The Atlanta Falcons have hosted their High School Coaches Huddle in person the past couple of offseasons, but this year they've adjusted to do the event virtually.
With so many things in life now happening online in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Falcons invited over 300 Georgia high school coaches to attend a Zoom call with Falcons coaches and college coaches from across the state. The event is taking place over three days, starting Tuesday and wrapping up on Thursday.
"To have a chance for three days to huddle up online like this and team up with the four FBS programs in state along with Falcons coaches leading the way is special," Falcons coach Dan Quinn said "We all want football and getting the chance and access for our high school coaches with our teams, focusing today on the offensive side, tomorrow on the defensive side and the following day on the special teams side, is something we are excited about. I'd put our high school coaches in this state up against anybody."
On Tuesday, Quinn greeted all of the high school coaches on the call and then turned things over to the slate of presenters, who discussed a variety of offensive topics. The list of presenting coaches includes:
- Falcons tight end coach Ben Steele
- University of Georgia pass game coordinator Cortez Hankton
- Georgia Tech receivers coach Kerry Dixon
- Georgia Southern associate head coach Chris Foster
- Georgia State offensive line coach Thomas Austin
On Wednesday, the day belongs to the defense. Quinn is once again expected to kick things off with comments to the coaches before turning it over to the presenters. Those expected to present to the group are:
- Falcons defensive line coach Jess Simpson
- University of Georgia co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann
- Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker
- Georgia Southern defensive coordinator Scot Sloan
- Georgia State cornerbacks coach Cory Peoples
The event will conclude on Thursday after a number of presentations about special teams. Following the presentation of special teams topics, Quinn will host a Q&A with the coaches in attendance. The list of planned presenters on Thursday is as follows:
- Falcons special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica
- University of Georgia special teams coordinator Scott Cochran
- Georgia Tech defensive special teams coordinator Jeff Popovich
- Georgia Southern outside linebackers coach Jeremy Powell
- Georgia State inside linebackers coach Brian Landis
Each seminar will be recorded and posted on AtlantaFalcons.com in the upcoming days.
