The Falcons hired former Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter as their offensive coordinator. The Falcons hired former Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter as their offensive coordinator, the team announced Tuesday. "We are fired up to have Dirk join our staff as our offensive coordinator," head coach Dan Quinn said in a release. "His experience and familiarity with our division will also pay dividends as we move forward." The announcement came the same day Tampa Bay reportedly hired former Cardinals coach Bruce Arians as their top man. Koetter was fired by the Buccaneers after the team's season-ending 34–32 loss to the Falcons. Atlanta fired all three of its coordinators a day after their season-ending victory over Tampa Bay. Koetter was promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach after Lovie Smith was fired following the 2015 season. During his three-season tenure, Koetter guided the Bucs to a record of 19–29. Tampa Bay went 5–11 this season. The 59-year-old was the Falcons coordinator from 2012–14. The Falcons also hired Mike Mularkey as the new tight ends coach.<doc-sep>Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn knows he the clock is ticking and is betting on himself Atlanta Falcons: Dan Quinn knows he the clock is ticking and is betting on himself by Austin Williams The Atlanta Falcons welcomed a familiar face to the brotherhood by hiring former offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to resume the same position with the franchise. We take a look at Dirk’s resume and why the move is a risk. Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter made a name for himself as a college head coach, coaching Boise State and Arizona State universities. He is credited with the beginning of Boise State becoming a highly regarded College football program. After being let go at Arizona State, Dirk Koetter got his first chance to call plays in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, being hired as offensive coordinator in 2007. In his first year with Jacksonville, Koetter called played for the NFL’s number six scoring offense. The Jags were led by running back Fred Taylor and quarterback David Garrard. As Fred Taylor began to decline, so did the Jaguars offense. They dropped to number 24 in 2008. The team also ranked number 24 in 2009, their first year without Fred. Dirk Koetter’s offense improved slightly in 2010, ranking number 18 in the league in scoring, as Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for over 1300 yards for the second straight season. 2011 saw the Jaguars slip to number 28 in scoring, their lowest ranking under Dirk Koetter. Despite the low scoring season running back Maurice Jones-Drew had a phenomenal season. He was the NFL’s leading rusher with 1606 yards and eight touchdowns. Dirk Koetter’s contract expired after the 2011 season and he accepted a job as the Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator for the 2012 season. Under Dirk Koetter, Matt Ryan transformed from a game manager to one of the top passers in the NFL. In Dirk Koetter’s first year with Atlanta, Matt Ryan set new career highs in several categories. He jumped in passing yards from 4177 to 4719. That season is still the third best passing yardage total of Ryan’s career thus far. In that 2012 season, Matt Ryan also completed 68.6 percent of his passes and threw 32 touchdown passes, both career highs at the time. In fact Ryan threw for at least 45000 yards, threw at least 26 touchdowns and completed at least 66 percent of his passes, in each of the three seasons Koetter was his play caller. The Atlanta Falcons seemed to give Matt Ryan more freedom to audible at the line of scrimmage, when Dirk Koetter was the offensive coordinator. The no-huddle offense was also used as a change of pace strategy much more under Dirk Koetter than in recent years. During the three seasons that Dirk Koetter was the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, the offense was ranked number seven, number 20 and number 12. The Falcons had several key injuries in 2013 and 2014 including multiple wide receivers and offensive linemen. The number seven ranking in 2012 is more indicative of the type of offense that Koetter can run when he has the talent. When Dan Quinn was hired he hand-picked Kyle Shanahan to run the offense, that ended Dirk Koetter’s first stint with the Atlanta Falcons. Dirk Koetter moved on and accepted the offensive coordinator position with the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2015. Tampa Bay finished with the number 20 offense in Koetter’s first year. The Buccaneers were coming off the worse record in the NFL, in which they drafted quarterback Jameis Winston with the number one overall pick. Head coach Lovie Smith was fired after the 2015 season and Dirk Koetter was elevated to the head coaching position. The Buccaneers saw a marginal improvement in scoring in 2016 and 2017, ranking number 18 in both years. This past season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense improved six spots in scoring to number 12. They were a top offense in terms of yards produced, ranking number three in the entire NFL. Despite that fact, Koetter and his staff were fired and now here we are with Dirk back in Atlanta. Dirk Koetter’s Average Scoring Rank: 17.25 Rehiring Dirk Koetter was a risk, but a calculated one. One thing that may concern many people is the fact that Tampa Bay ranked number 22 in rushing this past season. Dan Quinn has stated multiple times this offseason that he want to run the ball more than the 35% the team ran last season. He also wants to run the ball more effectively. This associated press article published in USA Today details Quinn wanting more from the running game. Personally I’m not concerned about Koetter not running the ball much in Tampa. The Buccaneers don’t have a great running back or offensive line. Dirk Koetter showed in Jacksonville that he will run the ball with a good back and a good offensive line. Maurice Jones-Drew having three consecutive seasons of more than 1300 yards is evidence that he is not adverse to the running game. The main concern is, that the Atlanta Falcons zone blocking scheme is typically not a part of Dirk Koetter’s offense. He generally emphasizes a power blocking scheme. With Jake Mathews and Alex Mack firmly entrenched as starters, the Atlanta Falcons may not be willing to change the blocking scheme forcing Dirk to adapt. The concern of Dirk Koetter adapting to the blocking scheme is minor compared to the benefit of having an offensive coordinator that Matt Ryan knows and is comfortable with. This should eliminate the typical one year learning curve that it typically takes Matt Ryan to learn a new offense. Short of hiring Gary Kubiak who the Falcons were denied permission to talk to, there wasn’t a candidate that made more sense than this for Atlanta at this stage of Matt Ryan’s career. If general manager Thomas Dimitroff can shore up the offense line, Dirk Koetter can keep a good run pass balance and Matt Ryan is allowed more freedom to run the no huddle offense, the Atlanta Falcons will return to the playoffs next season. If Dirk Koetter and Matt Ryan can pick up where they left off, the Dirty Birds just might hoist the Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl Champions. ATL All Day Grade: B+ How would you grade the Falcons hire of Dirk Koetter? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. Atl All Day will continue to cover the Atlanta Falcons offseason. We will also have coverage on all of your favorite Atlanta area sports teams. Please download the FanSided app and favorite All Atlanta Sports for notifications on new articles. Thank you for your support. We appreciate all of our readers.<doc-sep>When the Falcons announced the hiring of Dirk Koetter to replace the recently-fired Steve Sarkisian as offensive coordinator, I was fairly indifferent. Anyone who has been following my thoughts on the OC search would know that I was a big proponent of trying to free Gary Kubiak from Denver. With Elway and the Broncos blocking Kubiak from interviewing elsewhere, my first choice—and the first choice of many fans—had been erased from contention. It now appears that Kubiak will become the offensive coordinator for the Broncos, who are hiring Bears’ defensive coordinator Vic Fangio as their new head coach. With Kubiak gone, attention then turned to three possible candidates: ex-Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, ex-Bucs’ head coach Dirk Koetter, and ex-Titans’ head coach Mike Mularkey. It was later announced that the team might also consider ex-Dolphins’ head coach Adam Gase as well. Between all these candidates, the one that made the most sense to me—and apparently to the Falcons’ brain trust—was Dirk Koetter. Mike Mularkey also ended up here in Atlanta, but as the TEs coach. In case you only recently became a Falcons fan, both Koetter and Mularkey have pretty extensive histories in Atlanta. Both served as OC for several years, and both have a lot of experience as head coaches. Neither has been overwhelmingly successful on their other coaching stops, but they do have existing relationships and comfort with both GM Thomas Dimitroff and QB Matt Ryan. When fans think of Dirk Koetter’s history in Atlanta, the shining achievement would have to be that magical 2012 season that nearly ended in a Super Bowl berth. Of course, like most things related to the Falcons, it ultimately ended in disappointment. Still, Koetter’s 2012 offense ranked 8th in total yards and 7th in total points scored and carried the team a long way—though one could certainly make the argument that the combo of Ryan, Julio, Roddy White, and Tony Gonzalez had more to do with that than the scheme. Outside of 2012, Koetter had a down year in 2013 (when the Falcons were ravaged by injuries) and an above-average one in 2014 (8th in yards, 12th in points). Still, even a statistically good season couldn’t save Koetter’s job when Mike Smith was fired after the 2014 season, and Dan Quinn decided to bring in his own choice at OC. I remember the fanbase being fairly divided on whether or not Quinn should’ve kept Koetter around, but hindsight tells us that going with Kyle Shanahan was the right decision. Things have now come full circle, with Koetter getting his chance to return to the Falcons and work with Dan Quinn. The question is, does Koetter really move the needle for Atlanta in a meaningful way? Will he provide any sort of upgrade over Steve Sarkisian? We obviously don’t know the answer to that yet, but in my mind, this hire says a few things about the Falcons and their mindset going into 2019. The Falcons want more consistency on offense One thing Sarkisian never really demonstrated was an ability to gameplan consistently. Some weeks, he’d come out with a great scheme and the Falcons would level the opposing defense. Other weeks it seemed like the team was clueless: trying to “establish the run” against teams with strong run defenses, and failing to take advantage of obvious mismatches in the passing game. Koetter’s scheme certainly has some weaknesses: he’s never been great at generating a rushing attack, and I myself have criticized him in the past for being too predictable. That predictability also lends itself to more consistent offensive performances, however, and that seems to be more important to the Falcons at this point. If Quinn can coordinate the defense to a top-10 level, the team would probably benefit more from an offense that consistently scores 24 or more every week than an offense that might score 30+ sometimes but less than 20 at other times. Atlanta wants Matt Ryan to be comfortable and happy While I’m not sure how much the Falcons actually consult with Matt Ryan, you have to believe his comfort and happiness with decisions—particularly with a position as important as offensive coordinator—are considered. Bringing in someone like Dirk Koetter, who Ryan has a lot of history with, makes a lot of sense if keeping Ryan comfortable and happy is a priority. I know many fans have noticed that Ryan has gone through a ton of offensive scheme changes throughout his career. Ryan, for his part, always manages to learn the new system and execute it at a high level. But there is almost always a “transition” season, and with Ryan and Julio firmly in their prime, wasting a year with another scheme change just doesn’t make any sense. With Koetter, Ryan gets to go back to a scheme that he’s clearly very comfortable in. Will that translate to a good or even great offensive season in 2019? That’s still TBD, but there should be a much easier “transition” time than there has been in seasons like 2015 and 2017. Does Koetter provide an upgrade over Sark? This one is hard to answer, and we won’t know for sure until we start seeing results on the field. My take is that Koetter is less of an obvious upgrade and more of a “side-grade”. That’s a term I discovered in video games, where an object—say, a piece of armor—isn’t necessarily better or worse overall than another object, but better in certain areas and worse in others. I think that’s what Koetter will end up being for the Falcons. Under Koetter, I expect a more consistent offensive approach with fewer peaks and valleys than we saw with Sark. That means we might be less likely to see the explosive outputs, but also less likely to see the terrible showings against tougher competition. Hopefully, with an improved defense, that more consistent style will lend itself to more wins for the Falcons in 2019 and beyond. That’s certainly what Dan Quinn is hoping for with this hire. What are your thoughts on the hiring of Dirk Koetter? Do you think he will be an upgrade over Sark, more of a “side-grade”, or even a downgrade when it’s all said and done?<doc-sep>
“Mike brings over 20 years of experience in our league as a former play-caller, head coach and as a player, and we are pleased to have him join our staff,” Quinn said. “He has a good feel for our offense, both in the run game and the pass game, and we feel he will be able to add to the strengths of our tight ends group as we head into 2019.” Koetter’s ability to adapt and blend offenses was attractive to the Falcons. When he was hired in 2012 to lead the offense, he had a similar task. He had to blend the best of his vertical Air Coryell passing attack with the Falcons’ power attack that Mularkey ran. He also came in and used the same terminology for quarterback Matt Ryan, who said that made it a smooth transition. Quinn said adaptability would be key for the new offensive coordinator. Also, he said he didn’t want to hire a first-time coordinator who would have to learn on a job. “We're not having wholesale changes on how we play in terms of a system,” Quinn said last week. “Not only is it important for the players and the staff, but also for Thomas (Dimitroff) and his staff as well in terms of the players that we're scouting for, to fit the system. I think adaptability is probably the top factor going in.” The Falcons’ running game fell off last season, while the passing attack continued at a high level. Fixing the offensive line is a major priority this offseason. The Falcons passed for 290.8 yards per game, which ranked fourth in the NFL this season. They rushed for 98.3 yards per game, which ranked 27th in the league. “We’ll have both outside and inside zone for sure,” Quinn said. “And what ways we can feature the guys best. So, it will definitely be still heavy in the zone, but definitely new ideas, new ways to do things, that’s definitely a part of it. “But not a wholesale change in terms of the philosophy. But as far as new schemes, new wrinkle part of it, adjustments, yes. (But no) wholesale changes to the scheme.” Quinn said there was a lot of league-wide interest in the position. Before the Koetter interview, Quinn said he had interviewed two candidates, which reportedly were former Seattle offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and Mularkey. Also, according to a ESPN report, the Falcons and the Bengals were blocked by the Denver Broncos from interviewing Gary Kubiak. The Falcons would not confirm the report, but according to a person familiar with the situation, the team was not allowed to speak to Kubiak. Although Kubiak did not coach last season, he remains under contract with the Broncos. The Falcons fired all three coordinators last week, a day following the regular-season finale and a 7-9 campaign. The Falcons’ running game fell off last season, while the passing attack continued at a high level. Fixing the offensive line is a major priority this offseason. The Falcons passed for 290.8 yards per game, which ranked fourth in the league last season. They rushed for 98.3 yards per game, which ranked 27th in the league. The Falcons apparently did not want Ryan to have to start over again with new coordinator for the third time in five seasons. The next coordinator will Ryan’s fifth -- Koetter twice -- over 12 seasons. In Koetter’s first season with the Falcons, the team reached the NFC title game and held a 17-0 lead before losing to Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers. The next two season, the offense slipped behind a porous offensive line. Under Koetter, Ryan posted several single-season career and franchise records including passing yards, touchdowns, and completion percentage. The combination of Koetter and Ryan over three seasons guided the Falcons offense to the fourth-ranked passing attack (292.0 ypg) and the 10th ranked scoring offense (24.0 ppg) in the NFL from 2012-14. Wide receiver Julio Jones also experienced a breakout year in 2012 under Koetter, setting career-bests – at the time – in receptions (79), receiving yards (1,198) and touchdowns (10) in only his second season.