Falcons’ complete interviews with pair of defensive minds
The Falcons have requested interviews from about a dozen candidates, and they have already proceeded with a few of them. On Saturday, Atlanta had two more interviews: one with Mike Macdonald, the defensive coordinator for the Ravens, and another with Brian Callahan, the offensive coordinator for the Bengals, and Steve Wilks, the defensive coordinator for the 49ers.
Then, according to the team’s website, the interviews with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and assistant head coach Anthony Weaver of the Ravens resumed on Sunday.
As a secondary coach, defensive passing game coordinator, and safeties coach for the Rams for four seasons, Evero contributed to LA’s 2021 Super Bowl victory. He was then asked to interview for the Falcons’ open position after being elevated to defensive coordinator by the Broncos in 2022.
After the 2022 season with the Broncos, he remained coordinator for the Panthers after Denver moved on from Nathanial Hacket. During his time in the Mile High, the Broncos defense was 14th in points allowed and 7th in yards allowed. With the Panthers, Evero’s defense was 4th in yards allowed.
Anthony Weaver is a very interesting candidate that wasn’t on my radar, or most people’s. He’s a much bigger part of Baltimore’s recent success than most average fans are aware.
Not only is he leading a dominant defensive line that ranks in the top 5 in most defensive metrics, including first in sacks and points allowed, but he’s apparently helped lead the club’s 2023 offensive coordinator search, which ended up at Todd Monken, who has been a home run of a hire for Baltimore.
Falcons head coach candidate: Bobby Slowik
In terms of offensive wizards, Bobby Slowik is the most exciting name outside of Ben Johnson. Like many others, he began his career with the Washington Redskins under Mike Shanahan.
He worked as an assistant coach for the elder Shanahan from 2011 to 2013, and in 2017 he was hired by the younger Shanahan in San Francisco to oversee defensive quality control. Slowik moved up the ranks to offensive assistant two years later, offensive pass game specialist in 2021, and offensive passing game coordinator in 2022. His big break came last year when Demeco Ryans was named the Texans’ head coach.
After just one season as Houston’s offensive coordinator, Slowik is already being considered the next great offensive mind in the Shanahan tree. To be fair, not a single hire has gone awry, so it’s a good bet if you’re the Falcons.
He’s helped C.J. Stroud to an Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign. The Ohio State product has thrown for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns and looks like a franchise quarterback for the Texans; he credits his offensive coordinator with a lot of his success.
“[Slowik] helped me tremendously,” Stroud said to ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime. “He’s one of the people I appreciate because he’s honest with me. He holds me accountable game in and game out, no matter how good people say [I played] — he always has a coaching point or two to hit, and he’s always honest, which I appreciate.”
Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and Drake London, Atlanta’s three-star wide receivers, could benefit from Nico Collins surpassing 1,000 receiving yards and more than doubling his career production, as well as Tank Dell emerging as a potent weapon.
Even though he is only 36 years old, the outcomes are clear. With his 4,000-yard passing performance during the regular season, Stroud joined Andrew Luck, Justin Herbert, Cam Newton, and Jameis Winston as the sixth rookie quarterback in league history.
A year after one of Houston’s worst seasons, Slowik transformed the offense into one of the league’s most reliable groups in his first season as a play-caller. The Texans finished 31st in both scoring (17 points per game) and total yards (283.5) under Pep Hamilton. Beneath
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