The Falcons famously selected Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick of their January 2024 head coaching search. While it’s anyone’s guess how the Falcons would have fared under Belichick, the team has disillusioned with Morris on the helm. The Falcons dropped to 4-9 last Sunday with a lopsided loss to the Seahawks. They’ve won just 12 of 30 games because the starting of last season.
Including a three-year run with the Buccaneers and a previous stint because the Falcons’ interim alternative, Morris is 33-56 as a head coach within the NFL. The 49-year-old’s .371 winning percentage ranks last amongst energetic head coaches, Josh Kendall of The Athletic notes. It now appears Morris’ time in Atlanta is running out, in accordance with the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora, who writes that he’s “pretty much as good as gone.”
While which will prove true when the Falcons’ season wraps up in 4 weeks, Morris insists he still has the backing of owner Arthur Blank.
“Support is just not a problem. He is totally outstanding,” Morris said of Blank (via Kendall). “His ability to take heed to us, be there for us, be in it with us is one hundred pc awesome.”
For his part, Morris is continuous to keep on with his coaching staff. He’s not planning to make any changes this late within the season, saying they’re “irrelevant” at this point. It’s something Morris plans to judge after the season, though it’s up within the air whether he’ll proceed in his current post.
Whether it’s Morris or another person in 2026, Atlanta’s head coach will face an uphill battle in turning around a franchise that just prolonged its playoff drought to eight years. For one, the Falcons have major questions at quarterback after second-year man Michael Penix Jr. suffered a season-ending ACL tear in Week 11.
Penix, the initial first-round pick of the Morris era, didn’t perform particularly well during his first 14 NFL games. He also has a long-running history of significant injuries dating back to varsity, and it’s unknown if he’ll be ready for the start of the 2026 campaign. The Falcons are unlikely to retain struggling backup Kirk Cousins and his bloated contract next 12 months, which implies they’ll have to select up QB insurance through the offseason.
Adding to the Falcons’ problems, they aren’t in position to handle any needs in the primary round of next 12 months’s draft. General manager Terry Fontenot traded the team’s top 2026 selection to the Rams last spring. That move enabled the Falcons to grab edge rusher James Pearce twenty sixth overall. Pearce has racked up a team-leading six sacks as a rookie, however the first-rounder the Falcons surrendered for him is on pace to find yourself in the highest 10. The Rams – not Morris or his potential successor – will reap the advantages of that pick.