Posted on 12/18/2007 10:52:22 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has offered former New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells a top football decision-making job with the franchise, a high-ranking team official confirmed Tuesday night.
Parcells, an analyst with ESPN, is weighing the offer and could come to a decision by Wednesday, the team official said.
The position would trump the authority held by current president and general manager Rich McKay, who could remain with the franchise but be stripped of any decision-making powers with the football team. Instead, McKay would run the business side of the organization - if he decided to stay with the Falcons.
McKay did not return a message left on his cell phone.
Should Parcells, 66, decline the job, it is unknown whether McKay would remain with the Falcons in light of the developments. Regardless of whether Parcells takes the job, sweeping changes are expected in the football personnel office, the team official said.
It is not known who Parcells would name as head coach but he is said to have a list of candidates, the team official confirmed.
The pursuit of Parcells comes a week after Bobby Petrino abruptly resigned as head coach to take the head-coaching job at the university of Arkansas. Petrino's departure set the wheels in motion for Blank to try to find his third head coach since he purchased the team in 2002.
Jim Mora, who was fired New Year's Day 2007 after three seasons, and Petrino, were coaches recommended to Blank by McKay. Blank said at a press conference following Petrino's resignation that his next football move would be in the best interest of the franchise and he declined to say that McKay's role would remain the same.
McKay said that he is always concerned about his job security but his future with the Falcons has been under far more scrutiny this past year as the team has fallen to 3-11 amid quarterback Michael Vick's dogfighting scandal and disharmony between players and Petrino before Petrino's abrupt departure.
Though ransacked by injuries, McKay's evaluation of personnel has come into question as several free-agent acquisitions - Ed Hartwell, Jason Webster, Ike Reese, Joe Horn, Ovie Mughelli - have not made the splash that was expected when they were signed to big money deals.
Blank initially reached out to former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher to gauge his interest in taking the head coaching job but Cowher, who resigned after the 2006 season, said he planned to stay out of coaching until 2008 at the earliest.
They must have a really good post-game buffet spread.
NFL ping.
I made up the VP of Operations....
Banks al;ways have VP’s so why not a Pro Football team...
Hmmmm. Blank catching on....
Is Blank really that stupid? He’s now cleaning up the mess disloyalty causes and he’s reaching out to the guy that is the least loyal coach/ executive in the history the league?! The guy that was negotiating a new job WHILE his team was prepping for a Superbowl?!
I guess any idea that the Falcons might be a good team someday was serious misplaced.
I wonder what the grocery shopping is like there...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.