No one was surprised when the 49ers hired Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to be their next head coach. Everyone will be surprised by the identity of the Falcons’ next offensive coordinator.
Steve Sarkisian is poised to get the offensive coordinator job in Atlanta, according to Jordan Schultz of the Huffington Post.
Sarkisian spent seven years as a college head coach, five at Washington and two at USC, but he was fired by USC after disappointing performances on the field and allegations that alcohol abuse was affecting his behavior off the field. He then became an assistant coach at Alabama and just got promoted to offensive coordinator this year. Now Nick Saban’s program needs a new top assistant.
The hiring in Atlanta is surprising for a number of reasons, including the fact that he has very little professional experience (just one season as the Raiders’ quarterbacks coach in 2004) and the fact that he has never worked with Falcons head coach Dan Quinn. But Sarkisian did visit the Falcons’ training camp after USC fired him, and he reportedly has a good relationship with Quinn.
There were reports that the Falcons were thinking of hiring former Eagles and 49ers head coach Chip Kelly as their offensive coordinator, but now Kelly will continue to look for work.
As for Sarkisian, his job will be to keep the best offense in the NFL rolling, and to help the Falcons avoid the Super Bowl losers’ curse.