Raheem Morris, Arthur Smith ranked among worst coaching hires since 2021

[ASFN Admin]

The Atlanta Falcons have not been to the playoffs since the 2017 NFL season despite having three different head coaches over that span. The team fired Dan Quinn five games into the 2020 season, later replacing him with Arthur Smith in 2021.

Smith led the Falcons to an identical 7-10 record in each of his three seasons in Atlanta and was dismissed after the 2023 campaign. Roughly two weeks later, the team hired Raheem Morris as the 19th head coach in franchise history.

Despite getting off to a promising 6-3 start in 2024, the team fell apart down the stretch and finished 8-9. Morris also failed to get the team over the hump in 2025, finishing with an 8-9 record for the second year in a row.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank had seen enough, firing Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot within hours of the 2025 season finale. Atlanta was one of 10 NFL teams to make a head coaching change this offseason. The team hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski to replace Morris.

While the Falcons believe they have finally found the right coach to lead this team to the playoffs, only time will tell.

ESPN ranked every head coaching hire since the 2021 NFL offseason, including former Falcons coaches Arthur Smith and Raheem Morris. Let's check out where both landed on ESPN's list below.

Arthur Smith: Ranked No. 22 by ESPN:​

A fun scheme makes for entertaining All-22 clips, but Smith never found his quarterback. He moved on from Matt Ryan, used Marcus Mariota as a bridge QB and then built around Desmond Ridder, all while the organization publicly disavowed any interest in acquiring Lamar Jackson. The Falcons went 7-10 for three seasons in a row, were unable to create the sort of play-action chunk yardage Smith generated when he was Tennessee's offensive coordinator and never fixed their pass-rush problems. -- Bill Barnwell, ESPN

Raheem Morris: Ranked No. 24 by ESPN:​

I thought the Falcons would have given Morris another year, especially because his team finished with the same record as the Panthers, who won the NFC South on a tiebreaker. Atlanta's biggest issue has been at quarterback, where it invested so much in Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. and hasn't gotten much of a return. If that was Morris' idea, he needed to go. I suspect those decisions fell more on the shoulders of GM Terry Fontenot, though, and I'd hesitate to blame the defensive-focused Morris too much for bad decisions at QB. But both were fired earlier this month. -- Bill Barnwell, ESPN

As for the Stefanski hire, the reception has been overwhelmingly positive around the NFL. ESPN gave the hire a B+ grade, while Yahoo Sports gave the team an A for the move. Stefanski has his work cut out for him, but Atlanta has some of the most talented offensive players in the NFL.

Plus, the Falcons defense made considerable progress last season, producing two NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates. Nonetheless, the pressure is on for Stefanski to get this team to the playoffs in 2026.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Atlanta Falcons: Raheem Morris ranked among worst HC hires

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