 What was appealing for you, David, coming to the Falcons and coaching with Arthur and being the offensive coordinator? Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, it's an amazing opportunity to be involved, first of all, in the NFL as a player and a coach, and then being able to be given the opportunity to be an offensive coordinator, specifically with someone like Arthur, who I've known a long time, I believe in a lot of the things that he believes in in terms of how to play the game and how he sees it. And for me to be able to be a part of the organization where you see the talent specifically when you talk about the offensive side of the ball. And we played against this team when I was in Chicago this past year, in Chicago they're fortunate enough to win that football game, but you got to see the explosion, the talent on offense. And it's something when Arthur had the opportunity to run the organization and be chosen to be the head coach. It was a no-brainer for me when going through the process and being chosen to be an offensive coordinator to come here and be a part of this. And you know, how are you assessing Matt Ryan and the rest of the weapons? I know the offensive line had some problems last year, but how are you going into that part of the job and looking at, you know, having a veteran quarterback and all the turmoil around the league at that position? Yeah, that's a great question. Matt is someone, when I was leaving the league or being asked to leave the league as a player, Matt was coming in the league and Matt's backup quarterback at the time was Chris Redmond. And Chris and I to this day are very close. And from day one that Matt entered the NFL, Chris had said just the most amazing things about the person. Obviously, you see the player and what he's been able to do through the course of his career. You know, again, I've been fortunate enough to be around a lot of quarterbacks and a lot of quarterback rooms since 2003. The one thing that comes out about Matt Ryan is his ability to compete on every down and you see that there's a no quit attitude, his ability to win, not just always from within the pocket, but one of my opinion, one of the underperforming things that gets displayed about him is his ability to, you know, extend the play. And again, just watching from afar, playing against him, a tremendous amount of respect for what he's been able to accomplish in the NFL. Tori? Hi, Coach. It's nice to meet you. Nice to meet you as well. I wanted to go kind of back through your time in Chicago a little bit. You worked with two very different offensive systems, a roller coaster at time, a quarterback. And I actually had our Chicago beat reporter tell me that you've been NFL battle tested was what you said. And I thought that was funny. How do you feel like being adaptable in those most recent situations, preparing you now to be in this spot in Atlanta? Sure. I think it's a great question because I think it's all the experiences I've been fortunate to be a part of as a player than obviously as a coach in multiple organizations. There's nothing but gratitude to the Chicago Bears organization for my time there. And for the experiences I had there through the ups and downs and a couple of playoff appearances and things that go our way in those playoff appearances and then having a top five pick as well at my time there. So I think anytime you're allotted those different experiences as a coach, you grow from them. There's some things that at the time when you're making certain decisions, you think they're the best for not just you, but for the organization and only time really tells those out. The one thing I can say about just having to be able to interact with the media in Chicago, nothing but respect for how they had to do their job and they always capture you on your toes. And for that part, the fans and everything else, just like every organization and every fan base they want to win and again that's what I've learned through my experiences more than anything else is having an ability to come into a different organization and bring those experiences and hopefully those help be successful right now with the Atlanta Falcons. My next question is kind of just going off of something that Arthur Smith told us when we talked to him last week about how he was going to be calling the plays and can you just explain to me your thought process and the dynamic of working together? Yeah, sure. I think especially my last couple of years here in Chicago where the head coach was also the play caller. It allowed me to see the preparation from a different perspective, understanding what Coach Nagy had to do and I'm very comfortable in that role of helping present the game plan to the play caller, going about it with just not myself but other people within the staff, kind of garnering their ideas, putting them together and presenting them to coach who's the play caller and also the head coach. So I feel very confident in that role to help Arthur. It won't just be me. I'll be coordinating that role with the other guys in the staff, which I feel fortunate about, but in terms of how Arthur thinks and how he goes about his business, it's my job to obviously set the table and make his job efficient and easy as well as the rest of the guys in the staff and hopefully we get that done. Charles Odom from the Associated Press. Welcome to Atlanta. Thank you. You spoke about seeing the explosion and the talent on offense here in Atlanta but I'm sure you also know that this team has struggled to establish a consistent running game for a number of years. Can you talk about your offenses philosophy and how important that is for you in terms of getting that straight here? Sure. I think when you talk about philosophy in general, you look at your roster and specifically in the NFL, your roster today probably is not going to look the same in September and it's probably not going to look the same in November or at the end of the year. So you have to start there. There's a way and style that you want to play the game for sure. When your film shows up and you watch it, you want to make sure it's exactly what you want it to look like. I think that's important. I think that's philosophically based and it's also, as a coach, you get what you emphasize with the players. So if you're emphasizing a certain style and the way you want to play the game, you have to make sure that's a continuation every day so those players understand it. In terms of the run game, I think you'd be asked most quarterbacks. That's their best friend. The ability to be able to have a run game which allows them not necessarily to have to make a decision every single snap. It also allows the defense to have to play more than just one fast of the game. So again, people talk about balance. I think that word sometimes gets out of whack in terms of what exactly that means. I think to me, balance in general with the run and pass is the defense not necessarily knowing what's going on in first and second down. Obviously in the NFL, if third down is a pass down, but first and second down, if you have the ability to go in with a defense, may not necessarily know if it's a run, a play pass, a naked, a quick, I think then you have the advantage and to me, that's the ultimate balance and to help the quarterback. I also wanted to ask a... Hey Charles, you're muted. Sorry about that. I wanted to ask a quarterback question. Obviously in Chicago, I know that there's been a lot of spirited conversation about quarterbacks the last few years and you approach a situation that's been very stable in Atlanta and yet there's some talk about what this team might want to do with the number four pick. Do you have a thought about the idea of having a quarterback in trading so to speak and any potential controversy that can cause by having the error parent waiting for his turn? Sure, I think that's a great question. I think first and foremost, in my time in Chicago, in terms of drafting the quarterback as high as we did and the vision in which we had for that to play out, I think every circumstance is different. I think every building is different, how you want to approach that and then the minds within those building getting on the same page and making sure that that plan is enacted the way that you envisioned. I think those are all meetings and conversations that happen way before you have that pick. In terms of the current status, for me right now, as we sit here in late January, being able to work with Matt Ryan and the rest of the offensive talent and it's not just him. You go across the board and like I said, I think the fortunate part for me is that in Chicago, we played the Falcons this year. I have a great understanding of what our defense of coaches, when I was on that staff's thought of the offensive personnel, pretty in-depth, which allows me, as I look at the film now, really now from the other side, being fortunate to be a part of this offense now. It gives me a great perspective and I just want to make sure before anything else is said about where we're going with anything as I truly sit down with the rest of the coaches and coach Smith and we truly evaluate and put our eyes on what we have on this roster because from what I know, it's a pretty special roster in terms of the offense. It's out of the ball and I'm excited to work with them. Will McFadden, at AtlantaFalcons.com. Hey Coach, welcome to Atlanta. Continuing right along with that, outside of the quarterback position, specifically the wide receivers, we all know what Julio Jones can do, but two young guys who really took that next jump this past year, Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage, what's been your evaluation of them so far? I feel like I know Calvin, even though he has no idea that we've ever met, we haven't, just being with his brother. And we were fortunate to have him in Chicago, got to know him on a personal level and professional level. And what I've seen from obviously Calvin on film, you don't need me to sit up here and tell you his ability to make plays and what he does to a defense and things of that nature. Russell's a guy who obviously came on strong, his ability to fill in this past year, specifically with Julio being in and out of the lineup. Again, another guy that has come in, you can feel his speed. He seems like a guy that plays with a certain type of play speed. And again, I think that's kind of the most exciting thing for me, walking into a scenario like this and being fortunate to be part of the organization is, you see the different talent at the different stages. You have some guys who are older in terms of the experience, you've got some guys who are coming in and kind of finding their own. It's going to be a great experience to be able to put an offense and adapt around the ability in which the players that are on the current roster and who's going to be added. To me, that's probably the most exciting thing about this job opportunity. And then as a former quarterback in this league, I'm curious your philosophy on kind of coaching a quarterback who has as much experience as Matt Ryan, is it more about maybe putting him in some uncomfortable situations in practice to get the most out of him, to put him in some situations that really strain him to be at his best, or do you try to do what he's comfortable with given the amount of experience that he has in this league and he knows what he wants to do and execute on Sundays? Yeah, well, that is a great question. I mean, I've been fortunate to coach guys at the end of their career in terms of Jake Cutler, guys younger who are now older in this league and Ryan Fitzpatrick. And I've gotten guys who have young in this league who came in as rookies and top picks. So kind of a gamut in terms of experience. I think each quarterback is treated differently just depending upon their personality and then where they are in their career. So evaluating Matt as we go through this process and getting to know him, even though I feel like from the people that we have the same kind of background with, they've all kind of told me who Matt Ryan is. And again, when I go in and have a chance to sit down and have conversations with him, then he'll understand where I'm coming from and I'll understand where he's coming from, which is also exciting. Just to get to know where he's at and then like anything else, you want to put a plan with all the players. It's just not the quarterback. It's a plan in place for each one of those players to get better. And was ingrained as a young coach when I was brought in this league with a certain quote, which is, and I remember this is when I was a player because it did affect me. If you think the coach can help you get better, that's one of the most important things outside of him caring about you as a person. Those two things go hand in hand. Person first, player second. But if they know you care and they know you can help them, I think then you can build a relationship in which you can get them to maybe levels they didn't think they could get to. And that's important for me. Jason Butt from the AJC. Hey coach, was your time in Tennessee the first time you met Arthur? If not, when was the first time that you met with him and got to know him? And how quickly did you realize that you guys were like-minded or shared similar dots and philosophies on football? Yeah, our first time in terms of actually meeting would have been in Tennessee in 2011. He was on the defensive side of the ball. I was on the offensive side of the ball. Neither one of us at that time had, I was married with some kids, but they were with two of my children, but they were still living somewhere else for that. It was a lockout year. So we had an interesting off season, not knowing when the players were going to arrive, which allowed that staff to get really close in terms of getting to know each other, the personalities going out after work, getting to know each other on a personal level, just not what you thought about the X and O's and the football level. And there are some similar things in our backgrounds in terms of education and some other beliefs in terms of football. And we just kind of hid off from there. And from that standpoint, regardless of where I've been, I know he was able to stay in Tennessee throughout. That constant contact of football philosophy, thoughts challenging each other, not just always agreeing with each other thought, but thought provoking questions. And again, I think a mutual respect for one another's on and off the field thought process. And so for you, what was the timeline like when he reached out and was that something that once he reached out, you kind of wanted to maybe accelerate the process and take an offensive coordinator opportunity? Yeah, sure. These tend to happen fast in terms of once the season's over, both of us being in the playoffs, and then you go from 100 miles an hour and then all of a sudden it goes to zero when your season's over. He was afforded the opportunities to interview and he was fortunate enough to land one of these jobs, which there's only 32 in the world. And once that ball started rolling in terms of him finding a spot and now his thought process has went into a staff and conversations happened after that. And again, just fortunate enough to be part of the process. Thanks. Allison, Mr. Angelo. Hey, welcome to Atlanta. You know, you talk about, you know, trying to get to know the players and working with them. What can you do now? I know it's a pandemic to get to know the guys leading up to when you can start to have actual workouts with them. Anything you can do on the side, calling them, video, everything like that? Yeah, I think right now specifically from my standpoint is the best thing I can do is evaluate the tape to the best of my ability. Put eyes, make sure I'm seeing every snap, understanding not just the stats after the game for the skill guys, but more and less the variables in which that happened. Right, was a guy coming off injury that week and playing through it. It was a guy, you know, having a productive string of games in a row. How does he play when he's not playing well and then all of a sudden comes out of that funk? What made him happen? But how did that happen? So I think more than anything else, job one is to evaluate the tapes to the best of my ability with an unbiased opinion with everybody and get my evaluations from pen to paper. So I can truly in my mind at least have a great idea of what we currently have on our roster. And then from that point on, yeah, it's about building relationships. And then we'll see how this off season unfolds in the current NFL climate. Maria Martin. Coach, congratulations. Welcome to Atlanta. What was the most intriguing part of this job for you? Well, I think in this profession, for me, it's been about relationships. It's the people. And again, I think you guys had a chance, obviously, now to spend some time with Arthur. You know, in this profession, there's people that you gravitate towards and you want to work with if you work with them previously and you want to work with them again in any capacity. Again, and I keep using that word just fortunate enough to be in this capacity is the offensive coordinator. But it was about the people first. It helps the fact that you come into a situation offensively with some pretty good talent. But it started with being somewhere working with someone that you have that you have an admiration for and a professional and personal level. Kelsey Conway. Hey, Coach, just following up on something that you said earlier, when you talked about your relationship with Arthur Smith and first meeting him, and you've seen the way he's grown, obviously taking over one of the league's best offenses for the last two years. What do you think for some of us who haven't really gotten to know him in his philosophy are what makes him such a good offensive-minded coach? Yeah, you know, I don't think if you asked anybody over the course of probably the last 10 years in the NFL or even previous to his spots and other spots in Washington when he's got in the league, I'm not sure how many people really surprised by his success. And I think it's easy to say now. But the one word that comes to mind is very authentic. And players feel that as a former player, when you're being coached by someone who you feel has no ego and you feel is authentic, you gravitate towards that person or that coach. When you feel someone just a salesman and you're not sure they might change with the wind, it's hard as an NFL player to follow that. I'm pretty sure if you ask anybody that he's coached at the tight end position or when he's led as an offensive coordinator, I have a good bet feeling that people are going to say that no ego and authentic. And I think you saw the way that those Tennessee offenses played. And they went through injuries, they had different guys in the lineup, but you saw a brand of toughness and physicality. And, you know, from his, the way he's believed football needs to be played, I think you saw that on tape or when you played against that team.