Author: Ely Allen

The first firing announcement comes out of Atlanta, where, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, head coach Raheem Morris has officially been fired. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports quickly followed up the coaching announcement with a report that general manager Terry Fontenot has also been removed from his position.

In a statement, team owner Arthur Blank gave an explanation of today’s transactions.

“I have great personal affinity for both Raheem and Terry and appreciate their hard work and dedication to the Falcons,” he began. “But I believe we need new leadership in these roles moving forward. The decision to move away from people who represent the organization so well and have a shared commitment to the values that are important to the organization is not an easy one, but the results on the field have not met our expectations or those of our fans and leadership. I wish Raheem and Terry the absolute best in their future pursuits.”

Additionally, the team’s statement mentioned that they would use two different search firms to help fill the two jobs. ZRG Partners will assist Atlanta on their head coach search while Sportsology Group will assist with the search for a new general manager. Sportsology was already being utilized to perform a full assessment of the team’s football operations. It seems their evaluation was valued, as it led to Fontenot’s dismissal and further work to assist with the job to replace him. No timelines were proposed for the searches, but both will begin immediately and run concurrently.

Blank seems to be growing short of patience as time goes on. Before Morris, Mike Smith held the head coaching job for seven seasons. Dan Quinn only lasted six after that, Arthur Smith three, and Morris just two. The team’s quick response to act all comes naturally at this point as the organization will undergo it’s fourth head coaching search in seven years. The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson reports that, behind the scenes, discussions on resetting the team’s structure have been going on for weeks now.

Voices around the league seemed to be pointing toward a departure from Fontenot, but sources also believed that Morris was likely to be retained in his position. A longtime assistant with the Falcons, Morris spent six years as assistant head coach while coaching various position groups before getting promoted to defensive coordinator in 2020. He stepped up into the interim head coaching job when Quinn was fired and went 4-7 in his first time back in the captain’s chair since his time with the Buccaneers back in 2011.

The Falcons did not choose Morris to take over the full-time head coaching gig, instead hiring Arthur Smith to the job. Morris returned to Atlanta after three years as defensive coordinator for the Rams, replacing Smith when he was fired after three straight 7-10 seasons. In his two years back at the helm, Morris improved on Smith’s streak, if only barely, recording two 8-9 campaigns, the first resulting in a second-place division finish and the second resulting in a three-way tie that ended with a third-place finish in the NFC South.

In order to force the three-way tie, the Falcons had to win their last four games, an impressive close to the season. These marked the Falcons’ only two eight-win seasons during their eight-year playoff drought, but this one enough to save Morris’ job.

Multiple players, including wide receiver Drake London and running back Bijan Robinson, were vocal in support of Morris before his dismissal, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Robinson specifically said he was “going to support Raheem no matter what” but that it’s “Arthur Blank’s decision” (via Josh Kendall of The Athletic). There’s plenty of room for criticism of the move as a bit early. Several coaches with worse results have been given longer leashes in NFL history, and Morris’ short leash came with handicaps from questionable draft and free agency decisions by Fontenot that left him with awkward quarterback situations.

Many are pointing to Fontenot’s failure to solve the team’s quarterback issues as the cause for his departure. With Fontenot as GM in Atlanta for five seasons, the Falcons went 36-48 during his tenure. Despite the clear signs that former franchise quarterback Matt Ryan was in the twilight years of his career, Fontenot failed to address the position in his first draft. The only player from that first draft class to really impact the team was first-round tight end Kyle Pitts, who still delivered a few disappointing seasons over his rookie deal. The Falcons then traded Ryan to Indianapolis and drafted Desmond Ridder in the third round of 2022’s draft, which also yielded them London and running back Tyler Allgeier.

After Ridder failed to establish himself as a starter, as the Falcons had stood down rather than add an outside option in 2023, Fontenot and the Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a huge four-year, $180MM deal with the understanding that they would not draft a first-round quarterback to stash behind him. About six weeks later, Fontenot and the Falcons drafted Michael Penix Jr. in the first round to stash behind Cousins without notifying Cousins or his representation that they would be doing so.

Morris and the coaching staff were believed to have played a role in the QB double-up, becoming impressed with the left-handed QB. The Falcons spent two years shuffling a sometimes-injured, struggling Cousins with a sometimes-injured, struggling Penix, putting them in the situation they now find themselves.

The Morris hire came as Fontenot and CEO Rich McKay were believed to have played roles in swaying Blank away from hiring Bill Belichick. Neither were believed to have wanted to work with the former Super Bowl-winning HC. Politics partially played a part in the Falcons moving to Morris, who worked under McKay in Tampa. Morris was well-liked in the building stemming from his first go-round in Atlanta, but his HC stint ended up not even lasting as long as his Bucs stay. Following the Morris hire, Fontenot secured more organizational power as McKay stepped back from day-to-day operations.

Fontenot’s drafting seemed to show some improvements, especially with some successful defensive picks this past year, but it was mostly first- and second-rounders making an impact from each class. Regardless, through Fontenot’s five seasons, the Falcons failed to see a single winning campaign, let alone a trip to the playoffs. The two won their final game with the team, were seen celebrating in the locker room with the players, then were called to meet with Blank a couple hours later to be delivered the bad news, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

There’s obviously no news to report so soon after the dismissals of the two team leaders, but The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman sees Morris having potential looks at defensive coordinator jobs in the offseason. Anderson reports that Ryan, the team’s former franchise quarterback, has been an “active” voice in the building already, with some starting to link his name to the now open general manager position.