Falcons Coach Dean Pees Reveals Reasons for Retirement

After two years as the defensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons, Dean Pees chose to retire - and shared the plethora of factors that went into his decision.

Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Dean Pees has decided to call it a career after 50 years in the coaching profession, officially announcing his retirement Monday.

Pees, 73, was the oldest defensive coordinator in the NFL, finishing up a two-year stint in Atlanta after prior professional stops with the New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans.

This marks the third time in Pees' career that he's retired ... and he asserted Monday afternoon that he's "done with coaching," even as Atlanta's defense has come into its own during the season's second half.

With the blossoming unit and another year still on his contract, why now for Pees?

"No. 1 - there comes a point in time, I've been in this thing so long and been around so many players that extended their careers just a hair too long," Pees began. "Guys that have had incredible careers and at the end, maybe they've lost a little bit and started to drift or lost speed or whatever it is physically, and then maybe end up with a not as good ending. That's what people think about them - it's tragic to me because they had such great careers.

"Right now, my ego and my heart to tell me to stay, but my mind and my body tell me it's time."

Pees had a difficult year away from the on-field results, featuring a collision with New Orleans Saints punt returner Rashid Shaheed during pre-game warmups on Dec. 18; the veteran coach was stretchered off and taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons but returned later that day.

But Pees' troubles didn't stop there, as he shared that he caught in Los Angeles - Week 2 of the season - and didn't get over it until Dec. 20. He struggled sleeping and noted that it's "hard to put in 85 hours a week" at his age.

As a result, Pees felt the time was right to move on ... in part because he's not positive that he fits the Falcons' timeline.

"I think this thing is trending in such a great direction," Pees started. "I don't want to be a deterrent to this defense or this team."

Thus, there are a plethora of professional reasons behind Pees' decision - but he ultimately chose this route because of personal motives.

Pees shared that he and his wife, Melody, discussed the pros and cons of both staying and leaving, adding that he settled on retirement because it's what he felt was best.

Apart from the idea of walking away while still coaching at a high level, Pees truly valued the chance to spend time with his family, which proved to be the difference in his decision.

"I owe it to my wife and my family to give them time," said Pees. "You never know at this age how much longer you have, and it just weighed on me that my family has sacrificed so much, my wife has sacrificed so much for my career. I know she'd like to travel, we wanted to travel after the Tennessee thing and COVID hit so we didn't have that opportunity."

Pees revealed that he's "lost a couple of coaching friends" this year, which only added perspective and meaning to his decision as it relates to being with family.

"It bothered me a little," Pees shared. "At what point in time do you not try to fulfill some things that you want to do with your family? I got a bunch of grandsons that are playing football now and other sports, and I want to watch them. Sometimes I didn't get to see my own kids play very much because of this profession; at least now I'd like to have the opportunity to see my grandkids play and be a bigger part of their life."

After 18 years of coaching at the NFL level and over 30 more in high school and college, Pees decided to hang up the call sheet - and this time, it appears final.

Now, Pees is set to kick his feet up and be a spectator ... with the belief that he'll be watching a stout Falcons defense for years to come.

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You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter @DFlickDraft

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