Petrino names five more assistants

Bobby Petrino added five more assistants to his coaching staff, including four from his staff at Louisville. He also retained one more Falcon assistant, Emmitt Thomas, as secondary coach.

His assistants from Louisville, include Mike Summers, Joe Whitt Jr., Kevin Wolthausen, and his brother Paul Petrino. Summers is set to take over the offensive line, Whitt will assistant Thomas in the secondary, Wolthausen will handle the defensive line, and Petrino will coach the receivers.

Thomas, 63, was brought in along with Wade Phillips by the Falcons in 2002. He is a long-time NFL assistant, helping develop and improve many secondaries in his 26 seasons in the NFL. He even served as defensive coordinator for the Eagles (1995-98), Packers (1999), and Vikings (2000-01). Thomas played thirteen seasons for the Chiefs (1966-78), appeared in 5 Pro Bowls and 2 Super Bowls during a career that netted him 58 career interceptions.

Summers comes to the team with over 20 years of experience coaching collegiate offensive lines. He has been with Louisville since 2004. His most notable previous collegiate tenure was serving as offensive coordinator under head coach Jerry Pettibone at both Northern Illinois (1985-90) and Oregon State (1991-95).

Whitt, 27, has worked on Louisville's staff in the secondary in 2003. In 2002, he worked as receivers coach at The Citadel. His father, Joe Whitt Sr., was a long-time assistant at Auburn, where Petrino coached in 2002.

Wolthausen, a Louisville assistant since 2003, comes to the Falcons with over twenty years experience coaching defensive lines in college, including stints at Arizona State (1983-86, 1995-00), Oklahoma (1993-94), and USC (1987-92). He even served with the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League for one year in 2001. He has helped produced three NFL first rounders, most notably Browns linebacker Willie McGinest.

The younger Petrino, 38, has been a long-time assistant at Louisville, first joining the staff in 1998. He has been the team's offensive coordinator since 2004. He has previous experience developing wideouts at Utah State (1995-97) and Idaho (1992-94). He has helped develop Seahawks wide receiver Deion Branch.

Musgrave and Wilson staying on

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave and running backs coach Ollie Wilson are at least two assistants that will be retained on new head coach Bobby Petrino's staff.

Offensive consultant Alex Gibbs and special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis are two holdovers from Jim Mora's staff that will not be returning, along with offensive and defensive coordinators Greg Knapp and Ed Donatell.

It is unknown if any more current Falcons assistants will be retained, although it is not expected per the AJC report.

Zimmer hired to head Falcons defense

New Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino has made his second hire in coaxing current Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to lead the Falcons defense. The first hire Petrino made was naming Bengals assistant Hue Jackson as his offensive coordinator.

Zimmer has been the Cowboys coordinator for the past seven seasons. The best year for the Cowboys under his leadership came in 2003, in which the 'Boys defensed ranked first in the league. This past year, the Cowboy defense ranked 13th.

Although under coach Bill Parcells, the Cowboys have utilized a 3-4 base defense, Petrino has indicated his preference for a 4-3 scheme. Zimmer coordinated a 4-3 unit his first three years in Dallas before Parcells took over, and is expected to continue the use of the 4-3 in Atlanta.

Zimmer has been with the Cowboys since 1994, where he was brought in as a defensive assitant to then head coach Barry Switzer. He was promoted to defensive backs coach the following year and began coordinating the Cowboys defense in 2000.

Zimmer and Petrino were part of a Weber State staff together in the late 80s. Petrino was an assistant there in 1984, 1987, and 1988, while Zimmer served there from 1981-88. At Weber State, Zimmer held defensive coordinator position but also had duties coaching both inside linebackers and defensive backs. In 1989, he moved on to Washington State, where he spent five years as their defensive coordinator.

The 50 year old Peoria, IL native had an interesting start to his career. Zimmer began his collegiate playing career at Illinois State as a quarterback, before moving to linebacker as a junior.

DeCamillis joins Jaguars

New Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino won't have an easy task of filling out his coaching staff as it was reported today that Falcons special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis is moving onto take the same position with the Jacksonville Jaguars. DeCamillis is the lone coach to survive the entire tenures of Dan Reeves and Jim Mora, and is considered one of the premier special teams coaches around the league.

Under his leadership, the Falcons have boasted one of the top and most consistent special teams units in his ten seasons with the team. Allen Rossum earned a Pro Bowl spot in 2004 as the NFC's return specialist. Byron Hanspard and Darrick Vaughn each have lead the the league in kickoff return touchdowns during DeCamillis's read, while players like Tim Dwight and Darrien Gordon also were considered top return specialists. DeCamillis also helped develop Falcons kicker Jay Feely from an undrafted free agent into the NFL's leading scorer in 2002. Punters Chris Mohr and Dan Stryzinski during their tenures were considered two of the best placement punters around, while undrafted rookie Michael Koenen is considered one of the up and coming young punters in the league. The Falcons led the league in punt coverage allowing the league's lowest average return four times during his tenure, placed second twice, and sported two other Top Ten finishes.

Petrino to pick Jackson as Knapp's successor

The latest word out of Cincinnati indicates that Bengals receivers coach Hue Jackson is the likely successor to Greg Knapp as Falcons offensive coordinator. Jackson coached with new Falcons head man Bobby Petrino for two seasons at Arizona State (1992-93), a staff that also included current Lions head coach Rod Marinelli. Jackson took over the Bengals receivers in 2004, and has developed what many consider the premier trio of wideouts in the NFL in Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Chris Henry. Jackson's exact role as offensive coordinator is unknown, as many suspect Petrino himself will be the primary play-caller, but his experience and knowledge, especially in game preparation would be invaluable.

It would not mark Jackson's first time as an offensive coordinator. He served in that role for four seasons at Southern California, under coaches John Robinson and Paul Hackett. He also served in that same capacity during the lone year that Steve Mariucci was the head coach at California in 1996. His experience with Hackett and Mariucci indicate his strong West Coast roots, which could be a strong base as quarterbacks Michael Vick and Matt Schaub try to transition into Petrino's offense.

Jackson's first shot in the NFL came as running backs coach for the Washington Redskins for two seasons (2001-02). He was then promoted to offensive coordinator in 2003, the final season in which Steve Spurrier was there. Jackson took over play-calling from Spurrier in November of that season.

Jackson was a quarterback at Pacific, a dual threat, throwing for 2544 yards and rushing for 919. He became a graduate assistant there in 1987, and worked as receivers and running back coaches the following years. He served as running backs and special teams coach at Cal State-Fullerton in 1990 and 1991. In the spring o 1991, he joined the London Monarchs coaching staff in the World League, its inaugural season, where he worked with the teams running backs, receivers, and special teams. In 1992, he served as running backs coach at Arizona State, where he teamed with Petrino, who was then the quarterbacks coach. He took over for Petrino as quarterbacks coach in 1995, where he continued to develop current Broncos passer Jake Plummer.

Falcons choose Petrino

In a surprise move, the Falcons will announce on Monday that they have selected University of Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino to be the next leader of the franchise. Petrino accepted a five-year $24 million contract to be the Falcons next head coach, replacing Jim Mora. This past season, Petrino led the Cardinals to a 12-1 season, and a bowl win over Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl. Over four seasons as the head man at Louisville, the Cardinals sported a 41-9 record with a 2-2 record in bowl games. The Cardinals at one point in the season were considered a dark horse for the national title, climbing as high as third in the AP poll as they were undefeated through their first eight games. The Falcons are hopeful that Petrino's past of producing high-powered offenses on the collegiate level will kick start what has been a sputtering passing game in Atlanta the past few years. The Falcons were ranked last in the league this past season in passing offense.

Petrino is no stranger to the NFL, where he spent two seasons as quarterbacks coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1999 and 2000, and one season as their offensive coordinator in 2001. That season the Jaguars offense ranked 17th in total offense, 14th in passing offense, and 26th in rushing offense. They did however rank 9th in the league in yards per attempt that season.

After coaching the Jaguars, he served as offensive coordinator at Auburn in 2002, before been hired to head Louisville's football team. He has spent several years in several programs as offensive coordinator. His first venture at Louisville came in that role in 1998. Prior to that he coordinated offenses at Utah State (1995-97) and Nevada (1994). He was quarterbacks coach for two seasons at Arizona State, working with a young Jake Plummer. He had previous stints at Idaho State (1989-91), Weber State (1984, 1987-88), and his alma mater Carroll College (1983, 1985-86). He was a 2-time NAIA All-American quarterback at Carroll College.

Next targets: Cameron, Singletary

The Falcons have received permission to interview San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Malcolm "Cam" Cameron and San Francisco 49ers defensive assistant Mike Singletary. The interview with Cameron is expected sometime this weekend as the Chargers have a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Singletary's interview is expected early next week.

Cameron is the first potential candidate to replace Jim Mora as the head coach of the Falcons that has previous experience as a head coach. Cameron coached for five seasons at Indiana University, where he compiled a 18-37 record. Under Cameron's guidance, current Washington Redskins receiver Antwaan Randle-El became one of the premier dual threats in the country, rushing for nearly 4000 yards and throwing for over 7000 as a quarterback there. He also combined for 86 touchdowns.

Cameron's current achievement is that his Charger offense ranks first in the league in scoring offense, and 7th in total offense. The Chargers offense has finished 5th and 3rd in scoring offense the past two seasons, consecutive top five finishes that had not occurred since the famed days of "Air Coryell" in the mid-80s.

Cameron's previous tenure prior to joining Indian in 1997, was as quarterbacks coach of the Washington Redskins, where he worked under Norv Turner and helped develop Gus Frerotte. Prior to that he spent a decade as an assistant at the University of Michigan.

Singletary's coaching experience is limited, with 2006 marking only his fourth season patrolling NFL sidelines. Singletary's duties in San Francisco, mostly involve tutoring their young linebackers. Prior to joining the 49ers in 2005, he worked for two seasons as linebackers coach in Baltimore. His contributions have made 49er linebacker Brandon Moore into one of the emerging gems of the NFL, who led the 49ers with 92 tackles and 6.5 sacks this past season.

But Singletary is most renown for his 12-year Hall of Fame career. He was inducted into the Hall in 1998. Like another candidate for the Falcons head coaching job, Ron Rivera, he was apart of the 1985 Bears championship team. Singletary was the unquestioned leader of a series of Bears defenses that during his career, finished in the Top 5 in total defense six times, and first three consecutive seasons (1984-86). Singletary retired after 1992, finishing his career with 1488 tackles. He was named to 10 consecutive Pro Bowls and to the league's All-80s team, and was AP Defensive MVP twice (1985, 1988).

Although Singletary's lack of experience on the sideline is considered a considerable obstacle for him to become a head coach, many observers believe it is only inevitable that he does achieve that goal of leading an NFL franchise in the near future. Herman Edwards and Rod Marinelli are two current examples of NFL head coaches that never coordinated an NFL defense prior to their hirings.