When Arthur Blank assumed Raheem Morris was ‘going to win a lot of games’

Obviously, every owner is going to be confident about his or her new coach. But a revisiting of Blank’s flawed assumption might be a useful expenditure of paragraphs.

Arthur Smith was dismissed after the 2023 season because he failed to lead a roster thought to be playoff-worthy into the postseason. Morris was hired to take that next step.

And he has not done that, not even in the least competitive division in the NFL.

Depending on your level of desperation, you could be encouraged that the Falcons now are playing like they are capable of, winning three games in a row after securing their eighth consecutive losing (and non-playoff) season. They could win their fourth in a row against the Saints to end the season.

And maybe that’s a reason to retain the team of Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot — that they’re finally hitting their stride after some unexpected bumps such as Kirk Cousins’ debilitating injuries in 2024 and Michael Penix Jr.’s partially torn ACL this season.

But it would seem like an adjustment of the bar that Morris originally was held to, that he was to take a team with playoff potential into the playoffs, immediately.

Any reluctance that Blank has to make a change is understandable. Both Morris and Fontenot seem to be high-character people, and they have the sort of collaborative relationship that Blank recognizes as necessary to build a consistent winner in the NFL.

Beyond the post-elimination surge, the development of young players such as edge rusher James Pearce Jr. and defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus are other signs that Morris/Fontenot is working.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

And the process of hiring a new coach or, worse, cleaning house, is something Blank might like to avoid. One other statement Blank made in that February 2024 videoconference, about coaching changes, also is intriguing:

“I wouldn’t encourage people to do it on a regular basis,” he said. “I think the longer you can do without it, (the better). The last three years (with Smith) was a very short run for us.”

Regardless, if Blank decides to keep Morris and Fontenot because he believes they’ve earned the right to a third season together (it would be Fontenot’s sixth in his role) or because the strong finish gives him confidence that the Falcons are about to take off in 2026, it would nevertheless fly in the face of what he believed to be true in February 2024.

Namely, that the franchise was ready to win that season and Morris was the right coach to make it happen.

Further, what might be even more difficult to reconcile is what prompted Blank in the first place to offer his assumption that the Falcons would win “a lot of games.”

It was part of a lengthy comment he made about how impressed he was with Morris’ plans for assembling a high-quality staff and replenishing it when his coordinators or position coaches were hired away because of all the winning.

In his three seasons as defensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Rams, Blank said, Morris had gotten a close-up look at how coach Sean McVay managed that part of the job. McVay has been able to keep winning despite the stream of coordinators leaving to take head-coaching jobs in part because of his skill at identifying coaches to take their place.

“And I think (Morris) brought back a plan which showed me that his thinking really had changed in that regard (from when he had been a Falcons assistant coach) and he’d learned a lot in that regard,” Blank said.

And yet, the following happened with Morris after he wowed Blank with his plan for assembling a staff that would inevitably be raided by NFL competitors — he fired his defensive coordinator (Jimmy Lake) and defensive line coach (Jay Rodgers) after one season. Three games into his second season, he fired his wide receivers coach (Ike Hilliard).

And, should Morris be given the opportunity to coach a third season, no one would be surprised if he also let go of his offensive coordinator (Zac Robinson) and special teams coordinator (Marquice Williams).

In sum, not only has Morris not done what Blank declared what he assumed Morris would do — win a lot of games — but he has also quite arguably been ineffective at the part of the job that was a primary reason for hiring him in the first place — assembling a solid staff.

It sounded nice in theory, and Blank had reason to be concerned about succession plans. The Falcons took a downturn after losing offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to the 49ers following the 2016 Super Bowl season.

But the reality has looked a little different from the blueprint.

In the end, if Blank keeps Morris and Fontenot, maybe it would prove the right decision. Nothing is ever as black and white as it seems.

But in hindsight, perhaps Blank should have devoted more time to understanding how well Morris managed the clock or prepared his team to compete on a weekly basis.