Arthur Blank Makes Weird Admission About Firing Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff
The Atlanta Falcons fired head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff on Sunday after getting off to a 0-5 start, the worst in franchise history. On Monday, owner Arthur Blank made an odd admission about the firings during a call with media members. He claimed they pair was fired after three-and-a-half years of disappointments.
Here's what Blank had to say:
Falcons owner Arthur Blank on a media call, asked specifically what he wants fixed: "It's called lack of winning." Adds it's not just about the 0-5 start, "it's a response to three-and-a-half years, post-Super Bowl."
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 12, 2020
Well, if that's the case, why did he wait so long? If this dates back to the franchise's failures since they blew a 28-3 lead in Super Bowl LI, then why did it take years to can the guys in charge? It's not like Atlanta has shown signs of turning things around at any point over the past few years.
The Falcons underachieved the year after the Super Bowl trip, going 10-6, finishing third in the NFC South and getting bounced in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. They followed that up with back-to-back 7-9 seasons in 2017 and 2018 despite being in a weak division. At any point during that time, Blank would have been justified in pulling the plug. He didn't.
This failure is as much on the owner as it is the guys he chose to run his franchise.
As I wrote yesterday, the Falcons need to hit the reset button if they want to crawl out of the NFL's version of purgatory. They started this season 0-5 and due to those back-to-back 7-9 seasons they haven't been able to truly rebuild. There's no benefit in finishing anywhere near .500 if you aren't making the postseason. Finish poorly and get great draft position in every round. That's how you really rebuild a franchise.
The Falcons need to tank spectacularly to undergo a true overhaul and they might need to ship out some of their expensive veterans to get there.