The Falcons famously chose Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick in their January 2024 head coaching search. While it’s anyone’s guess how the Falcons would have fared under Belichick, the team has disappointed with Morris at the helm. The Falcons dropped to 4-9 last Sunday with a lopsided loss to the Seahawks. They’ve won just 12 of 30 games since the beginning of last season.
Including a three-year run with the Buccaneers and a previous stint as the Falcons’ interim choice, Morris is 33-56 as a head coach in the NFL. The 49-year-old’s .371 winning percentage ranks last among active head coaches, Josh Kendall of The Athletic notes. It now appears Morris’ time in Atlanta is running out, according to the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora, who writes that he’s “as good as gone.”
While that may prove true when the Falcons’ season wraps up in four weeks, Morris insists he still has the backing of owner Arthur Blank.
“Support is not an issue. He is absolutely outstanding,” Morris said of Blank (via Kendall). “His ability to listen to us, be there for us, be in it with us is 100 percent awesome.”
For his part, Morris is continuing to stick with his coaching staff. He’s not planning to make any changes this late in the season, saying they’re “irrelevant” at this point. It’s something Morris plans to evaluate after the season, though it’s up in the air whether he’ll continue in his current post.
Whether it’s Morris or someone else in 2026, Atlanta’s head coach will face an uphill battle in turning around a franchise that just extended its playoff drought to eight years. For one, the Falcons have major questions at quarterback after second-year man Michael Penix Jr. suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 11.
Penix, the initial first-round pick of the Morris era, didn’t perform particularly well during his first 14 NFL games. He also has a long-running history of serious injuries dating back to college, and it’s unknown if he’ll be ready for the beginning of the 2026 campaign. The Falcons are unlikely to retain struggling backup Kirk Cousins and his bloated contract next year, which means they’ll have to pick up QB insurance during the offseason.
Adding to the Falcons’ problems, they aren’t in position to address any needs in the first round of next year’s draft. General manager Terry Fontenot traded the team’s top 2026 selection to the Rams last spring. That move enabled the Falcons to grab edge rusher James Pearce 26th overall. Pearce has racked up a team-leading six sacks as a rookie, but the first-rounder the Falcons surrendered for him is on pace to end up in the top 10. The Rams – not Morris or his potential successor – will reap the benefits of that pick.
Been saying it all year, he needs to be gone. For a defensive coach they don’t have an elite defense and offensively need some direction.
Most of their defensive front is in their first or second year. I feel like expecting them to be elite already is a big reach.
It’s not like Bill did anything at UNC, besides cheating once again.
Wonder if Blank will circle back to him, though.
The team spent $112 million in guaranteed money and a top ten pick on two quarterbacks and they still haven’t had a good quarterback. I think that’s a much bigger reason the team has struggled than the coaching staff.
Hiring the interem coach from years ago was the most bizarre thing they could do