Falcons fire head coach Raheem Morris after just two seasons

The Atlanta Falcons hired Raheem Morris believing he could take a roster that had been built in slow and disappointing fashion under Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot and take it to the next level. It was a gamble on a coach players and fellow coaches love, one who had already had a stint in Atlanta where he played numerous roles, and one that overlooked Morris’s losing record with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was a bet on growth, on familiarity, and on the team’s talent. It was a bet that failed.

The Falcons fired Raheem Morris today, after an 8-9 record in the 2025 season following an 8-9 year in 2024. Morris becomes the first Falcons head coach under Arthur Blank to be fired after fewer than three seasons; if you count his time as an interim head coach, perhaps you consider that three years.

You could say Morris was a victim of heightened expectations—the Falcons were supposed to win with this roster—but also has no one to blame but himself after the losses piled up, his in-game management continued to be shaky, and his hand-picked coordinator hires Jimmy Lake and Zac Robinson hurt this team in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Outsized faith in Younghoe Koo and Kirk Cousins cost him in 2024 and 2025, and paired with shaky roster building from also fired general manager Terry Fontenot, the Falcons turned a reasonably fast start into yet another miserable slog. The reports in recent weeks seemed to indicate Morris would stay, right up until after the game today, but instead the Falcons will clean house for the first time since the 2020 season.

Morris won’t struggle to find work elsewhere, as a secondary coach or defensive coordinator, given his reputation for being a great teacher and leader among other coaches and players. His head coaching career, however, is likely over after two full-time stints and one interim one where he posted one of the worst win/loss percentages in NFL history. I wish him well wherever he lands, regardless, no matter how frustrating his tenure proved to be.

And make no mistake: It was mightily frustrating. Morris ends his Falcons tenure as a permanent head coach at 16-18, a record reflective of the team’s maddening, often mediocre play over that span. Morris’s tenure was defined not by his vaunted ability to get the most out of players or a steadiness at the helm, but chaos. His hand-picked defensive coordinator flamed out after one year, his hand-picked offensive coordinator never could maximize the talent available, and his big swings on players (in conjunction with Terry Fontenot, of course) were a decidedly mixed bag, especially at quarterback. Throw in time management gaffes, the odd firing of Ike Hilliard and release of Ray-Ray McCloud that made a decimated receiving corps look even worse, and his constant evasiveness about injuries and you have a team that was both bad and in the news constantly for all the wrong reasons. Whatever he did behind the scenes for this team, Morris’s most visible traits and accomplishments looked a lot more like flaws and blemishes.

The Falcons have yet another major decision to make. Michael Penix Jr.’s future growth—or if the injuries prove to be too much, another young quarterback—looms as one of the most critical priorities for this franchise. Thus, I have to think they’ll lean toward an offensive-minded head coach who can unlock his talent, likely one who has a proven history of lifting passing games. Names on that list might include Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, former Cowboys and Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, and Washington offensive coordinator and former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury. If they’re looking for a defensive-minded coach who can focus on maintaining and upgrading that side of the ball’s level of play and potentially bring a bright offensive mind with them, Vikings defensive coordinator and former Dolphins head Brian Flores would presumably be near the top of the list. In the unlikely event that Mike Tomlin becomes available, Blank’s desire to build a winner and make a splash at the same time would make him Atlanta’s top target. But the next hire has to win, something three head coaches in a row have not been able to do since 2018 in Atlanta.

This choice will also likely be taken outside of the building. Per NFL insider Ari Meirov, the suspected dynamic during the last hiring cycle is what happened: Terry Fontenot and Rich McKay worked to sell Arthur Blank on Raheem Morris as the best choice. While I don’t think Bill Belichick would have fared better in Atlanta, Blank has gotten rid of Fontenot and may be looking to bring in Matt Ryan to oversee the next round of hires.

The bitter disappointment the Falcons have put us through continues for an eighth straight season, and at this point there’s really nothing they can do to make it up to us but get this franchise back on track. The next coach has to do something late tenure Dan Quinn, Arthur Smith, and now Morris failed to do: Find their way to wins.