According to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy, the Bengals former offensive coordinator, Bob Bratkowski, has landed a job as quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons. That's right, Bratkowski, whom many Bengals fans blamed for the Bengals struggling and often completely ineffective offense, has left the sinking ship of the Bengals and found a new job on the Falcon's ship, which, of course, isn't sinking of all. It's doing the opposite of sinking..... it's.... flying?
Bratkowski will have a direct hand in the success of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, known in Hotlanta as Matty Ice.
This will be the first time that Bratkowski has been a quarterbacks coach in the NFL. Besides being an offensive coordinator for 14 seasons (including four in Seattle) he was a receivers coach for five seasons with the Seahawks and Steelers.
Bratkowski will be replacing Bill Musgrave, who accepted the offensive coordinator job for the Vikings last month. Just in cast you were wondering how Falcon's fans feel about hiring somebody that had become somewhat of a football pariah in Cincinnati, SB Nation's Atlanta Falcons blog, The Falcoholic, thinks it's a good move.
With his experience, Bratkowski should do just fine with the Falcons. He's also a potential option as offensive coordinator if a team does end up stealing Mike Mularkey away down the line, so that's a plus. I like the hire, and it's fortunate for the Falcons that somebody with at least some history of success was actually available.
Bob Bratkowski, in this situation, reminds me of The Shawshank Redemption's Andy Dufresne. I can hear Morgan Freeman's sultry voice saying, "Bob Bratkowski - who crawled through a river of sh*t and came out clean on the other side."
I, remembering the good Bratkowski days and the bad ones, wish the man the best of luck. Unfortunately, I doubt that he needs luck as much as the Bengals do.