Episode 1 | Mike Smith

The Atlanta Story

The Atlanta Story podcast features meaningful stories of Atlanta’s builders, creators, and entrepreneurs. In this episode Jon Birdsong sits down with Coach Mike Smith, former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

Mike or Smitty as locals know him, is the Falcon’s winningest coach in franchise history by number of wins. In 2008 he was the recipient of the NFL Coach of the Year Award. In today’s episode, we talk about how to win in the locker room, behaviors from the most committed players he’s ever coached, what Mike was most proud of during his time in Atlanta, what he would do differently looking back, plus much more.

The Atlanta Story is put together by the folks at Atlanta Ventures -- and we can’t wait to share some of the personalities behind the brand. Atlanta Ventures invests in entrepreneurs through community, content, and capital -- most notably through our Studio with companies like Greenzie and Intown Golf Club. We believe the best entrepreneurs learn from other great artists in different fields.

In this episode, we discuss…

1. Welcome back to Atlanta.
2. When did you know you wanted to be a coach? (1:21)
3. Did you always know you wanted to be a coach, even in your playing days? (3:32)
4. Who was the most committed player you ever coached and how was that commitment displayed? (6:09)
5. What was the feeling of putting on a Superbowl ring? (9:55)
6. Can you share the difference between a transactional coach and a transformational coach and more specifically the behaviors between the two? (10:45)
7. Does that mean having a relationship off the field with them? (12:38)
8. One of the key traits to winning the locker room and culture of the team is consistency, can you share some of the most meaningful ways a coach can be consistent? (15:27)
9. Does the coach set the vision or are they more focused on the weekly blocking and tackling? Or is the vision set by the GM and owner? (19:16)
10. Can you have a good culture and not win? (21:52)
11. Let’s talk about the hand to hand battle that is football. As a coach, how do you control a sideline when things are going really bad? Is there a story or example where you turned a bad situation and immediately boosted morale? (24:05)
12. What does Arthur Blank and the Falcons have to do to win a Super Bowl? (29:05)
13. Is there anything you would do differently as a coach (31:05)
14. Share more about the “Why?” behind your podcast? (35:36)
15. We met through the CEO of Intown Golf Club. What attracted you to the opportunity at Intown Golf Club? (39:54)
16. Why Atlanta and what has Atlanta done for you? (43:07)

Resources discussed in this episode:

From the Locker Room Podcast

Mike’s book: You Win in the Locker Room First

How you can get involved:

Visit atlantaventures.com/studio if you’re interested in learning more about Atlanta Ventures and the Studio.

Where you can find us:

Website: www.atlstory.com

Twitter: @theatlantastory

Instagram: @theatlantastory

YouTube: Here

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