The Falcoholic
There was never much suspense about the outcome here. The Atlanta Falcons have ushered in a new era with the hire of franchise legend Matt Ryan as the new president of football, a position created this offseason to oversee the front office and coaching staff.
Atlanta announced the hire on Saturday morning after finishing their interview with Ryan the previous evening, and he’ll immediately step into the role. Ryan is expected to be a key part of the hiring process for the team’s new general manager and head coach, and the franchise has been requesting interviews for both those positions in the week leading up to the hire.
Ryan, who was drafted third overall in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Falcons, went on to become one of the greatest players in team history and one of the best quarterbacks of his era. He finished his career in Atlanta after the 2021 season when the team traded him to the Colts, and by that time Ryan had the franchise’s lone MVP award, every major franchise record, and top ten all-time in passing yards and touchdowns NFL-wide. After finishing up his playing career post-2022, Ryan jumped into NFL analyst work with CBS, where he proved to be astute at breaking down games and teams.
Now he’ll enter the third chapter of his career and second stint in Atlanta with the hopes of the franchise pinned on him once again. Owner Arthur Blank has praised Ryan’s people skills and football intelligence, and it’s obvious that he has the relationships in the building and familiarity with the Falcons to understand what needs to be done. We won’t know whether he’s the right man to lead this team out of a stretch of eight losing seasons and into a better tomorrow for a while yet, but we hope he is.
Congratulations to Matt Ryan, and may he once again lift a franchise that needs him in a dark hour.
