The Falcons have a vacancy at the head coach and general manager positions. Atlanta will also soon have a new president of football operations. 
A hire for the football ops role will take place before the other positions are filled. Matt Ryan remains the favorite in that capacity, but other options are (as required) being explored as well. Interviews will take place beginning today. Ian Cunningham (Bears) has received an interview request. The same is also true of Josh Williams (49ers), while Brandt Tilis (Panthers) will speak with Atlanta about the gig.
A fifth candidate has emerged for the new front office spot. Lions COO Mike Disner will interview today for the president of football operations gig, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports. Cunningham’s interview will take place tomorrow, he adds. All five will have spoken with Atlanta by the end of Friday; a hire will be expected shortly thereafter.
Disner began working in the NFL with the Cardinals in 2013. His six-year run in Arizona was followed by a move to Detroit. Disner has been with the Lions since 2019, previously serving as the team’s senior vice president of football and business operations. Since 2022, he has worked in his current capacity. Disner was connected to the Panthers’ GM opening in 2024 but withdrew from consideration.
As for Atlanta’s head coaching search, another interview request has been filed. According to Breer, the Falcons are among the teams looking to speak with 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. An interview cannot take place until next week in his case, but Saleh figures to be busy fielding interest from a number of teams. He has already received an interview request from the Cardinals, and more are expected over the coming days.
Saleh, 46, gained steam as a head coaching candidate during his first stint leading San Francisco’s defense (2017-20). Things did not go as planned with the Jets, but Saleh is among the top options in terms of coaches who could land a second HC opportunity during the 2026 hiring cycle. Atlanta went the route of a veteran, defense-oriented coach last time around by reuniting with Raheem Morris. It will be interesting to see if a similar approach is taken this year.
Nothing against Ryan, but he has zero years in franchise management. Same for Brady on his 2nd HC search in 2 years. That’s why parity is a myth; it’s almost always the same 10 teams that continually draft in the top 10.
Dennis Allen has a better head coaching record than Saleh. I guarantee if Saleh didn’t look the part, he would never be considered for another job whether he coached the Jets or not
Your guarantee would be wrong.
For a HC job there’s no way he would ever get another job if he looked like Brian Daboll and had them atrocious record he does. You know it’s true
I don’t “know it’s true” any more than I value your “guarantee.” His firing from the Jets was hasty and his time there was derailed by a bad quarterback draft pick and a meddling front office that stuck him with Nathaniel Hackett. He was a great DC for SF, built a strong defense for the Jets, and now Shanahan has brought him back again and he’s done a good job adapting to a defense bereft of talent. He also has an advantage over many defense first head coach candidates because he’s plugged into the coaching tree that’s produced more offensive play calling talent than anyone.
Can the Falcons just hire a coach that can work on that offence? You have a generational talent like Bijan, and players like London and Pitts, and outside of Bijan, the offence isn’t that impressive
Failing to fix the quarterback situation since Matt Ryan declined factors in pretty heavily.