Former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith was lucky enough to not be the coach of the Falcons when they had the biggest Super Bowl meltdown in history.
Maybe that’s why he’s still comfortable talking about Super Bowls these days. He was nice enough to do so with Betway Insider recently to share his thoughts on the upcoming game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Patriots.
“I think it’s going to be a really close game,” Smith said. “These are two well-coached teams in all three phases.”
So, who do you like?
“I like Seattle,” he said. “I think that their defence [sic] is going to give Drake Maye some issues due to his inexperience. They’re going to have something in their toolbox which they haven’t shown in a long time, or at all, and it will create one or two negative plays, which can be the difference.”
Mike Smith thinks the Hall of Fame did Bill Belichick dirty
As a former head coach, Smith was asked to weigh in on the Bill Belichick Hall of Fame snub. In case you hadn’t heard, Belichick didn’t make it in on his first try.
“My reaction was similar to everybody else’s,” Smith said. “Whether you’re a fan of the New England Patriots or not, it makes no difference.
“I know they changed the voting process recently, so I’m wondering if something got miscommunicated because there is no way that Bill Belichick is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
“This is a black spot on the Hall of Fame. They need to look at this immediately and review the voting situation. I was shocked.”
Former Atlanta Falcons head caoch thinks changes are needed at the Hall of Fame
The backlash from all of this has caused many fans and media to lose faith in the Hall of Fame voting process. It doesn’t make sense. Belichick almost owns every coaching record in NFL history outside of total wins.
“Some are thinking they need to revamp the whole process because of the negative publicity this has created, not only for the Hall of Fame, but for the NFL itself,” Smith continued. “It’s a mess right now.
“Coach Belichick has six Super Bowl wins as head coach, 333 career NFL victories, which is second to Don Shula, and a further two championship wins as a coordinator. That’s eight total Super Bowl rings. Based on those facts, you cannot argue that he is not the greatest NFL head coach of all time.”
Of course, Smith understands that there are plenty of people that don’t like Belichick. Hell, Belichick’s long-time owner Robert Kraft doesn’t even seem to like him and he made that guy a ton of money.
“Yes, when you are coaching as long as Belichick coached, you’re going to have some things that are controversial,” Smith acknowledged. “We all know about them, but every long-standing coaching regime has these.
“If you asked 100 people to name an NFL head coach who is an absolute lock to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, at least 99 would say Bill Belichick. His record speaks for itself.”
Former Atlanta Falcons Coach says Bill Belichick ‘Black Spot’ on Hall of Fame