Falcon Report

Bill Belichick Jr.? Falcons' Arthur Smith Mocks Other Teams Preseason Stat Padding

Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith shared his thoughts on other teams' preseason highlight pass plays, and his philosophy sounds a lot like legendary New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Isaiah DeAnda Delgado

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Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith is similar to legendary New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. In a recent interview, he proved that with his dry sense of humor and philosophy on coaching.

The preseason presents organizations with the opportunity to either tighten up on their game-time fundamentals OR have starters try creating highlights, for example...

Atlanta sat its starters in Week 1. The roster is coached to treat every game like the Super Bowl, not a Harlem Globetrotters exhibition.

“When I watch the preseason games at times, and I look at a double reverse pass, the tight end will fall down, and they call it a million different names. He leaks off the back, and everyone’s like, ‘Wow!’ Look at that, that pass for a touchdown.’ You know, it’s like, we’re gonna execute our offense. We gotta get our team ready to play. I’m not sitting there, and I’m not going to feel satisfied with myself going, ‘Oh, cool. We grew up, double reverse screen, and went for 75, and we’re awesome,’ Smith said while laughing on the Pat McAfee Show about how some other organizations operate their offense in the preseason.

Smith coaches football the same way he jokes, with an old-school mentality and dry humor. Don’t let the Falcons’ success running the football allow you to confuse Smith with Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. While McDaniel has become a favorite amongst media for his obvious humor in press conferences, Smith hides his jokes with a blank expression.

“We gotta see if we can block and execute," Smith said. "It’s just a buildup, you know, like, we’ll get into the schemes and designer stuff Week 1, but that doesn’t impress me, like the double reverse in the preseason, and to each their own, throwing a flea flicker, just to say wow, look at that stat line. That does nothing for me.”

So don’t expect Smith, who has a 70s-era mustache and smashmouth brand of football, to coach his players like it’s Madden, he’s a players coach, but he loves real football. This makes the debut of Atlanta’s starters against the Cincinnati Bengals all the more exciting. Fans will finally get a taste of what this season has in store for the Falcons.

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Isaiah DeAnda Delgado
ISAIAH DEANDA DELGADO

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