Falcons fire Morris, Fontenot despite hot finish

The Atlanta Falcons fired coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot on Sunday night after two straight disappointing seasons.

Their exits came hours after Atlanta wrapped up an 8-9 campaign with a 19-17 home win over the New Orleans Saints.

Fontenot had been with the Falcons since 2021. Morris was hired in 2024.

«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 statement. «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.»

Drake London, Jessie Bates III and Bijan Robinson, expressed hope that Morris would be back for a third season as well as for a Fontenot return.

«I want Rah back with all my heart,» London said.

But Atlanta did not have a winning record once in Fontenot’s five-year tenure, and the Falcons were 16-18 under Morris over two campaigns. Overall, the Falcons have not been to the playoffs since 2017, the second-longest drought in the NFL. Atlanta has not had a winning record for eight seasons.

Fontenot, 45, came to the Falcons after 17 seasons with the Saints, most recently as New Orleans’ assistant general manager and vice president of pro personnel. This was Fontenot’s first job as general manager.

He arrived in Atlanta at the same time as the hiring of Arthur Smith as coach and did help the organization get out of a salary cap jam. But Smith’s Falcons went 7-10 in each of his three seasons, and Smith was fired after the 2023 season, with Morris tabbed to replace him.

Atlanta went 8-9 in 2024 despite a 6-3 start.

Not being able to find the right quarterback after franchise signal-caller Matt Ryan left Atlanta was Fontenot’s ultimate undoing. The Falcons have had five QBs — Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinicke, Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. — since Ryan was traded in 2021, and none has fully panned out.

During the 2024 offseason, the Falcons signed Cousins, coming off a torn Achilles tendon, to a four-year contract worth at least $100 million guaranteed. Six weeks later, they drafted Penix with the No. 8 pick.

The plan was for Cousins to be the quarterback of the present before eventually transitioning to Penix. Cousins performed well early in 2024, helping the Falcons to a 6-3 record. But he struggled during a four-game losing streak and was benched in Week 16 of that season for Penix.

Though he has shown flashes of promise, Penix was inconsistent in 12 starts this season before going down with a torn left ACL in Week 11. Penix is likely to be out for nine to 12 months.

Morris, 49, was hired as Atlanta’s coach in January 2024 after a successful three-year run as defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams that included a Super Bowl victory. (Morris was previously on the Falcons’ staff starting in 2015; he was named defensive coordinator in 2020 under Dan Quinn and became the team’s interim head coach later that season when Quinn was fired.)

Morris’ only previous experience as a head coach was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011. He posted a 17-31 record with the Bucs.

Tomado de https://www.espn.com/