Dirk Koetter may land on his feet soon. The recently fired Buccaneers head coach is the leading candidate to replace Steve Sarkisian as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Koetter preceded Kyle Shanahan in this role, working as Atlanta’s OC from 2012-14, before Mike Smith‘s ouster led Koetter to Tampa. Former Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell will interview for the role, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
While Bevell was out of the league this year, Koetter oversaw one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses. His head coaching tenure in Tampa did not end the Bucs’ now-11-season playoff drought, but Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick were able to consistently put up yards. Tampa Bay finished third in total offense this season. Two of Koetter’s three Falcons attacks ranked in the top 10; the 2012 team voyaged to the NFC’s No. 1 seed but blew a 17-point lead in the conference title game.
Bevell is expected to interview with the Falcons within the next two days, per Rapoport. The Seahawks fired him after the 2017 season, and other interviews did not lead to a Bevell 2018 landing spot. Whether it’s Koetter, Bevell or another coach, this process should be settled quickly, Ledbetter adds.
It really feels like Koetter is more liable to be continually successful as an OC. Not that Tampa Bay was an ideal situation, but his area of expertise truly seems to be the offense.
Hmmm, haven’t we tried this before ?!…Retread season is upon us in full swing
Isn’t that the coaching profession in a nutshell? They’re all hired to be fired…repeat…
Maybe Dirk can hire Jim Bob as his QB coach. Then Atlanta has two.