Dean Pees has won a Super Bowl ring as the defensive coordinator of the Patriots, and another as the defensive coordinator of the Ravens. Now he’s the defensive coordinator of the Falcons, and he says he’s expecting to hold his players to the same standard.
In a training camp practice rant to the media, Pees said the Falcons’ performance on defense has been unacceptable through the years, and he sees changing the culture to make it more like New England and Baltimore as a major part of his job.
“We’re changing the culture around this dadgum place,” Pees said. “It’s not going to be mediocre. It’s not going to be average. It’s not going to be in the bottom half of the league like it’s been 15 of the last 20 years. Sick of that crap. We’ve got to take charge, and it’s not going to be anyone else to do it but us. I’m tired of everybody telling us how bad we are, because after a while you start believing it. . . . Guys around here on defense sometimes believe 15th is OK or whatever. We’ve been in the Top 10 one time out of the last 20 years. That bullshit’s over. Sorry, I’m getting fired up today, but I’m tired of this crap. We’re going to change the culture of the defense around this frickin’ place. People are going to start talking about the Atlanta defense like they did Baltimore and New England. It’s going to be the same shit around here.”
The Falcons’ defense was ugly last season in Pees’ first year at the coordinator. If he doesn’t bring up the standards in Year Two, he probably won’t get a Year Three.