Three assistant coaches added, two retained

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- The Atlanta Falcons today named Keith Armstrong the team’s new special teams coordinator, Jeff Fish the strength and conditioning coach, Bill Hughan the assistant strength and conditioning coach and retained quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave and asssistant special teams coach Tom McMahon.

Armstrong joins the Falcons following seven seasons as the special teams coordinator for the Miami Dolphins. The 14-year NFL coaching veteran was instrumental in leading rookie punt returner Ted Ginn, Jr., who finished fourth in the AFC with a 9.6 return average. Ginn also returned 63 kickoffs for 1,433 yards (22.7 avg.)

From 2001-2006, the Dolphins finished in the top eight in the NFL in punt return defense all but one season under Armstrong’s direction. During that same time frame, Miami opponents averaged 6.1 yards per punt return, including a 4.5-yard mark in 2001 when they led the League in the category. In 2003, the Dolphins ranked first in the NFL in opponents’ average starting field position with a 25.0-yard line mark and finished second in the same category in 2006 with a 24.9 figure.

Prior to joining the Dolphins, Armstrong served in the same role with the Chicago Bears from 1997-2000. In 2000, Chicago’s special teams unit ranked fourth in the NFL in punt return defense, allowing an average of just 7.0 yards per return. In his four seasons with the Bears, the special teams unit ranked in the top ten in the League in punt return average, punt coverage and kickoff coverage twice in each category.

Armstrong earned his start in the NFL with the Falcons in 1994 as the safeties coach. In 1996, he was promoted to secondary coach. Before his full-time positions in the NFL, he was part of the League’s Minority Coaching Fellowship program during training camps with the Jets (1991), Dallas (1992) and Chicago (1993).

Armstrong coached his way through the collegiate ranks before joining the NFL. The Levittown, Pa. native graduated as a four-year letterman as a running back and defensive back at Temple University (1983-1986) before joining the school as a graduate assistant in 1987. He then joined the University of Miami (Fla.) as the defensive backs and special teams coach for one season (1988) before coaching the wide receivers at the University of Akron in 1989. Armstrong’s last two stops in college before joining the Falcons came at Oklahoma State as the secondary coach (1990-1992) and Notre Dame as the linebackers and special teams coach in 1993.

Fish just completed his fourth season with the Oakland Raiders as strength and conditioning coach. He spent three seasons as the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Missouri where he oversaw a program that worked with nearly 500 student-athletes from 2001-2003.

Before his stint with Missouri, Fish was the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1999-2000 after serving as the intern in the department in 1998. He has also spent time as the strength and conditioning coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1997), University of Tulsa (1995-1997) and Kent State from 1993-1995.

From 1991-1993, Fish held the assistant strength and conditioning coach position at Clemson following the start of his coaching career as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach at Western Michigan in 1989.

Hughan spent the last four seasons (2004-2007) as the assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Oakland Raiders. Prior to his tenure with the Silver and Black, he spent three seasons at the University of Missouri (2001-2003) under Jeff Fish. Hughan started in the collegiate ranks as an Assistant at Yale University from 1997-1998. He then served as a graduate assistant at Columbia University for two years (1999-2000) and in-between the season during the summer, he worked with the Omaha Royals, the AAA affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

A native of Oxford, Conn., Hughan attended Springfield College in Massachusetts where he played hockey. He has an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science and a graduate degree in Applied Physiology.

Musgrave will enter his third season with the Falcons as the quarterbacks coach after joining the team in 2006. Last season, Falcons quarterbacks tallied 3,573 total passing yards, which is the highest mark for the team since 2001. Falcons wide receivers and tight ends were also utilized more last season as the group averaged 6.5 more receptions and close to 50 yards more per game compared to the 2006 campaign.

Chris Redman started the final four games behind center last season and recorded career highs in passing yards (1,079) and touchdowns (10) while contributing with a four-touchdown game against the Seattle Seahawks in the season finale en route to earning NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Musgrave has tallied nine years as an NFL coach and entered the League with the Oakland Raiders in 1997 as quarterbacks coach. He has served as an offensive coordinator on three occasions which includes Philadelphia in 1998, Carolina in 2000 and Jacksonville from 2003-2004.

McMahon enters his second season with the Falcons as assistant special teams coach. Last season, under the guidance of McMahon, Jerious Norwood finished fifth in the NFC with 52 kickoff returns for 1,317 yards (25.3 average) while posting his longest kickoff return and the longest return for the Falcons since 2002 on a 76-yard scamper against Tennessee in Week 5. The Falcons also ranked second in the NFL in kickoff returns of 20-plus yards. McMahon oversaw punter Michael Koenen who helped Atlanta rank second in the NFC and second in the NFL in opponents average starting field position with a 25.5-yard line mark.

McMahon came to the Falcons after one season at the University of Louisville as the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach. He also spent 11 seasons at Utah State (1995-2005) and two seasons at Carroll College (1992 and 1994).

Current Falcons coaching staff to date: Mike Smith (Head Coach), Emmitt Thomas (Assistant Head Coach), Mike Mularkey (Offensive Coordinator), Brian VanGorder (Defensive Coordinator), Armstrong (Special Teams Coordinator), Gerald Brown (Running Backs Coach), Fish (Strength and Conditioning Coach), Ray Hamilton (Defensive Line Coach), Hughan (Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach), McMahon (Assistant Special Teams Coach), Musgrave (Quarterbacks Coach), Terry Robiskie (Wide Receivers Coach), Glenn Thomas (Offensive Quality Control Coach). 

Keith Armstrong’s Coaching Background

Jeff Fish’s Coaching Background

Bill Hughan’s Coaching Background

Bill Musgrave’s Coaching Background

Tom McMahon’s Coaching Background