ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Thursday former quarterback Matt Ryan will be one of the candidates interviewed for the newly created position of president of football.<\/p>\n
Blank said the interviews would begin Thursday. The president of football will be involved in selecting a new coach and general manager. The Falcons fired coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot<\/a> on Sunday, hours after the completion of an 8-9 season.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Ryan, the most accomplished quarterback in Falcons history as the starter from 2008-21, currently is an NFL analyst for CBS. Ryan, the 2016 NFL MVP, holds most of the team’s major passing records, including most yards, touchdown passes and completions.<\/p>\n Blank said Ryan, 40, will be interviewed despite having no front office experience.<\/p>\n \u201cMy response to that would be Matt Ryan came into the league as a rookie in 2008, ended up leading a locker room for 14 years, leading in a huddle, being a great player, leading the players, supporting coaches,” Blank said. \u201cSo his EQ and IQ when it comes to football is extraordinarily high.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Blank said he intentionally avoided giving the new position the title of president of football operations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not football operations, it is football, because sometimes people can interpret that as being, well, they\u2019re responsible for the operations stuff, the backroom stuff, administrative stuff, but this person we\u2019re trying to hire will be responsible for everything that relates to football.\u201d<\/p>\n Blank has made filling the new position a priority. The coach and general manager will report to the president.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Blank said his interest in Ryan is based on his \u201clong relationship\u201d with the former quarterback.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an outstanding individual, great community leader, and the kind of person you\u2019d certainly want to consider in that position,” Blank said. “But we have other candidates that we\u2019re interviewing as well over the next couple of days, starting this afternoon, this evening.\u201d<\/p>\n Blank, 83, has owned the Falcons since 2002 and acknowledged in a letter to fans<\/a> released on Monday he is disappointed in the team’s streak of eight consecutive losing seasons. He said Thursday that’s why he chose to fire Morris and Fontenot, and announce other front office changes, despite the team closing the season with four straight wins.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIt was my conclusion as the season went on that we could not achieve or were not achieving at the level that I thought this roster was capable of performing at,\u201d Blank said. \u201c… I think we’re capable of getting to another level. … In my judgment I felt that two years of (Morris) being (the coach) of this team and Terry after five years, I felt I\u2019ve seen enough to know that we that we could do better than this, in my heart.”<\/p>\n The Falcons haven\u2019t enjoyed a winning season or appeared in the playoffs since 2017. Morris was fired after a 16-18 record in two seasons, and Fontenot was fired following five seasons.<\/p>\n