The Atlanta Falcons are cleaning house, firing head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot after two and five seasons, respectively.
Atlanta (8-9) ended the season with a four-game winning streak, capped off by Sunday’s 19-17 win over the New Orleans Saints, but the Falcons had already been eliminated from playoff contention thanks in large part to a prior stretch where they lost five straight games and seven of eight after a 3-2 start.
“I have great personal affinity for both Raheem and Terry and appreciate their hard work and dedication to the Falcons, but I believe we need new leadership in these roles moving forward,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a press release. “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.”
The Falcons finished in a three-way tie atop the NFC South, but the Carolina Panthers won the tiebreaker and division thanks to its 3-1 record against Atlanta and Tampa Bay.
Atlanta missed the playoffs for the eighth straight season, now alone as the second-longest NFL playoff drought behind the New York Jets (15 years) thanks to the Panthers snapping their seven-year drought this season.
Morris, who was previously the Buccaneers’ head coach from 2009-11, was a Falcons assistant coach from 2015-20 and was Atlanta’s interim head coach in 2020. He had a 16-18 record in two seasons as the Falcons’ full-time head coach and a 37-56 career record as a head coach with no playoff appearances.
The Falcons took stunning losses to the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers (twice) this season. As it turned out, winning any of those four games would have been enough to win the NFC South and make the playoffs.
Fontenot has been the Falcons’ GM for the last five seasons after previously serving as the New Orleans Saints’ assistant GM/vice president of pro personnel. The Falcons were 37-48 in Fontenot’s five years in the role, with no winning seasons or playoff appearances.
Fontenot received criticism for how he handled the Falcons’ 2024 offseason, when he signed quarterback Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract ($100 million guaranteed) before drafting another QB, Michael Penix Jr., with the No. 8 overall pick in that year’s NFL Draft.
However, his all-defensive 2025 draft appears to have transformed a defense which had been among the league’s worst. The Falcons set a franchise record with 57 sacks this season, led by 10.5 from first-round rookie James Pearce Jr.
–Field Level Media
