ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot on Sunday night, announcing the moves hours after the team completed its second straight 8-9 season under Morris and the franchise’s eighth consecutive losing season since its most recent appearance in the NFL playoffs.
Morris said after the finale, a 19-17 home win over the rival New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, that he expected to return for a third season. Instead, his 16-18 record was not enough for him to keep his job after the season began with optimism that the Falcons would end their playoff drought.
“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,” team owner Arthur Blank said in a release announcing the moves.
“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 with four straight wins and in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC South Division with the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the streak came after Atlanta had been eliminated from playoff contention. The Panthers, who swept the Falcons with a 30-0 home win on Sept. 21 and a 30-27 overtime road win on Nov. 16, won the division because they had a better record in divisional games.
Blank attended the coach’s postgame news conferences Sunday afternoon and gave Morris a hug afterward. The owner showed no emotion when a reporter asked the coach if he expected to return.
“You know, my expectation is always to be back, right?” Morris said before looking at Blank and adding: “I’m going to coach this football team as long as he allows it.”
When asked if he had discussed his job status with Blank, Morris said: “You can’t worry about those things. The boss is sitting right there. All those things — this is a business, what we do. I know it’s fun for you guys to talk about it, but those decisions will always be made at a proper time. Those decisions will always be made (to) utilize whatever is best for the Atlanta Falcons.”
Blank is scheduled to speak at a news conference Thursday.
Fontenot, a former Saints executive, was hired as general manager by the Falcons before the 2021 season. The team was 36-48 during his tenure, but the Falcons got solid production from his 2025 draft class. First-round picks James Peace Jr. and Jalon Walker led NFL rookies in sacks this season, and third-round pick Xavier Watts led all rookies with five interceptions.
Walker said Sunday that Morris did “a great job of keeping the culture here strong. I commend him. All of our trials and tribulations this season, we’ve found a way, we’ve made a way.”
Offensive guard Chris Lindstrom also expressed support for Morris.
“Yeah, I think coach Rah really fosters a connection with one another,” Lindstrom said. “I think, really, we have that across the team and across all three phases. When you have that, when things aren’t going right, there’s still belief in what we want to achieve and belief in one another.
“I think it’s also respect and love for one another, too. So when it’s easy to pull off the gas, you don’t, because you care about the guys around you. The fan base deserves it, and we all know that. So I was really proud of our guys to be able to finish the season that way.”
When asked about the possibility of a coaching change, wide receiver Drake London said: “That’s above my pay grade. I can’t make those decisions. I love everybody who’s on this team, everybody who makes this team tick. I love everybody.”
The moves came after Blank hired the consulting firm Sportsology, which previously worked with his Major League Soccer franchise, Atlanta United FC, to study the Falcons. The Falcons said the search for a new coach and general manager would begin immediately, with an executive search firm, ZRG Partners, assisting on the coach search and Sportsology helping with the GM search.
The Falcons set no timeline for either hire and said the searches will be conducted concurrently.
Morris, previously a Falcons assistant from 2015-20, also served as Atlanta’s interim coach for the final 11 games in 2020, going 4-7 after Dan Quinn was fired following an 0-5 start to his sixth season.
Arthur Smith took over after that season, and the former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator posted three consecutive 7-10 records from 2021 through 2023. The hiring of Morris, who had been the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, came with Blank expressing optimism the Falcons were ready to win.
This was the second stint as NFL head coach for Morris, who has Super Bowl titles as an assistant for the Bucs and the Rams. He went 17-31 in three seasons as head coach for Tampa Bay, with the Bucs missing the playoffs all three years and never finishing better than third in the NFC South during his tenure.