Falcons owner Arthur Blank participated in the fourth annual Quarterback Summit which was started by the NFL to help create a pipeline of minority coaching candidates at one of the key positions in the league.
Blank took part in a session on building a winning culture, along with Bears chairman George McCaskey, New England coach Bill Belichick and Kansas City coach Andy Reid, on Tuesday, but most of the talk was about the league’s dismal head-coaching hiring practices.
In the 2021 hiring season, two of seven head coaches hired were minority candidates. There are now five of 32 minority coaches (16%) in the league. The Falcons interviewed minority candidates in Raheem Morris, Todd Bowles and Robert Saleh, but selected Arthur Smith to replace Dan Quinn, who was fired five games into last season.
The Falcons also interviewed Carolina offensive coordinator Joe Brady.
The NFL in partnership with the Black College Football Hall of Fame hosted the QB Summit for front office personnel and coaches from the NFL and NCAA to experience professional development and networking opportunities with NFL club executives.
Here’s what Blank had to say:
ON WHAT CHARACTERISTICS ARE OWNERS ARE LOOKING WHEN HIRING A HEAD COACH: “You want somebody who understands your organization. Your values because each organization is structured a little bit differently. Each owner is a little bit different. The philosophy on how the organization functions could be a little bit different. So you want somebody who is compatible with that. ... Also, I think ... you want a head coach … who can think around corners. Somebody who has the ability to understand what that takes today and what am I going to do tomorrow and the next. It’s (become) even more competitive where we have an incredible number of bright coaches and coordinators throughout the league.”
ON THE LACK OF DIVERSITY IN THE COACHING RANKS: “It’s been a long journey. I was on the committee when Dan Rooney was the chair of the committee when we adopted the Rooney Rule. So, I think that from a historical standpoint, the game did not have … while it had after, a certain point, a diverse set of players. It’s very close to 70% of our players are African-American, historically that was not always the case. Historically, I think there were certain views about what coaches that were Black and what they could and couldn’t do. What their strengths would be and what their weaknesses would be. I think most of that, if not all of that, God willing, is behind us. So, I think today it’s more of an issue of developing a deeper pipeline.
“I know that the league has been working on that, the clubs have been working on that. There has been progress made. We didn’t have the progress this year in the head-coach hiring, but we did in terms of the general managers. I can’t remember the exact numbers, but we hired a young man (Terry Fontenot) from the Saints, who is African-American. A very bright guy. Been with the Saints for 18 years. I think you get more people in diverse positions both as general managers and as coordinators obviously, other head coaches, but also at the club level there are a variety of positions, diversity of positions.
“Take a team like Washington now, their team president (Jason Wright) is an African-American young man. He played with us for one or two years. A very bright guy. So I think more of that exposure creates more sensitivity and more awareness at the club level so that when you begin that process -- Who’s on the list? Who do you want to talk to? -- I think the result of that is the list becomes more and more expanded. Then it becomes a question of do we have them on the list?
“Are all of those candidates properly trained in how to conduct an interview. How to get prepared for an interview. We’ve had some candidates come in, regardless of white, Black or whoever it maybe, they hadn’t studied our roster. Others have come in and have done a really good job of it and were creative in their thoughts and how they see things unfolding in the future. So, I think part of that is learning how to do that as well. I think filling up the pipeline with qualified candidates, making sure that they are exposed to owners, which I think is very important. I think those are the things we have to continue to do.”
ON WHAT ADVICE HE’D GIVE HEAD COACHING CANDIDATES: “No. 1, I would attend as many of these kind of sessions that you can. I would try to have as much direct exposure to owners as you can in any setting that the NFL can provide you because I think you want to move past the names. You want to move to the person and get to know the person. Assuming that they do all of the things that coach (Andy) Reid described aspirationally ... you want that exposure so when you are actually in the interview process, the name has already been connected to a face. It doesn’t mean you’ve spent a lot of time with them, but you’ve spent some time with them. The other thing I would say very strongly, I’ve had many interviews -- more than I wish over the years -- for head coach candidates. Some come really prepared and some don’t. Some come just telling stories. They have a history or they have an experience level and really what you want to see is if somebody is really taking this job interview seriously. Are they thinking through the roster? Do they have thoughts about players? Not stuff they’ve read from the media. But stuff they’ve actually thought of themselves. What kind of creative thinking do they have? Do they understand the salary cap? Do they understand the organization? Have they studied your organization? Do they understand the flavor of what’s important to you as an ownership group and as an organization and as a community? All of those things I think are important when ... it’s a matter of taking the interview seriously. Don’t be flippant about it. Don’t assume anything. …(If) you’ve got a lot of experience, you want to share all of that. As an owner, I would tell you that you’re looking for somebody who has done all that and who can not only manage for today, but who also potentially has the ability to think about the curves as I said earlier, around corners. What trends do you see in the NFL? How are you going to stay ahead of those trends? What are the things you’re seeing college ball today that is going to come back to the NFL? I would stay certainly today and the coaches would agree or disagree, but I think we see things coming out of college ball at a much faster rate being impacted and put in place in the NFL. So, the ability to do that, the ability to look at other leagues, look at what’s going on in Canadian. Is there anything we can learn there? Whatever the case may be.”
ON THE KEYS TO THE INTERVIEWING PROCESS: “As much as the individual is being interviewed, they ought to interview as well. Seriously…you don’t want to put yourself in a position where you doomed for failure. There are certain organizations where they are going to fit better for certain coaching opportunities than others. So, if you feel, for whatever reason, chemistry, values, whatever it maybe, and it’s not going to be a good fit for you even though you’ve been interviewed and the job may have been offered to you...if it’s not going to be a good fit, you have to think seriously about what is it that’s going to make it successful there given who I am, given the style, given the way and how I function. My ability to communicate. How do I communicate. All of those things because in certain environments, it will be totally supported. In some other environments, for a variety of reasons, it would be something less than that, which makes it that much more difficult to win in a league where wins come very hard. I would say...make sure the interview is working both ways. Also, I think that will make owners and other people in the interviewing process take their responsibility even more seriously. They’ll have to do more of their homework on the individual so it’s kind of a two-way street.”
ON WHAT TOOLS TO USE TO MAKE SURE IT’S A DIVERSE COACHING SEARCH: “There is nothing wrong with using search firms. There is nothing wrong with using other references. Other contacts. That can potentially widen your pool and bring in somebody who you hadn’t thought of. In today’s day in age, most of these list are fairly common. If you want to get somebody else’s third-party view on the certain things you’ve heard, you can use a firm to help do that. A psychological testing firm, but I do think at the end of the day…the interviewing process and the hiring process has got to be owned by the ownership and by the group that’s doing the hiring, the group that’s doing the hiring assignment. ... I think today, it should be a very diverse group. I think that’s a requirement. I think the more African-American general managers we have in the league, or folks involved in personnel at a senior level, potentially other coordinators or coaches. The more that you bring those folks into the (process), the more you are going to be aware of all of the sensitivities and make sure you are asking the right questions. … I think today because of the advancements that we’ve made, we have more of that in virtually all of our clubs today. I’d like to see more of that in the future. As we continue to expand not only the concept of the Rooney Rule, but the accountability for it, I think you’ll see more of that in the future, too. I think the other things are fine. You get references. You get third party views. I think a lot of what coach (Bill) Belichick talked about is important. Who are their references? Are they references that you know and trust? Are they people that you’ve worked with in the past? Can you really count on their word? Is the level of trust high with them? All of those things are critical.”
ON THE TREND TOWARD HIRING YOUNGER HEAD COACHES: “I think you’re trying to find a balance between somebody who is really smart. Somebody who’s a great decision maker ... somebody who is studying the newer ways to do things. New approaches. New ideas. They may have some exposure to analytics and at a deeper level and a variety of other things. That kind of comes with youth. Whether it be coach (Bill) Parcells or coach (Andy) Reid or coach (Bill) Belichick, will tell you that the leadership component is critical. Sometimes, you catch that at a very early age. Often, you need to get some notches in your belt if you will so that you have the ability to lead under a very diverse set of circumstances. There’s no question that being an NFL head coach, the pressure level is extraordinary. So, sometimes a young person who may be really bright and may have great potential, they may have the knowledge, but not the wisdom to provide that kind of leadership. It is a balancing act I think.”
ON WHEN INTERVIEWING CANDIDATES IS THERE A CONVERSATION ABOUT UNDERSTANDING ANYLATICS: “I think it’s another tool in the tool box. But at the end of the day, I agree with coach Belichick and coach Reid. You are making decisions about a lot of things that have nothing to do with analytics. It’s heart, passion, intensity, character and the ability to be resilient from play to play, game to game, quarter to quarter. There are a million things that go through a coach’s mind whether or not they are going to use a certain player in a situation or not, at what part of the game or the end of the game. I think it’s good information. That’s all it is.”
ON A CANDIDATES LOVE FOR THE GAME: “It’s critical. You can’t, the whole Zen philosophy confusing work and play. I think if you’re going to be a head coach or a player for that matter, let’s say a head coach in this league, the job is hard enough. It’s a very intense job from many viewpoints. I think you have the love for it, the passion for it, you have to have all of the abilities to think creatively and look at players and make decisions. If you don’t have a deep passion and true love for the game and it becomes kind of job, there is no way you can do that. In my opinion there is no way you can be a head coach in this league without having a whole lot bigger view of it than that. I think that’s terribly important.”
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