GM Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Dan Quinn addressed the Media on Thursday to recap the 2015 season and look ahead to what the future holds for the Falcons. Here are photos from the press conference.
With 2015 in the rearview mirror and all eyes set on the future, the Falcons have made some notable additions to their team brass—two of whom are ex-general managers.
Phil Emery (former Bears GM) and Ruston Webster (former Titans GM) were recently hired as national scouts and will focus primarily on college football. With only five picks in the upcoming draft, having the right minds in place is especially crucial, and the Falcons believe Emery and Webster are an important part of that mix.
"They have a lot of experience; very adept evaluators in this league for many years," said GM Thomas Dimiroff, who added that Atlanta is in the process of completely revamping the pro personnel department. "So to have them join, as well, we'll continue to make a number of other moves going forward to continue to revamp and redirect our scouting staff."
By adding Webster and Emery, the Falcons now have a handful of men who have served as NFL GMs. When asked if there are now too many proverbial cooks in the kitchen, Dimitroff explained that the strong, long-lasting relationships between himself and his staff will prevent egos from becoming an issue.
"All these guys who are in our building—we're all contemporaries. We've all scouted together for many, many years, shoulder to shoulder, way before we thought we'd have a sniff at a general manager job," he said. "So we all know each other; we've all been around each other; we all know our scouting approaches. And I think that's going to be very beneficial."
A big reason why Dimitroff is optimistic about this group effort is Dan Quinn's approach. As someone who hired a large staff of assistants and constantly preaches the importance of being a tight-knit club, Atlanta's head coach knows it will take a lot of coorperation to reach his ultimate goal.
"We are collaborative. I do pride myself on that; Dan (Quinn) prides himself on that from the coaching standpoint," Dimitroff said. "We spend a lot of time doing that and it's very important in this league.
"Any NFL situation, in my mind, should be collaborative. It should be strong. It should be aggressive. It should be confident. And that's what Dan embodies."
