Falcons owner Arthur Blank says Bill Belichick did not request full roster control
BOSTON -- Bill Belichick didn't get the head coaching job in Atlanta. But it wasn't because he demanded full control of personnel.
That message was delivered to the masses on Friday, when team owner Arthur Blank spoke to some media members.
"Bill Belichick never asked in our discussions for full control of personnel or anything else in the building. ... All of these things that were being produced by the media were totally not true," Blank said, per Mike Conti of 92.9 The Game in Atlanta.
Blank also refuted the report by WFAN's Boomer Esiason that said the Falcons offered the job to Belichick.
"Where Boomer heard that from, I have no idea," Blank said.
Blank did meet privately with Belichick, prior to Belichick interviewing with other members of the Falcons' front office in a second interview. Reports indicated Blank wanted to hire Belichick, but that other members of the organization felt otherwise. The team eventually hired Raheem Morris.
"Our talks were very inclusive, very collaborative," Blank said Friday. "He met [GM] Terry Fontenot, he checked out our people doing his own references. He sent me a private text, which I eventually shared with Terry, that he was happy working with him."
Blank also appeared on Mad Dog Radio on Sirius XM.
"Sadly, it's one of the things that happens in your world, is that some of it is based on rumors, discussions, et cetera," Blank said. "We met with Bill twice, I met with him once alone for a good bit of time. Second time, we met as a group with him. He absolutely -- and this is from the very beginning, there was never a question of authority, power, control, who should stay, who shouldn't stay, things of that nature. I mean he was committed to working in conjunction and collaboration with Terry Fontenot."
The Falcons were the only team to formally interview Belichick, who ended up not being hired this offseason after parting ways with the Patriots following a 24-year run in New England.