Atlanta Falcons Defensive Coordinator Search Could Come Down to 2
In an official team announcement, the Atlanta Falcons announced they had parted ways with first year defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake.
"After a thorough evaluation of the season, and with careful consideration for our team's future, we deemed these moves necessary," Morris via statement.
Despite a late-season surge in sack production that saw the Falcons improve from a historically low total of 10 sacks through 11 games to 31 sacks by the end of the year, back-to-back overtime losses in Weeks 17 and 18 against Jayden Daniels’s Commanders and Bryce Young's Panthers highlighted deeper issues with defensive play calling and the development of the front seven.
These problems could no longer be ignored, leading to defensive line coach Jay Rodgers and Lake's firing.
Atlanta gave up 74 points over the season's final two weeks, losing both games in overtime, surrendering a touchdown without the offense ever seeing the ball.
With Lake out of the picture, the search begins for Atlanta's next defensive coordinator.
Top Candidates
First, consider Raheem Morris’s prior relationships with his two initial coordinator hires before the 2024 season. This thought leads us to the familiar name of Jeff Ulbrich. The Jets' former defensive coordinator finished the season as their interim head coach.
He served as Morris's defensive coordinator in Atlanta when Morris was promoted by the Falcons to interim head coach in 2020. After a 10-year playing career for the 49ers, Ulbrich coached his way through the ranks until joining the Falcons at Flowery Branch in 2015 as a linebacker coach.
Ulbrich wasn't retained when Arthur Smith became the Falcons' head coach in 2021. He then became the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets where he led the team to three top-5 finishes in total defense.
For reference, the Falcons have three top-10 finishes in total defense in the last 45 seasons and never cracked the top 5 in that span.
Ulbrich can hit the ground running, and Morris will target a veteran defensive play-caller after first-time defensive coordinator Lake failed so spectacularly.
Next on the list should be Steve Wilks. Wilks is a longtime, respected secondary coach known for his league-leading heavy blitz rates and pre-and post-snap coverage disguises. Unfortunately, during his most recent stint in San Francisco in 2023, he ran the 49ers’ system instead of his own.
Wilks is an experienced veteran to the point of having been a head coach, serving as the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2018 and rescuing the Carolina Panthers as interim head coach in 2022.
Wilks has also successfully been the defensive coordinator in Carolina and Cleveland. Like Ulbrich, he will be ready to go and more prepared for the role than his predecessor.