Arthur Blank chose his people over Bill Belichick.
Former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who has worked with both men, explained that the Falcons owner decided to back his existing hierarchy rather than hire Belichick, who would have shook up the organization’s football operations.
“But in the end, there was an inner group in there, right?” Dimitroff said on “Felger & Mazz” on Monday. “Look, anytime Bill goes into an organization, you would assume whatever your thoughts are about him, he deserves the right to run it, meaning if there is a GM in there, Terry Fontenot — Terry was going to stay, but he was going to work with him, but maybe there was a group inside the building who kept pushing back to Arthur — Let’s call it the way it is. Any organization wants to keep their world, right? Presidents want to keep their world.”
One of those so-called “presidents” is Rich McKay, the team’s CEO who exited football operations upon the hiring of Raheem Morris as the new coach.
Belichick reportedly had an issue with McKay’s role and influence in the franchise and that would have been addressed had Belichick been hired.
Once the Falcons hired Morris, the Rams’ former defensive coordinator, McKay’s role shifted to be more wide-scoping while shielding him from the football team’s failures and success.
“You saw the discussion about Rich McKay, right?” Dimitroff said. “Rich is very talented. He knows a lot. The fact that he and Bill would have to work together — or not work together — wasn’t something that probably was going to happen. And Arthur had made a bold statement saying, ‘That was not an issue.’
“Bill had said he was going to work ostensibly with Terry Fontenot, so that wasn’t going to be an issue. But I think everyone looks at it like, ‘Yeah, but when you get someone like this in there, it’s going to be overhauled.”
There obviously would be less of an overhaul in hiring Morris, the former Buccaneers coach looking for another shot after a 17-31 record in Tampa Bay.
“I think, in the end, (Blank) has to make a choice, and he has to make a choice about what he’s looking for in the approach to culture,” Dimitroff said. “I think they felt like that was the group to do it.”
The Falcons interviewed Belichick twice and reportedly were the only team to show serious interest in the legendary coach. Once they passed on him, it all but sentenced him to a season away from coaching.
Like Tom Brady, Dimitroff could not believe no team hired Belichick.
“Unfathomable,” Dimitroff. “I am blown away.”