- 3 months ago
Matt Ryan addresses Falcons rookies about the importance of leadership and professional preparation during the Falcon U program. How does Ryan's executive presence instill a culture of accountability? The segment concludes with a bold prediction regarding Michael Penix Jr. starting in the season opener.
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00:00Matt Ryan yesterday, I guess they call it Falcon U, and a chance to get in front of the rookies
00:06and start talking about real-life stuff.
00:08Obviously, Matt Ryan, not only incredibly bright, comes from two parents, education was a huge thing.
00:15You heard that every interview he ever did.
00:18He also has all the pedigree of being an NFL player, what that looks like.
00:22Granted, he was a phenom when you're a top pick and you're the quarterback and you play from day one
00:27and you go on to have the greatest run in Falcons history.
00:30Very different from some of the people in those rooms, but you and I have talked to Matt Ryan.
00:35Having talked to many athletes more thoughtful and more pragmatic in terms of how they handle their business
00:44and how they handle interviews and whatnot as well.
00:47Yeah, he's incredible. He has a presence about him. He's incredibly smart.
00:51He treats everybody from the janitor to the president the exact same way.
00:56He has good manners. He remembers your name. He is loyal, and he's also a badass.
01:02Yep. He's just a great guy, but he's a very competitive guy.
01:07Puts up with nothing.
01:09I know that there was a lot of egos in that wide receivers.
01:14Sometimes he wrangled some folks back in the day of Roddy White and Julio and Tony,
01:21and there was a lot of stars on that side, and it's like Matt Ryan can't be yelling at us.
01:24Of course he can. He held at his offensive line, and I'm scared to death of those guys.
01:28Absolutely. He didn't care.
01:29No. I mean, and that's part of what you want.
01:31So here he is yesterday or whatever this –
01:35And this really ties into what he talks about leaders in the room,
01:38and he came in as this rookie quarterback.
01:40And I remember our good friend Brian Finneran used to say from the second he stepped into the huddle,
01:46he was the guy.
01:49Leadership has no age.
01:50So there's guys that you're going to play with that have 14 years in the league,
01:55that have done this for a long time, that might be in a different stage of their life,
01:59that at some point are going to need you to lead them.
02:01You need to own it.
02:02The impact you can make on this locker room is immeasurable.
02:05So we expect you to come out, and the way that you work, the way that you train,
02:10the way that you meet, the way that you take notice,
02:12is something other people are taking note of.
02:14The guys that have been here for a while, you can make them better.
02:18We expect you to make them better.
02:19And we encourage you to lean into all the resources that we have here
02:23to get the best out of yourself.
02:25You know, I was thinking about all the resources,
02:27and I was thinking about the cruelty of football, unlike baseball,
02:33where there's single A, there's rookie ball, there's double A, there's triple A.
02:36There's years to try to build your career, get to the show.
02:40When you get to the show, you're flying private, staying in five-star hotels,
02:43everything that's handled for you, the meals are fantastic.
02:46You know, you have multiple coaches, you get your private hitting coach and money.
02:50It's a wonderful life, but you have to build to that.
02:53The harshness of football is, yes, there's the World League or whatever that is now,
02:58the combination of the XFL and the USFL and everything else.
03:01But for the most part, you got one shot.
03:04You know, rosters are not that big.
03:06They extended the practice squad.
03:08You have one shot.
03:09It does not matter if you're getting playing time.
03:12You're on an NFL roster, and you're probably going to play.
03:15You know how many injuries.
03:17Look at the wide receiver group that we ended our season with a bunch of practice squad guys last year.
03:22You know, there's all these things that Matt can teach them about going about your business like a professional
03:30that everybody will take notice of, right?
03:33Because, you know, there is no minor league for the NFL.
03:38Like, you got a shot.
03:39Maybe there will be two rookies that make the team that are not draft picks, right?
03:43You know, of the free agency type, of the, you know, guys you signed.
03:48And then maybe a few will get on practice squad.
03:51And all the things Matt just said is going to be the key to that.
03:54Yeah.
03:54You know, and it's like that for any job, right?
03:57You know, my daughter has her first real job this summer where she's working as an intern within a sales
04:04organization
04:05and going out on calls and doing this and team dinners and all.
04:08And I was just like, you know, it's not complicated.
04:12You know, say less, listen, be 15 minutes early, be on top of your game.
04:18You know, same thing in that building of just like ultimate preparation.
04:21I do want to say that when we back up and when Arthur Blank hired the sportsology firm
04:28to kind of give a health assessment of the Falcons because something's wrong here.
04:32And they came back and they were like, there's no vision.
04:34There's no common.
04:35And the one thing that they fixed was we don't have the player's voice in here,
04:41a leader that used to play that's an executive.
04:43And they looked at the model of the 49ers, which is a John Lynch and the Kyle Shanahan.
04:48And wait a minute, they're pretty good.
04:50Les Snead and Sean McVay out there.
04:54So to bring Mr. Matt.
04:55Well, Sean McVay with the Rams.
04:57With the Rams.
04:57But you said Kyle Shanahan.
04:59Oh, you said with the Rams, those two, yeah.
05:01Yeah, you give both examples, 49ers and Rams, two good examples.
05:04Yeah.
05:04So when Matt enters that door, I'm going to listen to him
05:09because he's possibly a Hall of Famer in the NFL.
05:12He talks to us like we're grown men.
05:14He doesn't put up with anything.
05:15There's a level of respect and credibility from the moment he walks in the door.
05:20I couldn't help but think during even the press conference stake when they introduced Kevin Stefanski.
05:27It was a different room.
05:28We've been in that room how many times, unfortunately, for all the different coaches.
05:31From Matt Ryan standing there, giving his stamp of approval to that coach
05:38and him running that meeting slash press conference, it was different.
05:42Yeah, I mean, I try to think about, look, at the end of the day, you hired a guy with
05:46no experience running an NFL team.
05:48You hired a guy that's never had a job in his life, as he'll tell you.
05:51I'm a player.
05:53And then I say, what is really going to translate to finally not being the Atlanta Falcons, right?
06:0160 years, no titles, eight years out of the playoffs, a litany of heartbreak that surrounds the franchise.
06:09What the hell is he going to do?
06:11Pardon me, the cynic saying, if we don't have a quarterback, Matt Ryan can be the prince of the NFL,
06:21whatever he is.
06:22Well, what does it matter if you don't have the players?
06:24So I'm sort of thinking, like, what's the tangible way that this guy allows us to win more games, right?
06:31Well, he's in the building, and he has eyes on the quarterbacks.
06:35And Tommy Reese, like, certainly there's a quarterback coach, and I would say that's adorable.
06:39Because Matt Ryan...
06:40I mean, it doesn't hurt, but they've got Tommy Reese, they've got Alex Van Pelt, they've got Kevin Stefanski,
06:44they've got all these guys paying attention.
06:45But they've had that before, and I would say, okay, that hasn't worked for you.
06:48So then what is a guy who's president of football?
06:53Why does that make us better chance to be 10-7 than 7-10?
06:58And does it give us a better chance to be 10-7 or 7-10?
07:01Well, he's not playing, so you could argue both sides of it.
07:04I also would say to you, as many people as you hired throughout the years,
07:08well, gosh, they've never had radio experience, or wow, they've never had sales,
07:11but they walk in the room, and their pedigree and resume is enough to say,
07:15he or she could be a game changer.
07:18Yeah, no, listen, I understand why they gave him the job.
07:20I mean, he's got so many other qualities.
07:22I just, I'm literally just trying to think about what's the tangible thing.
07:25First of all, what that study said was there is no clear voice, right?
07:30Vision.
07:31It was a vision.
07:32It's disjointed.
07:35Raheem had this, and Terry had that, and Rich McKay was kind of involved,
07:39but not totally involved, but he was in the Monday meetings,
07:41and Arthur Blank is supposed to set the tone, but he's an 80-year-old man
07:45that's got a lot of other interests as well.
07:46Well, where is the, who's in charge?
07:49When Kirby's smart, I love the stories out of Georgia.
07:54When you hear Kirby's on a heater, what does that mean?
07:57Kirby's smart is agitated, right?
07:59He's going to walk in that building for whatever reason,
08:02and he's going to set a tone.
08:03And I know countless guys, if Kirby's smart asks you a question,
08:07and you don't have an answer, that's the worst day of your professional life.
08:10And that means the kid who's keeping stats,
08:12and that means the guy is the assistant weight room guy that wants to know
08:15where so-and-so is, why he wasn't here, and he runs the building.
08:19Everything about it.
08:20That's why I said he could be a CEO of a billion-dollar company.
08:23Everybody knows.
08:23And by the way, his coaching staff has former NFL coaches,
08:27former head coaches, college Division I head coaches.
08:30He's got as alpha males as there is.
08:33There is one voice in that building, man.
08:36And when Kirby's not happy, the whole building is on edge, as it should be.
08:39I said to Matt, I said, you ought to get friendly with Kirby.
08:43He said, I don't know him that well.
08:45And go talk about how he runs his building.
08:47Because Kirby's smart.
08:48There's no general manager.
08:50It's funny.
08:50Bill Belichick's out there saying, you know, we have the NFL model.
08:53He did the interview on Pardon My Take.
08:56And he's like, we have Mike.
08:56Was it Mike Florio?
08:57You know, as our general manager.
08:59No, Mike.
09:00Hold on.
09:01Lombardi.
09:02Yeah, Mike Lombardi.
09:03We have that model.
09:04But okay, dude.
09:05Let me tell you something.
09:06Kirby doesn't need a GM of football.
09:08Maybe they have that title.
09:10He runs the whole deal.
09:11And my only point was, Matt, you know, we are going to do things from, you know, picking up a
09:18wrapper.
09:19If you walk by, if you see an employee not pick something up, whatever.
09:22How you're talking to folks when they walk in the building.
09:25How our media is handled from the minute.
09:27Like, he just needs to set that tone.
09:30And I think what you said, when there was no vision that Matt Ryan puts emergency.
09:35Listen, we don't have players.
09:36Okay.
09:37We're signing one-year guys.
09:39We lost Caden Ellis.
09:40Our best pass rusher, you know, is going to be at least half the season, you know, penalized by the
09:46NFL.
09:46I mean, we don't have enough players.
09:48So we're not going 11 and 6 because Matt Ryan walked in the building.
09:51But the culture has to change before the winning comes, in my opinion.
09:54And that's in any office, in any building in the world.
09:58Right.
09:58The culture has to change.
10:00The culture, then you can't, then when things start to go wrong, you know, maybe with better culture, we wouldn't
10:07have been 8-9, 8-9, 8-9, 7-10.
10:08Like, you know, maybe they're just, it starts to crack.
10:11You know, it just starts to crack.
10:13I like Kevin Stefanski a lot.
10:14I'm listening to him.
10:15I'm watching him.
10:16You know, there was a little bit of shenanigans with Raheem.
10:21And I say, nothing personal, very entertaining guy, obviously knows football.
10:29You don't keep getting hired as defensive coordinator.
10:31I mean, you know what, he's coordinator now for Shanahan in, is that where he ended up?
10:34In San Francisco?
10:36Where's Raheem?
10:37Raheem, yeah, defensive coordinator.
10:38So, like, you don't keep getting those jobs.
10:40These people are like, he doesn't know what he's doing.
10:42But there was something, even the first press conference when he walked in and told everybody,
10:45what's everybody doing here?
10:46We're going to have some fun.
10:48What's all these long fays?
10:50We're here to have fun.
10:51Let's go.
10:51It's like, no, no, we're not here to have fun.
10:53We are, you know, I make $47,000 a year and I work at the Macon Gazette and I had
10:58to
10:58schlep to Atlanta and I have to be here to cover this.
11:00Like, it's just, you know.
11:02He's being authentic to himself, though.
11:04He's a very nice, positive.
11:06I don't knock him for that because I think you've got to be you.
11:09But he just may not be a head coach guy.
11:10I don't think he ran a tight building.
11:12I don't think Terry Fontenau ran a tight building.
11:15I don't think that there was a fear.
11:17And I think the shenanigans that went on, when you have a special teams that is that bad,
11:22it feels like there's repercussions that did not exist.
11:25When you have players quit, coaches fired, all this stuff in the middle of your season,
11:30it just wasn't buttoned up.
11:31It was not a buttoned up situation.
11:33So, you said, what I said yesterday, I got a big reaction on Twitter.
11:37Michael Penix Jr. will be the starting quarterback week one and they will beat the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau.
11:44Pittsburgh.
11:45Sorry, Lambeau.
11:46In Pittsburgh, thank you.
11:47In Pittsburgh.
11:49We play Green Bay a few weeks later.
11:51I don't know what's going to happen.
11:52But that's what I think is going to happen.
11:53I think Michael Penix is on it.
11:55I think Matt Ryan needs to see what he's about.
11:57And I think that Aaron Rodgers is too old!
12:01And week one, we get a dub.
12:02All right.
12:03I've said my piece.
12:04One more hour to go on Sports Radio 92.9 The Game.
12:07Braves got thing cooking.
12:09Also, you want a little jolt of positivity?
12:13How about being a special teams coach and being 72 years old in the NFL?
12:17Wait till you hear the cut Sandra found us.
12:19We're inspiring you today.
12:21You're welcome.
12:22We're inspiring you today, Sports Radio 92.9 The Game.
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