Falcons Interview Five For President Of Football Position

Earlier this week, it was announced that former Falcons long-time quarterback Matt Ryan was expected to be hired into a new position in Atlanta’s front office. It was initially reported as a president of football operations job, but it seems the title the Falcons are going with is just president of football.

Per Falcons senior reporter Tori McElhaney, team owner Arthur Blank described the position, saying, “The leader in this new role will set the vision for our team. Our new head coach and general manager will report to the new president of football, and they will work collaboratively as a football leadership team on all football decisions. Final decision-making authority will rest with the president of football.”

This shines new light on the position as one superior to that of the head coach and general manager, who will both apparently report to this president of football. Today, the team also announced that five candidates have been interviewed for the position that had been expected to go to Ryan days ago. Lions chief operating officer Mike Disner, Panthers executive vice president of operations Brandt Tilis, 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham, and Ryan, the current CBS analyst, were the five interviewed candidates.

Disner started his career as an intern in New England before joining the Cardinals, with whom he spent six years as director of football administration. He then spent four years at the NFL Management Council before eventually joining the Lions. He’s been credited as being a part of the leadership group that oversaw the current general manager and head coach hirings in Detroit and connecting business strategy with football operations. The team believes Disner’s experience fits Blank’s expectations for the role very well.

Tilis also spent time at the NFL Management Council, afterwards finding his way to Kansas City. He worked for the Chiefs for 14 seasons, starting as a salary cap/contract analyst, then advancing through director of salary cap and football operations analytics, and director of football administration roles to become vice president of football operations. After three years in that role, Tilis was offered his current job in Carolina. Tilis’ financial acumen is what Atlanta covets here. He’s known as having been the lead negotiator when the Chiefs extended quarterback Patrick Mahomes to his 10-year deal. His role with the Panthers has seen him play “a role in creating cap stability while improving roster health and talent,” once again displaying the type of overarching vision that Blank is looking for.

Williams took to the business world in New York City following the end of his collegiate playing career at Columbia. He joined San Francisco’s scouting department in 2011 and has been with the team ever since, serving in the roles of pro personnel scout, NFS scout, area scout, and national scout before being elevated to his current role last year. Williams was also a participant in the NFL’s Front Office and General Manager Accelerator Program in 2024.

Cunningham started in Baltimore as a player personnel assistant, working his way up to area scout in his nine seasons with the team. He left the Ravens for Philadelphia to serve as director of college scouting before moving up to assistant director of player personnel and, eventually, director. In 2022, he was hired into his current role with the Bears, who had never had an assistant GM before. His meteoric rise through the ranks of his two prior programs and the quick turnaround to success that has followed his arrival in Chicago has Atlanta intrigued in his potential to do something similar with the Falcons.

It would be prudent to point out that, as two external minority candidates, Williams and Cunningham technically satisfy the Falcons’ Rooney Rule requirements that tend to apply to the hiring of positions such as general manager or head coach. Since this position seemingly oversees both, Atlanta may have been covering their bases by interviewing four other candidates, including the two minority candidates, instead of just hiring Ryan as initially thought in original reports. That being said, ESPN’s Adam Schefter called Cunningham “a favorite for the job,” but that remains to be seen.

Ryan was the last interviewed candidate announced by the team today, and his experience obviously comes from the 14 years he spent as the franchise’s starting quarterback. He’s reportedly become a trusted voice in the building, and his relationship with Blank makes him widely expected to land the position, as initially reported. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Ryan concluded the team’s interviews for the position, and a decision is now expected to come in the near future.