Freddie Falcon
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- Mar 16, 2019
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Matt Ryan should be used to changing offensive coordinators by now.
The good news this time, is he’s used to everyone he’s working with.
When Dirk Koetter returned to the Falcons staff this offseason, it reunited the veteran quarterback with his second offensive coordinator, who coached him from 2012-14. Also on staff is his first, Mike Mularkey, now the Falcons tight ends coach. That kind of familiarity is something they hope jump-starts an offense that never quite found itself under Steve Sarkisian.
“I’m excited to work with Dirk again,” Ryan said, via Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I learned so much from him the first time around. He’s kind of picked up a few things along the way, too, come up with some really good stuff. It’s been a lot of fun the last couple months of getting back to work with Dirk. . . .
“I learned a lot in the passing game, a lot about how to process information at the quarterback position in the passing game from him. How to eliminate certain things early, pre-snap. I felt like I made a big jump during those years in terms of learning keys and really understanding about eliminating certain parts of progression to make you play faster to make you play more clear-headed.”
For his part, Koetter’s relieved to be working with a guy who likes to throw it to his own team. Last year in Tampa, his two quarterbacks (Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jamies Winston) were among the top three in the league in interception percentage.
“I think the thing I took for granted when I was away was his accuracy,” Koetter said of Ryan. “Matt also now is a coach on the field. He knows this system like the back of his hand. He’s out there directing traffic. When he has young guys out there, he knows exactly what he wants them to do and what it should look like. And he’s good at expressing it.”
With all that, the conversion to Ryan’s fifth time changing coordinators in an offseason ought to be a smooth one.