The Atlanta Falcons are at a crossroads.
After a 3-2 start, including an impressive Week 6 victory over the Buffalo Bills, the wheels fell off. Atlanta lost five straight games, ultimately ending up at 4-9 heading into Week 15. The Falcons were officially eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday.
Whenever a team with playoff expectations falters, there will always be questions about the coaching staff. But what the Falcons have experienced is far beyond faltering—this team has collapsed, totally and completely. To make matters worse, the division is wide open: the 7-6 Panthers are currently leading the NFC South. Atlanta may only have needed 9 wins to take it and break an eight-season streak of missing the playoffs.
Raheem Morris is now facing questions about his future in Atlanta. Morris was brought in to elevate a perpetually average Falcons team that had failed to make progress under Arthur Smith. An experienced former head coach who became one of the youngest in NFL history at just 33 years old back in 2009, Morris was viewed as an intriguing candidate for a second opportunity. In the years preceding his hire, Morris spent three seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, including a Super Bowl title run in 2021 and a playoff appearance in 2023.
Morris elected to go the “CEO” route as a head coach, bringing in rookie offensive and defensive playcallers and choosing to take on a higher-level management role. Given his experience on both sides of the ball, this approach made some sense. Unfortunately, Morris has struggled in that role and his lack of control in all three phases—and in-game management—has become a major issue for the Falcons.
With Atlanta staring down one of the worst seasons in recent history, it’s time to make a change at head coach. The total body of work that Raheem Morris has delivered for the Falcons has not earned him a third season.
Problematic coordinator hires
One of the most important decisions a head coach faces at the start of his regime is who to hire at the three coordinator positions: offensive, defensive, and special teams. Many head coaches are playcallers in one phase, so one of those coordinators is more of a lieutenant. But no matter how you slice it, these three hires form the backbone of your team in all three phases.
These hires were even more critical for Raheem Morris, because he’s not a playcaller. As a “CEO” head coach, he trusts his coordinators to run the three phases of the team. Part of the appeal of Morris was his wide network of relationships across the NFL, and the belief that he could assemble an All-Star staff in Atlanta.
Zac Robinson was considered a top offensive coordinator candidate at the time, and most were excited to see him in Atlanta. Jimmy Lake, the former Washington Huskies head coach and assistant head coach with the Rams, was brought in to coordinate the defense—a much more questionable decision. Morris elected to keep Marquice Williams as the special teams coordinator after a pretty solid tenure under Arthur Smith.
Interestingly, Marquice Williams was the only experienced coordinator among the three hires. Robinson had only previously called plays in the preseason, and was otherwise a totally inexperienced OC. Jimmy Lake was a college head coach, but had never run an NFL defense before. The belief was that Morris, given his extensive experience on both sides of the ball, could help smooth out any issues and provide guidance to the rookie coordinators.
Unfortunately, that guidance would be needed almost immediately, as Jimmy Lake implemented an over-complicated and ineffective defensive system that the players seemed to loathe. A defense coming off one of the best seasons in recent years under Ryan Nielsen collapsed completely as regression hit every single level at once. Lake’s defense was an unmitigated disaster, and it seemed that Morris had to take control at some point later in the season. Lake would be fired after the season ended.
Zac Robinson’s offense managed to be reasonably effective to start the 2024 season, at least until Kirk Cousins was injured. Things went off the rails quickly during the mid-season slump, but improved once Michael Penix Jr. entered the lineup. Two of the best games of Robinson’s tenure came at the end of 2024—the Falcons still wound up losing both due to defensive struggles. There were clear issues with Robinson’s offense throughout the year, mostly to do with game flow, third down, red zone, and overall predictability. But many of these could easily be attributed to a first-year playcaller getting acclimated to the NFL game.
There were high expectations for Zac Robinson in 2025, as the Falcons were supposedly moving into their competitive window and he was no longer a rookie OC. Instead, it became clear almost immediately that Robinson had not implemented the necessary changes to fix 2024’s issues. Atlanta’s offense was more predictable than ever, the passing game concepts hadn’t evolved, and the run game was stunted by an obsession with outside zone running. Worst of all, Atlanta has become the worst third down offense in the NFL.
Marquice Williams, despite a solid career under Arthur Smith, hasn’t been able to adjust to the NFL’s new kickoff rules. The Falcons punt and kick coverage is among the league’s worst, as is the return game. Jamal Agnew has been in and out of the lineup with injury, and has only been moderately effective when healthy. The Falcons, outside of one season with a healthy Avery Williams and some memorable Cordarrelle Patterson kickoff returns, have largely stagnated in the return game under Williams.
We also can’t ignore the issues with the kicking game, where the Falcons made the decision to stick with Younghoe Koo at a premium salary after a disastrous 2024 season. That mistake revealed itself almost immediately, with Atlanta releasing Koo after Week 2 and bringing in the equally problematic Parker Romo. Romo made it seven weeks before the Falcons finally found a reliable kicker in Zane Gonzalez, who has thus far missed just one 50-yard FG in very poor weather conditions. Even so, the kicking game issues undoubtedly cost the Falcons at least two wins in 2025.
So that makes three problematic coordinator hires for Raheem Morris right out of the gate. The most important three hires for a head coach to make, and all three will need to be replaced prior to Year 3. Sure, Jeff Ulbrich has been a marked improvement over Lake. It’s good that Atlanta recognized that mistake quickly. But three failed coordinators is simply too much to bear. It means that the Falcons failed in all three phases under Morris’ guidance and decision-making. The last time that happened, the Falcons replaced all three coordinators and gave Dan Quinn two more years, which proved to be a disaster in its own right.
That type of total failure cannot be overlooked, and calls into doubt Raheem Morris’ judgment and team-building capabilities.
Poor coaching and roster management
Those critical mistakes at the highest level hires extend through the rest of the coaching staff as well.
Alongside Jimmy Lake, Raheem Morris chose to bring in Jay Rodgers as the defensive line coach. Rodgers was coming off a tumultuous tenure with the Los Angeles Chargers, who were among the worst run defenses in the NFL and consistently had issues with defensive line development. This was a curious decision, to say the least, and it failed miserably. Rodgers was fired alongside Jimmy Lake after the 2024 season.
A big win was actually the hiring of Ike Hilliard to coach the wide receivers. Hilliard had an impressive resume and instantly became one of the most respected coaches on the staff. The results were immediate: Drake London and Darnell Mooney both had career years and nearly gave the Falcons their first 1,000+ yard duo since Julio Jones and Roddy White. Hilliard also turned career depth player Ray-Ray McCloud into a respectable WR3, who Atlanta desperately needed. Even special teams ace KhaDarel Hodge managed to contribute some big plays on offense.
That made it all the more shocking when the Falcons made the decision to fire Ike Hilliard three weeks into the 2025 season. Raheem Morris originally said the move was for “performance” reasons, but later clarified it was due to “communication” issues. No matter what you think about why this firing happened—and what it might mean behind the scenes—the results have been destructive. Atlanta’s wide receiver room nosedived in productivity, with Darnell Mooney a complete non-factor, Ray-Ray McCloud questionably benched and then cut shortly after Hilliard’s departure, and a rotating door of practice squad players contributing very little on the field.
The Falcons allegedly had issues with Ike Hilliard’s “communication” back in 2024, and may have even considered firing him. But at the end of the day, the decision was made to retain Hilliard and not bring in any additional wide receivers coaching. Instead, Raheem Morris seemingly changed his mind less than a month into the season and left one of the youngest and most critical position groups on the roster in the hands of quarterbacks coach T.J. Yates. The on-field results speak for themselves.
I think it’s particularly notable that many of the best coaches in Atlanta were retained from Arthur Smith’s regime. Offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford and secondary coach Jerry Gray are two of the most notable examples. There is also a particular lack of experience on the offensive coaching staff, with no veteran playcallers or even senior assistants (aside from Ledford and the recently-fired Hilliard) who could help mentor Zac Robinson.
Raheem Morris put all his eggs in the “Robinson is a wunderkind” basket with no fallback plan and no one to tutor him if he struggled. That was another massive mistake, and again, calls into doubt Morris’ team-building judgement.
I won’t linger long on the roster issues, as those are related to the coaching decisions and obviously aren’t entirely the fault of Raheem Morris. It’s unclear exactly how much blame Terry Fontenot deserves in this matter. But Morris undoubtedly had a hand in some of the poor decisions that led the Falcons to this catastrophic 2025 season. Signing Kirk Cousins and drafting Michael Penix Jr. in the same offseason. Letting star center Drew Dalman walk and pairing an inexperienced Ryan Neuzil with a near-rookie quarterback. Downplaying Darnell Mooney’s broken collarbone and doing nothing to replace him, then releasing one of Atlanta’s only starting-caliber receivers in Ray-Ray McCloud as a part of the Ike Hilliard disaster.
These are just the biggest examples of a systemic problem. The Falcons are not making good decisions with their coaching staff or their roster under the leadership of Morris.
Game management is something that many great coaches struggle with. Many of these decisions can be simplified with analytics, but coaches frequently operate off of their gut instinct. That’s fine for some coaches, and less acceptable for others. Some head coaches are excellent playcallers or team leaders, and poor game managers. You put up with some inconsistent game management in exchange for other positive aspects.
Unfortunately, Raheem Morris is a very bad game manager and he’s not giving you the other great aspects. The Falcons have been plagued by poor timeout usage and decision-making in end-of-half/game situations all season long. It’s a big reason why Atlanta’s record in one-score games is well below the expected .500 mark—the Falcons are just 1-5 in 2025 after an average 6-6 record in 2024.
The unfortunate truth is that Morris seems to be a net-negative on gamedays, and that’s an unacceptable trait to have when what you’re not bringing other positives that translate to gameday success. Morris doesn’t call plays on offense or defense, and his “CEO” leadership has led to issues in all three phases for the Falcons.
The Falcons are playing losing football
At the end of the day, the question that Arthur Blank and the other major decision-makers must ask is: Is there a reason to expect the Falcons to start playing winning football under Raheem Morris? And after the better part of two seasons, I believe the answer is clearly: no.
Raheem Morris failed the team in all three phases with his decisions to hire Jimmy Lake, Zac Robinson, and Marquice Williams. The coaching staff as a whole has struggled under his management, with the Ike Hilliard firing standing out as a particularly egregious example. Atlanta is now looking at a total coaching reset heading into 2026, with only Jeff Ulbrich (Morris’ second attempt at defensive coordinator) looking like a net positive. His handling of the roster, in concert with Terry Fontenot, has also been problematic.
Morris has developed a reputation as one of the worst game managers in the league. His decision to receive the ball to start the game is particularly infuriating, given that it’s a completely unforced error. But his end-of-half/game decision-making is the most disastrous aspect of his coaching. The Falcons have lost multiple games due to coaching mistakes. In the NFL, you have to win at the margins. Small advantages make all the difference when everyone is at the top of their game. Raheem Morris is not enough of a needle-mover as a head coach to tolerate such egregious game management errors.
Above all these other aspects though, one need only watch the Falcons on the field. Atlanta is playing losing football. The offense is a predictable, unorganized mess. Special teams are the worst in the league, with the kicking game alone costing the team multiple wins through the first half of the season. Jeff Ulbrich’s defense has been the lone bright spot, but even that side of the ball has been worn down by the rest of the team’s issues.
Raheem Morris took a perennially mediocre Falcons team to a one-game improvement in 2024, and fired his hand-picked defensive coordinator after the season. In 2025, the expectation was for this team to finally start competing for the playoffs again. Instead, the Falcons collapsed to 4-9 and are on the cusp of firing his special teams coordinator and hand-picked offensive coordinator.
There’s no justification for Raheem Morris getting a third season in Atlanta. The injuries on this roster are nothing exceptional compared to the rest of the league. He simply hasn’t earned it, as his Falcons have become one of the basement dwellers of the NFL in his second year at the helm. Blank has never fired a head coach after just two seasons, but to keep Morris he would need to believe a turnaround is nearly guaranteed in 2026. It’s not clear how he could believe that based on the past two seasons.
Raheem Morris is one of the coaches you want to succeed. He deserved a second head-coaching opportunity given his experience, track record, and reputation, and has been talked up by peers and players because of his ability to build relationships and preside over successful defenses. But the NFL is a results-oriented league, and a business. Arthur Blank must consider Morris’ body of work in Atlanta over the past two seasons, and make a difficult decision. That’s the burden of ownership.
