The Atlanta Falcons' new regime is officially complete upon the hiring of Ian Cunningham to be their new general manager. Cunningham will be joining both Matt Ryan and Kevin Stefanski in major hires the Falcons have made this offseason, and it's clear a vastly new era of football is coming to Atlanta.
The Dirty Birds conducted the second round of their GM interviews today by conducting in-person interviews with their only two finalists: Cunningham and Texans assistant GM James Liipfert, but the former was always the favorite because of his clear ties to Ryan and their shared vision for this team.
"It’s been incredible to build a relationship with Matt over the last several weeks and to have an immediate connection with Kevin. I can’t wait to work with both of these great football minds to put a team on the field everyone will be very excited about. We all share the same vision for what the Atlanta Falcons should and will be and it’s time to work.”"Ian Cunningham
In Cunningham's opening message to Falcons fans, he touched on just how deep that connection was to begin with. We all know he and Ryan have the mutual connection to Bears GM Ryan Poles that resulted in him being the favorite from the get go, but he also praised his quick rapport with Stefanski.
It took one statement from Ian Cunningham to prove why he's the right man for the Falcons' GM job
A word that has frequently come up within this new-lock Falcons' front office is vision. Arthur Blank has said it. Matty Ice has said it. Stefanski has even said it. And what do you know, that same word was visible in Cunningham's statement, so it doesn't seem like much of a coincidence anymore.
The previous regime with Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot were too focused about trying to get the players and fanbase on board when the real priority should have been winning football games, but luckily, the Falcons' new hires are a massive course correct in the right direction after that nightmare.
Cunningham shared that he, Ryan, and Stefanski all have the same vision for this team, and it's not the cheerleader-type stunts we're used to seeing. They are all no-nonsense football minds whose sole priority is to set this team up for victory on Sundays, which is a welcomed change, in all honesty.
Cunningham helped lead the Bears to the best season in years, but he also spent time with the Ravens and Eagles learning from Ozzie Newsome and Howie Roseman. That's exciting, but knowing he wants to work tirelessly to bring this talented team back to the playoffs is the best news of the day.