The Atlanta Falcons have decided to move on from head coach Arthur Smith following the team’s loss to the New Orleans Saints. The Falcons finished 7-10 for the third time in three years with Smith as head coach.
“Decisions like this are never easy and they never feel good,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement following a meeting with CEO Rich McKay.
“We have profound respect for Coach Smith and appreciate all the hard work and dedication he has put into the Falcons over the last three years. He has been part of building a good culture in our football team, but the results on the field have not met our expectations. After significant thought and reflection, we have determined the best way forward for our team is new leadership in the head coaching position.”
The Falcons and owner Arthur Blank will now begin looking for a new head coach after finishing their sixth straight losing season. Smith finished with a 21-30 record during his three seasons with Atlanta.
Why Did the Falcons Fire Arthur Smith?
The Falcons beat the New York Jets in Week 13 to improve to 6-6 and take sole possession of first place in the NFC South. It appeared Smith had the Falcons heading in the right direction — and possibly the playoffs.
The Falcons lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the next week, and a few days later, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote, “The sense I get after asking around is that Arthur Smith is safe in Atlanta, barring a late-season collapse.” Unfortunately for Smith, there was a late-season collapse as the team lost four of the last five games.
The turning point for Atlanta’s season and Smith’s future with the team was a 9-7 loss to the one-win Carolina Panthers in Week 15. The shocking loss dropped the Falcons to 6-8 and third place in the division.
After the loss, Smith talked about his future with the team: “There’s consequences when you lose, so these are natural questions, right? So it’s NFL 101. The job is to win games.”
Blank told Georgia Public Broadcasting after the Panthers loss that he was committed to Smith and that “we will let the season play out and go from there.
“Obviously, this has not been the kind of year we expected. At the end of the year, we will assess where we are and go from there.”
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After the loss, Smith replaced starting quarterback Desmond Ridder with Taylor Heinicke for the second time. Heinicke led the Falcons to a 29-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 16 to keep playoff hopes alive. Atlanta dropped to 7-9 after losing badly to the Chicago Bears on the road in Week 17.
The Falcons still entered Week 18 with a chance to win the NFC South with a win over the Saints and a Buccaneers loss to the Panthers. The loss to the Saints ended any hopes of a playoff berth — and Smith’s time as Atlanta’s head coach.
Smith’s Record With the Falcons
The Falcons fired head coach Dan Quinn during the 2020 season and hired Smith in January of 2021. Blank said about Smith, “He has all the characteristics of a strong leader, and while his achievements have primarily come on the offensive side of the ball, he has provided a plan that is comprehensive within all three phases of the game.”
Smith’s first season with Atlanta was longtime quarterback Matt Ryan’s final season with the franchise. After a 1-3 start, the Falcons were able to improve to 5-6 after Week 12 and were in contention for a Wild Card spot. Atlanta stumbled the rest of the way, losing four of the last six games of the season to finish the season 7-10.
In 2022, the Falcons were once again 5-6 after Week 12 and a half-game out of first place in the NFC South. After losing the next two games, Smith replaced Marcus Mariota with rookie Desmond Ridder.
Atlanta was still in contention to win the division, even though they were 5-8. The Falcons lost Ridder’s first two starts to drop to 5-10 and were eliminated from playoff contention. Atlanta won the final two games to finish with a 7-10 record for the second straight season.
This season started off with two wins, and the team appeared to have found their quarterback in Ridder. Atlanta finished the first three weeks with a winning record, the only time in Smith’s three seasons. The season was similar to Smith’s first two seasons in that the team had playoff aspirations going into December, but a late-season collapse ended those hopes.
Smith’s Coaching Timeline
Smith started his coaching career at North Carolina, his alma mater, as a graduate assistant. He moved to the NFL in 2007, working for Joe Gibbs in Washington for two seasons.
After one year at Ole Miss, Smith joined the Tennessee Titans as a defensive assistant and quality control coach in 2011. He then switched to being an offensive assistant in 2012 and worked his way up to becoming the Titans’ offensive coordinator in 2019.
In Smith’s second season, the Titans went 12-4 and were ranked fourth in points scored behind Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill. That performance led to the Falcons hiring Smith to be their head coach.
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