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 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. No timelines were proposed for the searches, but both will begin immediately and run concurrently.
Voices around the league seemed to be pointing towards a departure from Fontenot, but sources also believed that Morris was likely to be retained in his position. A long-time 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 Dan 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, but it wasn’t enough to save Morris’ job.
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