atlanta falcons-falcons-dan quinn-thomas dimitroff-nfl-fired-hot seat-arthur blank-matt ryan-julio jones-calvin ridley-record-raheem morris

October 12, 2020 By: Kevin Kissner

Atlanta Falcons fire head coach Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff

The Atlanta Falcons have fired general manager Thomas Dimitroff and head coach Dan Quinn after their loss Sunday to the Carolina Panthers.

There was some noise that Quinn should have been fired in the offseason, but after a 0-5 start this season — their worst start to open a season since 1997 — the Falcons organization decided it was time to make a change.

Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris will be the interim head coach for the Falcons. Team president Rich McCay will take over running the day-to-day football operations for the time being.

As head coach of the Falcons, Quinn posted a 43-42 overall record, with only two trips to the playoffs including a trip to the Super Bowl in 2016.

Quinn’s tenure with the Falcons will likely forever live in infamy due to his team blowing a 28-3 second half lead over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. Since that Super Bowl collapse, Atlanta has an overall record of 24-29.

<br />

Quinn was a defensive-minded head coach, who was hired after guiding the Seattle Seahawks vaunted cover 3 defense. In his near six seasons with the Falcons, Quinn’s defense only ranked in the top 10 of scoring once.

Both Quinn and Dimitroff were given three-year contract extensions in 2018, but after failing to reach the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, team owner Arthur Blank had no choice but to make a move.

Dimitroff was in his 13th year as general manager of the Falcons, and the team had an overall record of 109-88, and made six playoff appearances (going 4-6 in the postseason), under his watch.

Dimitroff is responsible for drafting players like Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Deion Jones, and even Jake Matthews. Unfortunately, after the results weren’t coming in the win/loss column, and it was time to move on.

Arthur Blank issued this quote, “As everyone knows, this is a results business and I owe it to our fans to put the best product we can on the field. We have poured every resource possible into winning and will continue to do so, but the results of late do not meet our standard or what I’ve promised our fans. Therefore, we will install a new coaching and personnel leadership of the Atlanta Falcons at the appropriate time.”