Falcons make good hire with Mike Nolan

The Atlanta Falcons search for a new defensive coordinator is over. They have hired Mike Nolan to run their defense; Nolan had spent the past two seasons coaching the Miami Dolphins defense. I like this hire by Thomas Dimitroff and Mike Smith, because Mike Nolan is an established and successful defensive coordinator. What probably attracted me the most about Nolan is his ability to tutor young defensive players and he will have a lot of young players in Curtis Lofton, Sean Weatherspoon, Corey Peters and Brent Grimes. Arthur Blank said the Falcons were looking for someone who could bring in someone who was cold-blooded and who could get the most out of their young players as far as making the Falcons defense become an elite unit and I think the found that person in Mike Nolan.

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Mike Nolan has had a lot of successful defensive units. Even with Miami having a losing season the defense had the third best run defense in the NFL and the sixth best red zone defense. Miami was also tied for 10 th in the league with 41 sacks which will be a welcoming sight for Falcons fans as they have not been able to create a legitimate pass rush. A better example of Nolan’s work is in 2009 when he was the Denver Broncos defensive coordinator he took a team that was 28 th in total defense the year before and made them a top ten defense. That is also the year that Elvis Dumerville had his breakout season. Mike Nolan knows how to put players in the right position to succeed and I expect he will do the same thing with the Atlanta Falcons.

Mike Nolan brings plenty of experience as he has been a head coach with the San Francisco 49ers and he has coordinated for teams like the Giants, Jets and Redskins in the 1990’s. What I am hoping that Mike Nolan will improve the Falcons on and I know is going to be a point of emphasis is the secondary. With the Broncos in 2009 the defense only gave up 186.3 passing yards per game. That is what I am hoping Nolan can help the Falcons prove upon, because they have definitely been getting exposed in the playoffs and it’s time for the Falcons secondary to stop being the pushovers and start pushing back, and Nolan is the guy to make that happen.

By: Steven Virden
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer