Mora making an impression in Atlanta

— -- This was back in the dog days of August, in the teeth of those painful, sweat-soaked workouts at the Atlanta Falcons' training camp at Furman University: Jim Mora, the boyish rookie head coach, lines up his team in the end zone at Paladin Stadium with South Carolina's Paris Mountain looming in the distance. "Now, this is where the visiting tunnel is," Mora says briskly. "And this is where I want the captains. Hey, tighten it up in the back, there." He is, as always, straight-ahead serious. Kickoff for the Falcons' first exhibition game in Baltimore is still a day away, but -- and for some of the veterans this is almost laughable -- Mora has his players practicing the way they are going to come onto the field. He gestures to team photographer Jimmy Cribb and says, convincingly, "Go on, pretend to take the captains' picture." Sure, it's Pop Warner stuff, but the game will be on national television. Mora wants his first impression -- and the 2004 Falcons' first impression -- to be a good one. He is 42 years old, but this will be his 20th season in the NFL. The funny thing? Even with those cheesy fake snapshots and 16,000 empty seats, the players are actually making an effort to hit all the right marks. "We went through an entire mock game, starting with getting off the bus," Mora explained Wednesday from the Falcons' headquarters in Flowery Branch, Ga. "We took a knee in the locker room at the two-minute pre-game warning and said a prayer and hit the field. We had our coaches in the press box and the headsets on the field. Then we went through a 50-play walkthrough. It took about an hour, but it was well worth it." And it makes you wonder. If Mora's attention to detail is this hyper-amped for a pre-game exercise, well, what are his game plans like? About what you'd think. The Falcons are 3-0 for the first time since 1986 and, even though the three teams they've beaten are, in order, the 49ers, Rams and Cardinals, optimism radiates from the team's facility.

When Reeves learned that he would not be back in 2004 -- he left the team with three games to play last season -- the Falcons began casting around for their next leader. Mora was not among the leading candidates. The top three were thought to be LSU's Nick Saban, then- St. Louis Rams defensive coordinator Love Smith and Phillips, Atlanta's interim head coach. Mora had a terrific interview with general manager Rich McKay, but owner Arthur Blank was conferring at the time in North Carolina with Joe Gibbs, then a Falcons minority owner. Eight days later, Mora sat down with Blank. That second impression and testimony from 49ers leading lights like Walsh, Mariucci and Steve Young led to the Jan. 8 announcement that Mora was the Falcons' new head coach. There were some immediate cosmetic changes: The locker rooms and weight room were painted. Four big-screen televisions were installed in the weight room, where players see a constant barrage of the NFL's greatest games and players. Mora had pictures of the Falcons' top players hung in the corridors and meeting rooms. The Falcons' uniforms were changed from black to red. Practices have been tougher. Expectations seem to be higher. The Falcons are not going to pass anyone under the table -- they've attempted only 61 passes, fewer than any other team, except Jets' 56 (in two games) and are No. 29 in passing yards. Still, the running game is No. 1 with an average of 177 yards per game and the maturation of Vick continues. Mora has an old-school mentality of run first, pass second, but he is aggressive, too. With the game against the Rams tied at 17-all in the fourth quarter, the Falcons faced a fourth-and-1 at the 2-yard-line. Reeves probably would have kicked the field goal, but Mora had Vick hand the ball off to Warrick Dunn, who scored a touchdown. Atlanta went on to win 34-17. "I love being on the football field," he said Thursday, the energy coming right through the phone. "It's so fun. "It's about momentum and emotion. A word I've been using a lot lately is conviction. It's knowing you're doing the right thing. I think we're starting to get that feeling." Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.