Arthur Blank has been a fairly patient owner, sometimes to a fault. He gave Mike Smith another shot after a lackluster, injury-marred 2013, which was understandable. He gave Dan Quinn another shot after an awful first half of 2019 turned into an improbable number of wins in the second half, which was less welcome. Whether that patience will extend to giving Arthur Smith a fourth season remains to be seen, and Blank isn’t keen to make (or at least publicly comment) on that decision just yet.
In an interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Jeff Hullinger, an excerpt of which was posted online Tuesday, Blank was asked some fairly direct questions about whether Smith would be the coach in 2024 and whether the playoffs were a must.