MIAMI--When the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts take the Dolphin Stadium field for the start of Super Bowl XLI, one member of the Falcons family will have more than a casual interest in the game. Falcons President and General Manager Rich McKay worked with Bears' Coach Lovie Smith, General Manager Jerry Angelo and Colts' Coach Tony Dungy during his time in Tampa Bay as the Buccaneers' general manager. When the Bucs released Sam Wyche as head coach after the 1995 season, McKay went on an extensive search to find a new head coach and reverse the fortunes of the club. "We were a franchise with no credibility and we had not won in a while," McKay said about the situation the Bucs were in. "In that process, we took our time and interviewed eight, nine or ten guys."
As McKay worked through the candidates, Dungy, the Vikings' defensive coordinator, began to pique the interest of the Bucs' GM. "The interesting thing was that Tony, at the end of the first round, really of because of who he is and how he presents himself, absolutely had no sales pitch about himself," he said. "As we started narrowing down the list, I became more intrigued by the references we had on Tony and his resume. These two things screamed at the fact that he was going to be successful because he had been successful at everything he had ever done." McKay and his group realized that they needed to take a closer look and Dungy was hired as the Bucs' head coach on Jan. 22, 1996.
"He came in and interviewed with them and they became very comfortable," said McKay. The Bucs defense went from 20th the year prior to Dungy's and Smith's arrival to top ten ranks from 1997-2000. Smith left the next year for the St. Louis Rams as the club's defensive coordinator, where he stayed through 2003.
"Lovie Smith was the defensive backs coach at Ohio State in 1995 and before that with the University of Tennessee," McKay recalled. "We were trying to find a linebackers coach and we had compiled a list of the best college coaches out there from an assistant standpoint. Rod Marinelli had been on that list, and we ended up hiring him, and Lovie also had been on that list. The problem was Lovie had been coaching defensive backs and Tony and (defensive coordinator) Monte (Kiffin) were concerned about that." Those concerns were set aside when Smith interviewed for the position.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Ray Buchanan made headlines as a player the last time the Super Bowl came to South Florida, and he has drawn attention again merely by arriving at the airport. The former Atlanta Falcons cornerback was arrested Thursday on three counts of writing checks without sufficient funds from Nevada, a Broward Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said. Buchanan was arrested at the airport around 9 a.m. when he arrived on an international flight. He posted a bond of $165,125.
The 35-year-old Buchanan was to work Sunday at the Super Bowl as a reporter for Fox Sports Radio. "At this point no one has contacted us. We're just going to plan to have someone else fulfill Ray's responsibilities until further notice," vice president and general manager of Fox Sports Radio Network Andrew Ashwood said. Buchanan's Super Bowl responsibilities were to start Saturday night, Ashwood said. Former Dallas lineman Nate Newton will handle his responsibilities Saturday night and former Raiders player Lincoln Kennedy will take over on Sunday, Ashwood said.
MIAMI -- Taking a different tact than his predecessor, Falcons coach Bobby Petrino will let Michael Vick take a more active role in running the offense. That includes allowing Vick to call audibles. Under previous coach Jim Mora, Vick basically had to go with whatever play was called by offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, even if it looked doomed when the quarterback got to the line and studied the defensive alignment. Vick's only options were changing the protection scheme and calling which side of the field to run the play.
Things will be different under Petrino, who was lured away from Louisville after Mora was fired. "We're going to put it all on him," the new coach said Friday while making the rounds at the Super Bowl media center. "It's new to him, but he's excited about the challenge. I think that's the way you train a quarterback."
'The switch from zone blocking will require getting rid of the team's smaller linemen and almost certainly adding a power back in the draft. GM Rich McKay has said that Warrick Dunn, currently rehabbing from shoulder surgery, will be retained, but his role for 2007 is in doubt.
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