FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. --- In his first NFL season as an assistant nine years ago, Mike Smith wasn't sure how professional players would respond to a career college coach.

Would they respect a guy who had never played or coached in the league? After the Baltimore Ravens won a Super Bowl in his second season, Smith had the credibility he needed to advance his career as a defensive assistant and become a head coach.

His first big day on the job arrives Sunday, when he coaches the Atlanta Falcons' season opener against the Detroit Lions, but the 49-year-old Smith is no longer concerned with feelings of legitimacy.

"There's always a feeling-out process between players and coaches," Smith said Thursday. "What players are looking for is a coach that helps them play better. I think that's the bottom line."

That wasn't the case with Bobby Petrino, who quit last December. His sudden departure for Arkansas caused many Falcons to describe him as "gutless, cowardly and pathetic."

One of Petrino's more reviled mannerisms was to walk through the locker room and never make eye contact with players.

Smith, on the other hand, smiles and stops for a chat.

"That's how it should be in any business with your co-workers," receiver Brian Finneran said. "Be polite. Converse. We really didn't have that last year."

Credentials mean little, as long as communication stays intact and there is mutual respect.

"They expect the best from us, and we give them better than they expect," fullback Ovie Mughelli said of the team's coaches. "That makes them have higher standards for us, and the result is we work even harder."