Why Atlanta Falcons Fired Ike Hilliard While Special Teams Coach Remains

At 4-8, the Atlanta Falcons are all but assured another losing season and another season of missing the playoffs. Eight straight seasons without playoffs is the second worst mark in the NFL behind only the New York Jets (15).

Atlanta started the season 1-2, and they fired wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard following an embarrassing 30-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 3.

“I want a different direction,” head coach Raheem Morris said after making the move. “I wanted to handle those things the right way. I wanted to be able to go in that room and present to those guys the right way to get things that we want to get done.

“I gotta make decisions for the leaders of our group, right? You need to have the environment, you need to have the coaching, you need to have the detail, you need to have everything right in order to get your offense in the right direction,” Morris said.

Former #Falcons WR Ray Ray McCloud III with this repost pic.twitter.com/Aziys1HR6E
— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) December 1, 2025

It was Week 12 before a wide receiver not named Drake London caught a touchdown pass. David Sills V and Darnell Mooney each caught his first touchdowns of the season against the Saints. Sills added another one in last week's loss to the Jets.

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Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons special teams, which struggled in 2024, has been the worst unit in the NFL. Atlanta is 30th in yards per punt return, 32nd in yards per kick return, and 25th in field goal percentage among 32 teams. Defending isn't much better. They're dead last in kickoff coverage as well.

Morris was asked on Monday to explain why Ike Hilliard was fired three weeks into the season, while special teams coordinator Marquice Williams still has a job.

“I think the communication will be different," Morris said. The line of communication will be different to the guys. I think we’ll be able to get those things corrected from a communication standpoint from Marquice to be able to get to those guys, to be able to get those things done. I don't think that the communication was done the right way with the receivers and how we did things with that."

In other words, Hilliard may have been undermining the head coach. OK, but at what point do results actually matter?

"So, that's why we made the change there. It was definitely performance-based. This definitely was a performance that grants these questions," Morris said of Sunday's special teams effort as if it was something new. "I certainly understand that, but I believe we can communicate these things and get them done the right way to fix those things, fix those problems.

"We’ve got a history there where we’ve played some really good special teams. We’ve got some really good players to put in position to go do some of those things and we’ve got to go put those guys out there to do it.”

Sunday after the game, Morris bristled at the question if he was considering making a change. On Monday, he was a little more measured but backed his coach.

“No. No, not at this time," Morris confirmed. "We are obviously in the midst of it. We're at the season. I’ve got a lot of confidence in what Marquice does. I’ve got a lot of confidence in the coaching techniques. I’ve got a lot of confidence in the guys to be able to go out there and execute it. We have just not done that.”

With another lost season in the books, correcting it may not matter in 2025, and it's hard to picture the same staff getting a chance in 2026.