Score Atlanta publisher I.J. Rosenberg recently sat down with Falcons Owner & CEO Arthur Blank to talk about the team’s surprising 2008 season and what he has in store for fans in ’09:
I.J. Rosenberg: It’s amazing to see where this franchise is compared to this time last year when it had hired a new general manager and head coach.
Arthur Blank: Well, I had great confidence in the selections we made for our general manager and head coach, and obviously as soon as they worked together during free agency and the draft, we saw the quality of their decision making and then I saw what was happening with our OTAs (Organized Team Activities) and I really felt more confident about the team than I did prior to that. Did I think we would end up 11-5 and in the playoffs? I can’t say I knew that was in the bag, but I certainly thought this team would be more competitive than most people thought.
New GM Thomas Dimitroff now has a year under his belt. His draft class last season and free agent acquisitions made big contributions to the 11-5 record and playoff appearance. How has Thomas been so successful in such a short period of time, especially considering his youth and the fact that he had no GM experience?
I think the fact that he had no GM experience was not an issue. You have to remember, his dad was a scout in the NFL for a long time. Talent evaluations were discussed regularly in his home and he spent over 20 years on the road as a talent evaluator himself and came out of a great organization, New England, where he had been for six years and spent the last five as director of college scouting. So I had great confidence in his intellect and his creative thinking and all things relating to his character and integrity. So I’m not shocked he has been as successful as he’s been.
Coach Mike Smith has also made a major impact. Your feeling on Smith’s first season as an NFL head coach?
The fact that he was named Coach of the Year was exceptional. He had a wonderful first year. He did a great job bonding with the players and developing a wonderful coaching staff. It’s not just about the head coach, it’s about the coordinators and the position coaches and Coach Smith has reached out to every other tentacle in this organization, whether it be finance, or marketing, or ticketing, or sales. In any area he could be supportive, as well as being active in the community, he’s done it all in his first year. So he’s had a wonderful first year and getting Coach of the Year was certainly a recognition he deserved.
After going from four wins to 11 in one season behind rookie quarterback Matt Ryan, many around the league feel the Falcons are ready to take the next step and become one of the league’s top franchises. How close do you feel this team is to giving this city the consistently winning team Atlanta has always hoped for?
I think we have to do two things at the same time: we have to focus on the immediacy of the current situation—that is the game of the week or the current season—but we also have to continue to build the roster and the team for the future at the same time. But I think Thomas and Mike both have the unique perspective and ability to do that. I’ve seen many decisions they’ve made over the last 12 months that were not only the right decisions for the team at the current time, but they will feed into building the right kind of roster for us in the future. I’m all about creating and sustaining a winning organization for a long period of time as opposed to just a one-year wonder deal and that’s the avenue that the organization is moving towards.
A lot has been written and said about your young quarterback Matt Ryan. Is it fair to say he is going to be one of the greats in this league some day?
I think he had a good first year and learned a lot, but he knows he needs to get better in his second year and he knows that his decision making will need to continue to improve. He can still understand the coaches and their schemes better and can work to open up the playbook even further. Whether that leads to greatness in the National Football League, hopefully, if he keeps his sense of humility, which I believe is an integral part of who he is, and continues to work on improving, then someday that will be said about him. But I don’t think he, nor I, are focused on him being great today.
Ryan has also become the face of the franchise. How important is his play and popularity in giving you the complete franchise you have always wanted to build?
I think it’s important, but it’s really not about one person. This is about a team; it’s about a team of coaches, it’s about a team of personnel folks who are all working together, it’s about a team of players that have a common vision and a common understanding about what they are trying to get done on the field. It’s not about “me,” it’s about “us,” and I think that Matt certainly supports that.
Your team will face one of the toughest schedules in the league, playing non-division games against clubs from the AFC East and NFC East. Can your team match last year’s win total or even better it playing teams like the Patriots and Giants?
It is a very tough schedule. Based on wins and losses from 2008, we have the fourth most difficult schedule in the NFL. Having said that, that’s all about last year and we’re about this year. I think it’s going to be better. We have a lot of young players who now have had a year of on-the-job experience and we will continue to build the roster through the draft. Also, our coaches will have spent more time together, they’ve had a year to start understanding each other and will be able to build on that. I see this team as being a very competitive one with a ton of energy and focus and I’m hoping that will lead to a lot of victories.
Anyone who went to the Georgia Dome last year saw the huge improvements made in its appearance and fan-friendliness. This year, do you have a few more surprises for fans?
From a physical standpoint, the JumboTrons will be the single biggest change. But that is a huge change because those screens are twice the size of last year’s. We are also excited about having a full year behind us now where we have all the exterior and interior improvements made, and it will be an opportunity for the fans to see all those things and really appreciate them. We will also definitely have some new and exciting stuff for fans to see.
There continues to be talk of the Falcons building a new stadium. Where are you on this possibility?
We have a great partnership with the Georgia World Congress Center and will continue to do so. By the year 2015, ‘16, or ‘17, when our bonds are paid off, we will have an option to move to a different site and our stadium will be close to 25 years old. While we’ve put a lot of money into the Dome, about 50 million dollars in the last three years, eventually, in order to have the best environment for our fans and for us financially, we will need a new stadium. So we will be looking at sites downtown and at some other sites in the greater Atlanta area as well.
The economy has wreaked havoc on professional sports in general, even having an effect on the NFL, considered the strongest financially of all the sports. How are you handling this with your franchise and how will you continue to make it affordable for fans to come to Falcons games?
We made a tremendous commitment in 2008 to try and hold the line on ticket pricing. In 2009, 69 percent of our tickets were either held flat or went down as well; we increased about 30 percent of our tickets. So we’re very sensitive to the economy, from both our fans’ perspective and our sponsors’ perspective. We try to give both as many options as possible and we try to maintain our prices as well as we can; we are well below the league average in terms of all the seating components.
How encouraged are you about the fan base and where it is headed?
I’m very encouraged; we are one of the top teams in the NFL in ticket renewals and probably second or third in the league in terms of new ticket sales and all that is a tribute to Atlanta. Having said that, we have a lot of tickets available still, at all price ranges, and I would encourage any of our fans to come out and support the team and take advantage of opportunities that will not always be there in the future.
You have always been one that has worn his heart on his sleeve. A year ago you talked about the 2007 season and said it was one of the most difficult experiences in your life. But you and the Falcons appear to have taken that experience, grown from it and have a city buzzing about their professional football team. How excited are you about the 2009 season and what’s ahead for this franchise?
I cannot be more excited than I am. I’m excited because I’ve seen the quality of our play this last year with the team, the quality of the leadership, particularly with our general manager and our head coach, and a lot of our great play came from young players that are only going to get better over time. So, I look at that and I see the preparation and the thought process that went into the draft and the opportunities we will have to pick up players that will make us better; I’m very excited about that. But having said that, that’s all on paper. We have to go out and play the games and win the games. The campaign we have going on right now, “The Hunt Is On,” I think is true. The hunt is on for us and our competitors, and on the field on Sundays the hunt is certainly on. We understand that given today’s economy and today’s reality, we have to work harder than we’ve ever worked before.
Rosenberg can be reached at ijrosenberg@scoreatl.com.
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