Falcons interview two coaching candidates

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Falcons' search for a new head coach continued Tuesday when owner Arthur Blank and general manager Rich McKay met at an undisclosed hotel near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport with San Francisco defensive coordinator Jim Mora.

Two sources close to the Falcons' interview process requested anonymity, but each confirmed the Atlanta itinerary, which included an interview Monday night in St. Louis with Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith.

McKay, the team president, is serving as the point man for Blank, whose entourage also includes Atlanta's three executive vice presidents, Ray Anderson, Dick Sullivan and Wayne Luke, senior adviser Bobby Beathard and vice president of football operations Ron Hill.

The Falcons' itinerary for the rest of the week includes interviews Wednesday in Pittsburgh with Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey and defensive coordinator Tim Lewis.

Atlanta officials will be in Boston Thursday to interview New England defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. They likely will meet Friday with Atlanta interim head coach Wade Phillips, who went 2-1 after Blank fired Dan Reeves on Dec. 9.

Sullivan, who oversees all the team's marketing efforts, said earlier this year that NFL marketing research showed the Falcons to rank No. 1 among football fans ages 18-25.

Reeves, who turns 60 next month, might be considered old by some standards, but Phillips and Crennel are only four years younger. Lewis, Mora and Mularkey are 42 and Smith 45.

Of the six candidates, only Phillips has head coaching experience in the NFL. He went 29-19 from 1998-2000 at Buffalo and 16-16 from 1993-94 at Denver, leading the Bills to the playoffs twice and the Broncos once.

The Falcons are coming off a 5-11 season, marking the 19th time in their 38-year history that they've lost at least 10 games. Reeves led Atlanta to its only Super Bowl, but the Falcons went 29-50-1 after winning the 1998 NFC championship.

Atlanta's season ended Sunday with a 21-14 victory over Jacksonville. Phillips was the team's defensive coordinator from the start of 2002 through the 13th game of 2003 and in his only full season in that job, the Falcons were third in the NFL with 39 takeaways, fourth with 47 sacks and ninth in points allowed (19.6 average).

This year, however, the Falcons allowed more yards (6,108) than any team in franchise history and finished last among NFL teams.

Mora, who flew in from San Francisco Monday night, was a finalist for the 49ers' job last February and interviewed in Carolina after the Panthers fired George Seifert after the 2001 season. His San Francisco defense was 13th in yardage allowed and 21st in scoring.

Smith's Rams led the league in takeaways and finished 16th in yardage allowed and 17th in scoring. Crennel's Patriots, who lost safety Lawyer Milloy to free agency right before the season opener and then played most of the year without top linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, were No. 1 in scoring in No. 7 in yardage allowed.

Mularkey's Pittsburgh offense averaged only 18.8 points per game. Under Lewis, the Steelers' defense was ninth in yardage and 14th in scoring.

Mora shares the same name as his father, who was head coach in New Orleans from 1986-96 and in Indianapolis from 1998-2001. The younger Mora, 45, was one of seven assistant coaches retained from Steve Mariucci's former staff when San Francisco hired Dennis Erickson away from Oregon State.

Smith, 45, interviewed with the New York Giants for their head coaching job Tuesday. He worked as linebackers coach in Tampa Bay from 1996-2000 and has a good relationship with McKay, who served from 1995 through this past Dec. 12 as the Buccaneers' general manager.