With any job, it helps to know the right people.
As it pertains to Falcons coach Arthur Smith’s staff, that’s certainly the case. Of the 19 assistants Smith has hired thus far, 11 have worked alongside him previously. Of the eight who haven’t, three have a previous working relationship with one of the coordinators. The other five assistants are linked through either an assistant or mutual contact.
During his introductory news conference, Smith said he wanted to take his time with these assistant hires and ensure that he didn’t surround himself with “yes men.” Considering who Smith has hired so far, he should have a good understanding of each individual based on the connections they share.
Offensive coordinator Dave Ragone: Ragone and Smith worked at Tennessee together from 2011-13. In 2011 and 2012, Ragone was the Titans’ wide receivers coach. In 2013 he coached quarterbacks. Smith began his Tennessee tenure as a defensive quality-control coach in 2011 before shifting to the offense in 2012. Ragone noted that the two became fast friends in 2011, which was when the NFL locked out its players during a collective bargaining agreement dispute.
“We had an interesting offseason not knowing when the players were going to arrive, which allowed the staff to get really close in terms of getting to know each other’s personalities and going out after work,” Ragone said. “(We were) getting to know each other on a personal level, not just what you thought of the X’s and O’s at the football level. There were some similar things in our backgrounds in terms of education and some other beliefs in terms of football. We just kind of hit it off from there.”
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees: Pees was Tennessee’s defensive coordinator from 2018-19, which came after spending the final six of his eight years as the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator. In 2019, Smith was promoted to being the Titans’ offensive coordinator, which allowed the two to get to know each other quite well. Pees lauded the working relationship they had in Tennessee.
“The biggest thing was just the cooperation,” Pees said. “When you have an offensive and defensive coordinator, sometimes that can be very competitive within a team. You go out to practice and somebody’s trying to beat somebody else. That’s really not the purpose of practice. The purpose of practice when you’re practicing together is to get better. … I would go to him and say, ‘I need you to do this on offense for me today so we can practice it today.’ It may be something we hardly do. He’d come to me and say, ‘I need you to play this coverage in practice today, can you give me a couple of snaps of that?’ Absolutely.
“He was incredible to work with. The other part was I just saw how he was around the staff, the players. I just think he’s an incredible, incredible coach.”
Special-teams coordinator Marquice Williams: Williams and Smith never coached together, but they have a mutual connection. Craig Aukerman was the San Diego Chargers’ special-teams coordinator in 2016, with Williams working as an assistant under him. Aukerman, the Titans’ special-teams coach, became Smith’s colleague with Tennessee in 2017.
“(Aukerman) is a guy who’s really close to my heart,” Williams said. “I give a lot of credit to him for getting me to the NFL and teaching me the way of how to be a great coach, both on and off the field. That’s a guy who we shared a common friendship with, and it kind of took off from there.”
Receivers coach Dave Brock: When Smith played college football at North Carolina, Brock was on the coaching staff as the receivers coach in 2005 and the assistant to the head coach in 2006. The two have maintained a friendship since, which led to Smith keeping Brock on staff.
Linebackers coach Frank Bush: Bush was the Titans’ linebackers coach in 2011 and 2012, which also happened to be Smith’s first two years with there. In 2011, Smith worked with Bush as a defensive quality-control coach.
Quarterbacks coach Charles London: London was an offensive quality-control coach with the Titans in 2011, which also served as Smith’s first season in Tennessee. London worked with Ragone in Chicago as the running backs coach from 2018-20.
Offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford: Ledford, still pursuing his professional football career at the time, was an assistant strength-and-conditioning coach at North Carolina in 2005. When Ledford was with the Tar Heels, Smith was a fourth-year junior offensive guard.
Outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino: Monachino has not coached with Smith, but he was the outside linebackers coach with the Ravens when Pees was the defensive coordinator. Over the past two seasons, Monachino was a senior defensive assistant and outside linebackers coach with the Bears, where Ragone and London also came from.
Defensive line coach Gary Emanuel: Although Emanuel doesn’t have a direct tie to Smith, he was the Colts’ defensive line coach from 2012-17. This coincided with Monachino, who was the Colts’ defensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017.
Senior assistant Steve Hoffman: Hoffman was the Titans’ assistant special-teams coordinator from 2013-16 and was promoted to special-teams coordinator during the 2016 season. He held the same role in 2017, but was not retained in 2018 by coach Mike Vrabel. Hoffman and Smith worked for a combined five years in Tennessee.
Secondary coach Jon Hoke: Hoke was on the Bears’ staff from 2009-14, which overlapped with Williams for two years. Williams was with the Bears in 2013 and 2014 through the NFL’s Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship program.
Tight ends coach Justin Peelle: Peelle hasn’t coached with anyone on the Falcons’ staff, but he has a mutual connection with Pees. Peelle has been on the Philadelphia Eagles’ coaching staff since 2013, leading the tight ends group since 2015. In 2020, Marty Mornhinweg joined the Eagles as a senior offensive consultant. Mornhinweg coached quarterbacks for the Ravens in 2015 and was the team’s offensive coordinator from 2016-18. Pees and Mornhinweg overlapped in Baltimore in 2016 and 2017. Peelle also played for the Falcons from 2008-10.
Running backs coach Desmond Kitchings: Kitchings hasn’t coached with Smith before, but they share a strong connection. Kitchings coached running backs at Vanderbilt from 2008-10. The offensive line coach in 2008 and 2009 was Robbie Caldwell, who was hired to lead Commodores just before the 2010 season began. Caldwell, who coached the North Carolina offensive line from 2000-01, played a significant role in recruiting Smith to the Tar Heels.
Defensive assistant Matt Pees: Matt Pees is Dean Pees’ son. He also worked with Smith in Tennessee as a defensive assistant and quality-control coach in 2018 and 2019, primarily spending time with the defensive line.
Passing-game specialist T.J. Yates: Yates and Smith were teammates at North Carolina. Yates’ redshirt freshman season was in 2006, when Smith was a fifth-year senior.
Assistant defensive backs coach Nick Perry: Perry signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and spent time with Pees’ unit on the practice squad that season.
Defensive assistant Lanier Goethie: Goethie and Smith were near the beginning of their careers as graduate assistants on Mississippi’s coaching staff under Houston Nutt in 2010.
Offensive assistant Danny Breyer: Breyer is one of two holdovers with Brock, who appears to be his closest link with Smith. Breyer also spent three seasons on the same staff as Hoke when the two were with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016-18.
Assistant offensive line coach Chandler Henley: Henley spent the past three seasons with the Tennessee Titans as a quality-control coach, working on the same staff with Smith.
