Falcons name Sarkisian offensive boss

FLOWERY BRANCH, Georgia — After only one game as Alabama’s offensive co-ordinator, Steve Sarkisian is heading to the NFL.

To work with MVP quarterback Matt Ryan and the league’s highest-scoring offence, no less.

Less than 24 hours after Kyle Shanahan left to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, the Falcons announced Tuesday that Sarkisian would be his replacement.

The stunning move came with Sarkisian less than a month into what was to be his first full season running Alabama’s offence, a job he took over for the national championship game in place of Lane Kiffin. But Falcons coach Dan Quinn said he’s had his eye on Sarkisian since last spring, figuring it was only a matter of time before Shanahan moved on to a team of his own.

“I knew how good Kyle is,” Quinn said. “I wanted to make sure I had contingency plans in place.”

The two have known each other since Sarkisian coached at Washington and Quinn was Seattle’s defensive co-ordinator. Sarkisian stopped by Atlanta last year to check out the Falcons’ off-season workouts, as well as training camp.

Even though Sarkisian has only one year of pro experience, Quinn expects a smooth transition for the new co-ordinator, who is familiar with many of the wide zone blocking schemes that worked so well for Atlanta on its way to the Super Bowl.

“We love the way we attack,” Quinn said. “It took a lot of work to put that system in place. We have a real emphasis on the personnel and how we can feature the guys in that system.”