Print

Mail

wiki links

NFL: Smith is Falcons new head coach

The Atlanta Falcons hired Mike Smith as their new head coach on Wednesday, and the former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator vowed to make the team a more disciplined outfit.

Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff said Smith, a 26-year coaching veteran, "has strong experience with winning teams, a track record of success, a solid, smart approach to the game and high character and integrity."

Smith, 48, said his emphasis on each side of the line will be the running game.

"My goal is to build a well disciplined, hard-nosed football team that will be able to run the football on offense and stop the run on defense," Smith said. "I've always believed that's what makes championship teams."

Falcons quarterback Byron Leftwich was with Smith in Jacksonville for four years.

"I've played against his defense more than anybody in the world," Leftwich said. "I did it every day in practice for four years. He's a great guy for the job. A lot of people might not know his name, but I've seen the work he puts in every game, how guys were so prepared on Sundays that they knew exactly what teams were going to do."

Smith, a former defensive assistant with Baltimore, was in charge of a defense ranked 12th this season after previous rankings of second and sixth.

Leftwich said Smith never received enough credit in Jacksonville because many assumed Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio, a former defensive coordinator, was the real mastermind of the defense.

Jaguars defensive end Marcellus Wiley confirmed that opinion on Wednesday.

"Jack Del Rio was the defensive coordinator and if it wasn't him, it was [linebacker] Mike Peterson," Wiley said.

Wiley said Smith "was just a guy who stood at the front of the room when Jack Del Rio was leading the defense."

Wiley said the Falcons "really went down low on the totem pole."

However Jacksonville defensive end Paul Spicer said his message to the Falcons is "they are getting a gem."

"He is very competitive," Spicer said of Smith. "He wants the best out of you. He demands the best of you. Mike Smith gained the trust of a lot of Jaguars players over the years. He has definitely gained my trust."
This story has been viewed 676 times.