Smith has no NFL head coaching experience and has been a coordinator for only two seasonsGETTY IMAGES
The Falcons on Friday hired Titans offensive coordinator C Arthur Smith to become their new coach, while they also have "closed in" on Saints VP & Assistant GM of Pro Personnel Terry Fontenot as their new GM, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION. Smith has "no NFL head coaching experience and has been a coordinator for only two seasons." Meanwhile, Fontenot would replace Thomas Dimitroff, who was fired along with coach Dan Quinn on Oct. 11. Fontenot was not expected to be officially announced until after the Saints were eliminated from the playoffs, which happened last night (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 1/16). THE ATHLETIC's Jeff Schultz wrote this "will not be an easy job" for Smith and Fontenot. They will need to "rebuild a roster" and "navigate around a precarious salary-cap situation that finds them approximately $24.692 million in the hole and yet with just 31 players under contract" for '21 (THEATHLETIC.com, 1/15). In Atlanta, Mark Bradley wrote he is "encouraged" by the "new stewards of football operations." Bradley: "This isn’t an Urban-Meyer-to-the-Jaguars splash, but that’s OK." The pairing of Fontenot and Smith indicates that the team has "identified its flaws and moved to correct them" (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 1/16).
