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On Tuesday, Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith abruptly called out Green Bay Packers head coach, Matt LaFleur, for being––what some would call––a bit vain.
When asked about his gameday attire choices, Smith teased LaFleur.
“There are certain things that I like—that I’m comfortable with—but it’s not like … I don’t think I’m sweet and awesome,” Smith told reporters. “I don’t spend an hour—like Matt LaFleur does—looking in the mirror before he runs out there….”
Of course, LaFleur didn’t sit back and just take it.
“I’m honored he would think of me, first of all,” LaFleur said, smiling on Wednesday. “Arthur and I did share a locker room in Tennessee, so. Yeah, I might have been looking in the mirror, getting my clothes right while he was trying to get his hair right with that Just For Men.”
Just for Men products are often used by “older” men with graying hair.
“You guys know he’s younger than me, right?” LaFleur said as he took his hat off to show his non-graying hair to reporters.
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Smith Admits He Loves LaFleur After Throwing Shade Again
Oh, but the saga didn’t stop there. Smith, 39, responded back to 41-year-old LaFleur.
“Matt’s a good friend of mine. It obviously took him all night to think of something that he thought was funny,” Smith responded.
Smith claimed he didn’t take much offense to the joke because he’s been going grey since he was 20.
“I don’t look like I got black shoe polish in my hair,” he added. “But no, I love Matt LaFleur. He’s one of my good friends in the business he’s done a hell of a job up in Green Bay. I think he’s 26 and 6 in two years––pretty damn good.”
Smith and LaFleur were both part of the Tennessee Titans coaching staff in 2018 when LaFleur was Tennessee’s offensive coordinator and Smith worked as the tight ends coach.
The following year, LaFleur left Tennessee after he was hired to be the head coach of the Packers. Smith was promoted to offensive coordinator of the Titans, a position he held for two seasons before heading to Atlanta as the Falcons’ new head coach.
Smith Has Been Using His TE Experience on Kyle Pitts
Smith’s tight-end coaching experience in Tennessee has come in handy with first-round pick Kyle Pitts lately.
Pitts was spotted at practice this week in what looked like a very deep teaching moment. Smith clarified that it was.
“We’re throwing a lot at Kyle,” Smith said via AtlantaFalcons.com. “It’s like I told him, it’s a long journey, and you try to remind these guys but there’s little nuances then there’s things that he’s going to have to learn on his own. I tell him obviously, Justin Peele can tell him pretty good and then he’s got veterans in the room. There are certain things we’ll ask him to do that [blocking tight end] Lee Smith has never done.
“Sometimes in the act of doing it, it slows down, showing things in the classroom, you may have film of clips of other guys, here’s how they done it. Some guys need to feel it. Like I said there’s a lot of different ways to teach. That was just an example right there. We were working, just kind of going through the nuances there.”
Pitts has a lot of pressure on him as a rookie, but staying teachable will help him conquer the NFL transition.
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