Getty Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons hands the ball to Cordarrelle Patterson #84 of the Atlanta Falcons.
Following Desmond Kitchings’ departure to Virginia to be their new offensive coordinator, the Atlanta Falcons hired a new running backs coach in Michael Pitre.
The Falcons made the move on Monday, January 31, according to ESPN’s Michael Rothstein.
Falcons hire Michael Pitre, last of the Chicago Bears, as the new RB coach. Before that Pitre was at Oregon State.
Pitre joins the Falcons after spending the 2021 season with the Chicago Bears.
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Pitre’s Background
Pitre,37, initially entered the NFL as a scouting intern for the New England Patriots in 2009. He also was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Bill Walsh Minority Fellowship coaching program in 2017.
Last season was his first full year as an NFL coach, where he took charge of Chicago’s running backs and led the NFL’s second-best rushing attack. Under Pitre, the Bears’ rushing attack averaged 118.7 yards a game and 13 carries of 20 yards or more. He was also partially responsible for Chicago’s lead rusher David Montgomery, who rushed for 849 yards and seven touchdowns.
Before coaching one year in the Windy City, Pitre spent three years at Oregon State University as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator and the four previous seasons as a running backs coach at Montana State University.
While he joins the Falcons with little NFL experience, his over-a-decade college coaching experience makes up for it.
However, Pitre faces a tough task ahead as the Falcons rushing attack remains one big question mark with their lead back, Cordarrelle Patterson, set to hit the open market.
Kitchings Helped Turn Patterson’s Career Around
The Falcons hired Kitchings to be the running backs coach under first-year head coach Arthur Smith. He came to Atlanta after spending the 2020 season in the same role at the University of South Carolina.
Prior to joining the Gamecocks, Kitchings spent eight seasons at NC State coaching the running backs where he produced three consecutive 1,000-yard rushers (2016 to 2018).
Kitchings was an athlete himself and played wide receiver/return specialist at Furman University where he averaged 29.3 yards per kick and set a school record of four kick returns for touchdowns. In 2000, he was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs but never played a regular-season game as he bounced around from practice squad to practice squad for four years.
The Falcons rushing attack struggled to find a groove under Kitchings as they accumulated just 1,451 yards (85.4 yards per game) on the ground, which put them 31st across the league, only ahead of the Houston Texans.
While the Falcons may not have found overall success in their backfield this season, Kitchings is partly responsible for turning around 30-year-old Cordarrelle Patterson’s career, which made him a great hire for Virginia. Not to mention that Patterson finished the season with career-highs of 618 rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns, along with 548 receiving yards and 5 touchdown receptions. To go with his newfound success, he was awarded the Pro Football Writers of America’s Most Improved Player award.
Hopefully, the Falcons and Patterson can agree on a new deal with Pitre taking over.