesis of buzz -- he spawns skepticism.

During this coach-search, we all made the usual Falcon jokes and said they'd probably end up with Marion Campbell yet again, but because we've come to believe in Blank we didn't really imagine such a thing happening. Alas, the public response to hiring Mora figures to be only slightly less negative than if the Falcons had announced the third coming of Swampy

I can't get over the image that this is going to be the second coming of his dad. That is not a good thing.

[TroyF]

Originally posted by KWhit
Evidently, Mora came in and wowed the Falcons in his interview with a very detailed plan. He had done his homework to the point of already having ideas about who on the roster should be moved out to free up cap space, and the needs that should be most addressed through the draft and free agency.

And he's a young, fiesty, defensive-minded, ambitious guy. We won't know until a few years down the line, but I'm pretty excited.

I remember reading about the Gregg Williams hire in Buffalo.

It was almost word for word what you wrote above. The right hire for Buffalo at the time was Marvin Lewis. They went the wrong direction and were burned badly.

I think the right hire for Atlanta was Nick Saban. McKay is the only reason I'm backing off of a prediction that this will end up the same as Williams.

We'll see. IMO, I think this is a mistake. Hope I'm wrong.

[Franklinnoble]

Hmm... I'm wondering what Arthur Blank's train of though must have been...

***OK... So Joe Gibbs turned me down to go back to Washington. There goes 'Plan A.' Time for 'Plan B.' Somebody get Jim Mora, Jr. on the phone.***

I mean, really. He sets the bar a little high with an attempt to land Gibbs, and this is his follow-up?

I'd be a little bummed if I were a Falcons fan...

[RendeR]

You know what gets me? everyone slams Mora Sr, and he was still one of the best coaches the NFL ever saw. he turned around both the Saints and the Colts from complete doormats to regular contenders.


You Atlanta fans ought to be asking yourselves:

"could he REALLY be the second coming of his father? could we get that lucky?"

There is no real talent on defense on that team, there isn't much beyond Vick, the one running back and one wideout on the offense. You guys need all the help you can get, Mora is a great choice. he takes players who aren't stars and he makes them play above themselves. just look at the Niners defense.

stop acting like bengals fans of the last 10 years and support your team.

[rkmsuf]

Originally posted by RendeR
You know what gets me? everyone slams Mora Sr, and he was still one of the best coaches the NFL ever saw. he turned around both the Saints and the Colts from complete doormats to regular contenders.


You Atlanta fans ought to be asking yourselves:

"could he REALLY be the second coming of his father? could we get that lucky?"

There is no real talent on defense on that team, there isn't much beyond Vick, the one running back and one wideout on the offense. You guys need all the help you can get, Mora is a great choice. he takes players who aren't stars and he makes them play above themselves. just look at the Niners defense.

stop acting like bengals fans of the last 10 years and support your team.

So you are saying they will do more than diddly poo?

[cthomer5000]

Originally posted by RendeR
You know what gets me? everyone slams Mora Sr, and he was still one of the best coaches the NFL ever saw. he turned around both the Saints and the Colts from complete doormats to regular contenders.

While I joke about the guy, it's only because he gave the best quotes and press conferences ever. The most amazingly quotable coach when angry.

He was a consistent winner in New Orleans, and really helped Indy rise from the ashes quickly. He deserves some credit, but i think most people can't look past the zero playoff wins factor.

[HornedFrog Purple]

When Jim Mora got to the Saints, they were pathetic... way worse than the Bengals could ever dream of being. When he got them to the playoffs, they had a great defense and Dalton Hilliard.

When he got the Colts to the playoffs, he had Peyton Manning. Enough said.

[ISiddiqui]

I can't get over the image that this is going to be the second coming of his dad. That is not a good thing.

Actually that would be a great thing! Mora was a fabulous coach, turning around two horrible franchises.

I'm actually happy about this hire. Especially if they get San Fran's O-Line coach (the offensive coordinator I could take or leave). I think McKay knows what he is doing. After all, he took at chance on an unheralded Tony Dungy, defensive coordinator of the Vikings, to turn around Tampa.

[GrantDawg]

Originally posted by ISiddiqui
Actually that would be a great thing! Mora was a fabulous coach, turning around two horrible franchises.

I'm actually happy about this hire. Especially if they get San Fran's O-Line coach (the offensive coordinator I could take or leave). I think McKay knows what he is doing. After all, he took at chance on an unheralded Tony Dungy, defensive coordinator of the Vikings, to turn around Tampa.

His dad was a great coach as long as you don't think it is important to win playoff games.

I also don't agree that Tony Dungy was "unheralded" when McKay hired him. He was interviewed for years and was the best man for the job many times, but never got the jobs (could race have been a factor? Hmmmm...). McKay looked past the color of his skin and hired him.

Mora took a talented but under achieving defense in San Fran, and improved them to one of the leagues worse to number 9 in his first year. What did he do after that? The next year they dropped to middle of the pack, and this year they were 23rd in scoring defense. Considering how much attention the 49ers put toward defense the last four years (80% of their first four picks went to that side of the ball) I don't see the yearly drop off as a good thing.

I promise you I'll be the first to celebrate if he does well, but I don't see anything in his past that puts him above the other top three for the job (except he is a "nice guy").