The Atlanta Falcons closed out the 2025 season with four consecutive wins, but they are not keeping the status quo. The team has decided to clean house after another losing season.
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NFL insider Ian Rapoport first reported on Sunday night that the Falcons have fired head coach Raheem Morris, the organization's first full-time Black head coach, after two seasons. The NFC South team has also decided to get rid of General Manager Terry Fontenot, the organization's first Black GM.
The Falcons confirmed the reports and noted that the team will turn to outside help as this search progresses. ZRG Partners will provide assistance in the search for the next head coach. Sportsology Group will assist as the team searches for a new GM. There is no timeline for when the searches will conclude.
"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 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."
Morris, who previously served as interim head coach in 2020, took over as head coach of the Falcons at the start of the 2024 season after three seasons as defensive coordinator for the Rams. This stretch out West included a Super Bowl win.
He guided the team to an 8-9 record and a second-place finish in the NFC South in his first season. The team reached this mark while dealing with uncertainty at the quarterback position. High-priced free agent Kirk Cousins started 14 games, but the team ultimately benched him in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr.
This season, Penix led the offense for the first nine games while going 3-6, but he did not finish the season due to a knee injury. Cousins then replaced the second-year quarterback and closed out the season while going 4-3.
Morris posted a 16-18 record as the full-time head coach of the Falcons. The team missed the playoffs both seasons while continuing a playoff drought that began in 2018. He is now 36-56 as a head coach, also counting three seasons in Tampa Bay.
Fontenot took over as GM of the Falcons at the start of the 2021 season. His goal was to put together a roster that could contend for a championship, as Thomas Dimitroff did before him.
This never happened as the Falcons failed to post a winning from 2021-2025. The team failed to field a top-10 defense or offense during this stretch. The 2024 defense particularly struggled before finishing 31st in sacks out of 32 teams. This season's defense finished second in sacks but 14th in yards allowed.
The quarterback position, in particular, became a pain point as the team featured Cousins, Penix, Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder, and Taylor Heinicke under center. No player has proved to be a consistent answer under center, and the Falcons will continue to have questions about Penix as the former first-round pick recovers from a partially torn ACL.
