The Falcoholic
Atlanta appears to be lining up to hire Matt Ryan as their president of football, a new role meant to oversee the front office and coaching staff, but they were never going to just interview him and call it a day.
So now we have another candidate in the mix in the form of Josh Williams, a longtime scout with the San Francisco 49ers who has spent the past two seasons as their director of scouting and football operations; he’s spent 14 years with the 49ers overall and began his career in the organization when Jim Harbaugh was running the show. In that role, Williams “directs pro and college scouting efforts, supports player development, and assists in contract negotiations,” per the team’s website. Williams is well-regarded enough to be in the mix for the general manager role in Miami, where he’s familiar with head coach Mike McDaniel, and would be a fine hire in that role in Atlanta, as well.
It’s fair to say Williams seems like a long shot for the president of football role, however, which the Falcons appear to have created with Matt Ryan in mind. Cynical as it may be to say it, the team has appeared locked in on Ryan even before they announced the new role, which means interviews like Williams will be seen essentially as checked boxes so the Falcons can say they’ve interviewed more than one candidate and satisfied the Rooney Rule. That’s a shame because Williams is an interesting candidate for this role, given that he’s overseeing scouting and working on contracts for one of the best organizations in the sport, and would likely parlay that experience with the 49ers into thoughtful work and a new perspective for a team that needs both badly. As much as I love the idea of Ryan riding to the rescue for this franchise again, I’d like to think that if Williams is simply the more impressive candidate, that the Falcons will pivot and hire him; perhaps they’ll surprise us.
If Williams doesn’t land this job with the Falcons, perhaps he could be in play for a role in the front office. Given that Miami is also chasing him and that he has that strong connection with McDaniel, however, Williams likely won’t have to settle in the likely event the Falcons hire Ryan as their president of football. We’ll see how it goes.
