Arthur Smith hasn’t earned the right to make the media the Falcons enemy

The Atlanta Falcons’ head coach approach to his media duties needs to be addressed.

You know, at one point, it felt pretty refreshing. After back-to-back regimes filled to the brim with slogans you could put on a hat, or “we’ll learn from this”, having someone come in that doesn’t sound like every other coach in the league was a welcome breath of fresh air. Arthur Smith’s short nature, and short answers, painted the picture of a man less interested in coach-speak and more interested in coaching. Proving himself by the teams he produces, rather than the words he speaks. It was refreshing.

That’s all for nothing if the end result is the same. On Sunday, the Falcons fell to their first loss of the 2022 season, their 11th of the Arthur Smith-era, and the latest in an embarrassingly long line of double-digit blown leads over the past half-decade. In response, Arthur Smith took the opportunity to, not apologize to the Falcons fans who have to deal with losing to their biggest rivals in an excruciating fashion but attack the sitting media. “You guys wrote our obituary back in May. You will continue to write our obituary. Who cares? We have 16 games.” Smith spat in response to a minimum amount of criticism, before storming out of the media room.

Lacking pedigree

There’s nothing wrong with standing up for yourself. There’s nothing wrong with deflecting attention away from your team. Over the course of the best part of 30 years, Sir Alex Ferguson effectively built an entire reputation on the way he handled his media duties. Back in the NFL, Bill Belichick has hardly been one to treat the sports media with unconditional respect. The difference is that Sir Alex Ferguson won 13 Premier League titles. Bill Belichick has won 6 Super Bowl rings. Arthur Smith has won 7 games.

Arthur Smith’s time in Atlanta thus far has yielded 7 wins, the failed pursuit of a problematic quarterback, and punching down on Atlanta reporters that have achieved more in their field than he has in his. For someone that carries himself with the weight of a man that’s among the league’s elite, he hasn’t come close to showing that he is entitled to acting in such a manner. Simply put; Arthur Smith hasn’t earned the right to speak the way that he does.

You don’t get to act like you know best mere minutes after masterminding the team’s 3rd “15+ point blown lead defeat” in 3 years. You don’t get to arrogantly bat down the most cupcake of questions while the team you oversee gives up 17 points unanswered. You certainly don’t get to act like the way Arthur Smith acts when you’re staring yet another lost season right in the face.

Things have to change

Arthur Smith might eventually turn into a really good NFL head coach. The Falcons showed a lot of positives on Sunday. Under different circumstances, we’d likely be talking about how the offense looked far more balanced than it did last year, or how they seem to have a pass rush now. But we don’t get that, because the Falcons did exactly what they seem to do every time they get a lead. They blew it.

Blown leads aren’t limited to Mike Smith or Dan Quinn. Last season, the Falcons blew a lead late at home to the Washington Commanders which resulted in a loss. They had leads against the Jets, Dolphins, Saints, and Lions, and almost lost them. Now, we’re seemingly back to doing what we’ve been doing for the past half a decade. All while Arthur Smith acts like his Falcons are due a level of respect usually reserved for coaches significantly more decorated than he.

I don’t anticipate Arthur Smith will change his demeanor when addressing the media. I feel like we’re too far gone for him to translate his statements through coach-speak. What we need to see is him backing up his words with wins. Looking over the Falcons 2022 schedule, we’re not likely to see many of them. Smith’s actions and words will follow him as long as he’s an NFL coach. He better hope that the front office is willing to look past his statements in a way the fanbase can’t. If not, who cares, right?