I'm a fan, not a reporter, and I'm frustrated with what I know to be a difference in realities between what I saw happen on the field each game, and what was being reported in the media as the cause of this year's disaster season, with the players being the sole scapegoat. After this piece, I'll post some articles I've found that back up what I say.
I'm also frustrated at the criticisms of Mr. Blank, who has treated Dan with the upmost respect and dignity from the minute he bougt the team up until firing Reeves. It really is harsh to call it a firing, even with the disaster this year, Reeves could still be coach if he was more willing to relenquish power in personnel decisions and total control of the offense in regards to the system, power given to him by the Smith family when he came here.
Mr. Blank has said from day one that he will hire a GM, and it's no secret he's coveted Tampa's GM Rich Mckay, and has waited for Tampa to release him from his contract, which it has now done because of conflicts with Gruden over personnel decisions. Mckay will be the Falcons GM come next season. Reeves knew this was coming, it was no surprise, and he knew that he would have to either relenquish some power over personnel decisions, or be let go when Mckay got here.
I believe Reeves might have gone along with that, but he refuses to relenquish control over the offense the falcons run, and that's the main reason his tenure here is over. If he would have been willing to bring in an offensive coordinator, let him design a modern offensive scheme with Reeves still having the final say over play calling, he would still be the falcons coach, and would remove the one main obstacle that has kept him from winning a Super Bowl, and that's his stubborness to stick to a book of scripted plays that's he's had since he traded for Elway at Denver.
Like Freedom Poster, I live here and am a Falcons fan. I've been watching them since 1976, and I've watched every game Reeves has coached here but four.
Before I get into the details, I want to start by saying Reeves is by far the best coach in Falcons history, and I hate to see him go, especially under these circumstances. Nothing would've made me happier than to see my Falcons, and coach Reeves, both get their first Super bowl rings before he retired, on the back of the second great qb Reeves has developed. Four Super Bowl losses are forgotten about, and Reeves goes from good to alltime great in the NFL history books.
Overall, there isn't a better head coach out there. He trasformed the falcons from the June Jones era run and shoot into a respectable solid team in short order. He took the Falcons to their first Super bowl in 98, and after making the second round of the play offs last year, many thought the Falcons could go to their second Super bowl this year.
Going into training camp, if someone said to me Reeves would be fired before season's end, after getting over the hysterical laughter, I probably would've slapped them for saying something so stupid, and for giving me nightmarish flashbacks of the Leeman Bennet firing, and the years of miserable falcons teams that followed.
But the ghost of the Smith family reared it's ugly head, Vick broke his leg in a preseason game, setting into motion the season that cost Reeves his job, and a chance at a ring.
I've read and heard many people say that Vick being out is the main reason the Falcons are 3-9, and that Blank is doing Reeves wrong by firing him.
I agree that Vick being out hurt the Falcons, but as I said before the cowboy game and still am convinced, this team with Johnson at qb had enough talent to stay close enough to .500 until Vick returned, which would've still given them a shot at making the playoffs.
This team went from the one that beat Dallas and dominated Washington for most of the first half, to the team that lost 7 straight playing worse football than any Reeves coached falcon team I had watched , in the span of the fifteen minute halftime period during the Washington game, like someone had flipped a switch. That's not indiciative of a team short on talent.
Even if Vick got hurt, Reeves was in charge of personnel decisions and the offense, he is ultimately responsible for the disaster this season has become, and five of his seven seasons have seen the falcons finish below .500. No one can say Reeves doesn't deserve to be fired , but all he had to do to keep his job was be willing to hire a coordinator, and run a modern passing offense.
Overall, Reeves has done a good job with the offense here. The 98 team had a very good offense, right up until being shut down by a Denver defense, while a solid veteran unit, a unit that no one in hell gave a chance of holding the falcons under 21 points. In victories over the forty niners twice, and the cowboys, two of the top defenses in the NFL that year, the falcon offense moved the ball well against both while regularly scoring 30 or more in games against leser defenses.
Mike Shannahan (hint,hint) had his defense so well prepared, it was almost as if the defense could tell exactly what we were going to do before we snapped the ball, play after play. Every Jamal run was met in the hole by a line backer. Every time Chandler dropped back to pass, well disguised 5 to 7 man blitzes worked to perfection having a defender in Chandler's face within seconds of the snap, down after down.The Denver defense knew exactly what blocking scheme, pass routes, run or pass, etc. based off pre-snap reads down after down.
Since that game, that's the formula teams have used when they've been successful in shutting down the falcon's offense since. Even with Vick at the helm last year, teams like Philadelphia and Tampa, that had enough speed on defense to contain Vick on the ground, forcing him to beat them throwing the ball, had success shutting down this offense.
The deal is this, Reeves, unlike every other team in the league, runs his offense out of a book of scripted plays, like most teams did until Bill Walsh started a new trend that eventually spread league wide sans Dan, and that's throwing out the time tested practice of scripted playbooks that require teams memorize hundreds of diagrammed plays, take a basic offense and adjust the routes and formations each week with the intention of creating favorable coverage match ups , maximizing the chance of getting receivers open, and moving the ball.
The look and style of the offense can be adjusted each week to best attack the perceived weakness of that weeks opponent, and adjusted during the game if an opposing defense is doing something to shut you down. It makes an offense less predictable, more adaptable, and harder to prepare for.
There are many different variations of this theme, some more successfull than others, but the basic idea is the same.
Reeves offense doesn't change much in formation or route from week to week. Instead of having to figure out what routes and looks you might install to attack his defense, an opposing coordinator can spend a week figuring out ways to attack Reeves offense. It's very predictable, which makes it very succeptable to blitzes and defenses good at it.
Reeves passing attack has too many high risk, seven step drop, progressive read plays that put all the pressure on the qb, and force the qb to stand in the pocket and throw the ball 15 - 20 yards downfield. There aren't many plays designed for getting people open in the intermediate zone 8-15 yards from the line of scrimmage, what are called possesion pass plays. Plays that get the ball out of the qb's hand quickly, have a high percentage of completion, move the chains, and are not succeptible to blitzes.
Reeves was very clear when the Smith family brought him here that he ran an offense off a playbook, that he knew that nobody else in the NFL did, but he believes in his system and isn't changing it. Mr. Blank and this team know that Reeves offense does not give them their best chance of winning, and have tried to convince Reeves of that, just like Elway and Shannahan did back in Reeves Denver days. Now, like then, Reeves is sticking to his playbook.
Mr. Blank didn't make this move to punish Reeves, his sole intention is add to what Dan has built from nothing, and take this team to the next level. Reeves had his time,took this team as far as he could, and with Mckay coming available, Blank felt now was the time to make the move.
And if I'm right in who I think is going to be the next Falcons coach, and that's Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, who is a highly regarded Parcell/Belicheck disciple who is thought to have the qualities needed to make the jump from assistant to head coach.. Coupled with Mckay, our defense will get better in a hurry, which is where we really need the most improvement.
Blank's desire to wait for Mckay shows that Blank wants to emphasis defense, Lovie Smith fits that mold .
With Vick and a modern passing offense, were alright on that side of the ball. If Smith is hired, I feel we have the chance to be very good not only next year, but for a few years to come. With the way Blank waited for Mckay, and didn't settle for getting a lesser GM, Blank has demonstrated a well thought out plan to improve the team, and I like what I see.
Below are several articles posted in a seperate comment, that add some insight into the situation, and back up the opinion that Blank did the right thing.