Falcons Fire Raheem Morris and GM Terry Fontenot

Morris and Fontenot were fired after a second consecutive 8-9 season.

The Atlanta Falcons fired head coach Raheem Morris after an 8-9 season in 2025. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Raheem Morris is out in Atlanta after two seasons, and general manager Terry Fontenot is heading out the door with him.

The Falcons fired Morris and Fontenot on Sunday, a few hours after the team finished its season with a 19-17 win over the Saints. Atlanta won its final four games of the season, but finished 8-9 for the second season in a row, and that was apparently all the franchise needed to see.

The Falcons finished tied with the Panthers and Buccaneers atop the NFC South, but missed the playoffs due to tiebreakers. Carolina won the division.

Morris finishes his two-year tenure as head coach in Atlanta with a 16-18 record.

Fontenot was hired as Atlanta’s general manager on January 19, 2021, after more than 15 years as a scout and executive with the New Orleans Saints. On his watch, the Falcons made one of the more puzzling decisions in recent NFL history, selecting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick in the 2024 NFL draft a month after signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract.

In five seasons under Fontenot, the Falcons never reached the postseason and compiled a record of 37-48.

Morris was hired as Atlanta’s head coach on January 25, 2024, after three seasons as the Rams’ defensive coordinator. It was technically his second stint as the team’s head coach. During the 2020 season, Morris replaced Dan Quinn after he was fired after an 0-5 start. The Falcons went 4-7 with Morris as the team’s interim coach. He joined the organization in 2015 as an assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator. Morris held multiple positions in the organization before entering the 2020 campaign as the defensive coordinator. He did not get the permanent job after being the interim head coach, as Fontenot elected to hire Arthur Smith.

The Buccaneers hired Morris as their head coach on January 16, 2009, after the franchise fired Jon Gruden. He spent three seasons in Tampa Bay, going 17-31 before being fired after the 2011 season.

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