Sitting at a desk filled with paperwork, Falcons secondary coach Tim Lewis has had little time to decorate his new office in Flowery Branch. The lone splash of color comes from a large monitor that — when not filled with game film — displays an image of his three smiling children.
It’s been just more than two weeks since the team hired him to fill an empty spot on the coaching staff and his family hasn’t moved to Georgia yet.
But he’s no stranger to Atlanta.
Lewis, a 15-year veteran of NFL coaching, has a sister in the city. His father-in-law also lives in the are and his brother, Will, served as an assistant coach under June Jones with the Falcons in 1995 and 1996. You may also remember Lewis’ name floating around the media during the team’s head coaching search in 2004.
Before that, Lewis was a player for the Green Bay Packers that made trips to Fulton Co. Stadium. He had an earlier connection with Atlanta after watching former Falcons player and coach Billy “White Shoes” Johnson play college at what is now Widener University.
“When I was a little kid playing Pop Warner football every Saturday morning we’d play our games then we had to hustle to get everyone together to go down and watch my cousin play ball with Billy White Shoes,” Lewis said. “I’d sometimes go in my uniform.”
The coach was caught off guard by the dynamic receiver and return man during one visit to Atlanta. Johnson pulled him aside after a play in a Packers-Falcons game and asked if he was the child that once watched him play.
“That was really wild,” Lewis said. “I would never guess he would remember me. I hadn’t seen him since I was a Pop Warner player.”
Ultimately, Lewis’ time as a player was cut short with injury.
After work in college, he moved to the NFL and coached for the Steelers (1995-2003), Giants (2004-2006) and the Panthers (2007-2008). Lewis was defensive coordinator for the Steelers from 2000-2003 and Giants from 2004-2006. In 2000, his Steelers defense ranked seventh in the NFL in total defense. The group led the league in that category in 2001. In New York, Lewis led a 2005 defense that didn’t allow a touchdown in more than 15 quarters (more on that tomorrow on AtlantaFalcons.com).
Lewis familiarity with Atlanta will come in handy in looking for a place to live and catching up with family and friends but he knows he’s on his own in digesting the piles of paperwork and reviews on his desk. He was spending his lunch break Wednesday learning the Falcons defensive scheme and finishing reviews on the team’s 2009 defensive backs.
He said he’ll get to know his players soon but wants to start coaching them from the first encounter.
“It’s a great process,” he said. “It’s always exciting when you’re learning something new and meeting new players. I figured I would wait to contact them until I had something of substance to say to them — other than introducing myself.”
10 Comments
well he can sure help these corners mature into good players. if not. great players !
lets see what he can do this comming season
When you look at some of the changes being made it’s clear the organization felt improvements were needed with a new trainer and secondary coach. Last season two of the main issues were guys staying healthy and inexperienced corners. I remember comments being made during the season about the corners not getting their heads around and the statement was made that it was coaching that was needed. You can get all the 1st round picks in the world but if you can’t coach them you’ve got a cluster f@(k. Tim Lewis will be the DC before long mark my words. BVG is not prepared for the NFL game he should go back to college and maybe even head coach somewhere.
Welcome to Atlanta Tim Lewis. I believe that our defense will be very potent this year once every able body is back from injuries. There will be significant changes to note esp. now that we have a new coach whom is not only apt to putting Mike’s defensive scheme into effect on every down, but coach our corners and safeties effectively. There is alot of talk as to how our defense this past season resembled the AINTS defense the season before but we see how N.O. stepped up and how they got their heads geared for this past year. I have alot of faith in our defense for this next season. I know it may be too soon to speculate but this is gonna be our year.. Call it a hunch.
i think we shoulds kept emett thomas our corners were starting to come around why make a change. i dont approve of this desicion but then again im not da coach so wateva
Wow!! Thanks J.Mike for enlightening us on just how super the move to hire Tim Lewis was and what he brings to the table for our defensive unit. With years of experience as a Def Cord with quality teams, I can’t imagine how we were able to secure him to focus on just our defensive backfield. But, I know our two greatest weaknesses are the pass rush and the pass defense and he will surely address one priority and help with the other. Great move.
I like this move. But maybe lewis should be our new d cor and bring back the ol db coach. It wasn’t Emmett’s fault he had to coach Chris Houston
pshhh damn all that we need to make it to the playoffs again! our offense is fine .. we need to soldier up or defense for sure brent grimes and christopher owens became ball hogs towards the end of the season im lovin it!!!
Welcome to ATL coach Lewis..although Im 20 years old. Ive been a falcon fan since 1966..So lets get this defense on track.. because Im dying for a Super Bowl Victory
i think it was time for a change but it would be nice to see you guys spend some money and get Peppers he would make the corner backs better with his force and leadership putting a team together through the draft is good but we need the leadership out there to help them grow so they will know that it is more than just a game and going out partying around in Atlanta we need a big name out the free agency on the so we can get our on dynasty started in Atlanta now tell me what you think
and yes i think our secondary should be a shame of themselves because i have seen high school players give better effort than some of the players we have i wont call no names but they know who they are everyone of them should have atleast 2 ints and a force or fumble recovery. YOU GUYS GOT TO WANT IT STOP BREAKING THE TRUE FANS HEART AND PLAY YOUR BUTT OFF! IF YALL CARED BOUT THE GAME LIKE YALL DO ABOUT YOUR BIGG NECKLACES AND CARS AND TRUCKS WITH BIGG RIMS YOU WOULD BE UNSTOPABLE GROW UP AND PLAY THE MAN GAME LIKE ITS SUPPOSE TO BE PLAYED. AND IF YOU’RE MAD YOU MUST BE THE ONE I’M TALKIN ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GIT IT DONE THATS ALL WE ASK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!