Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he will wait until after the season to make a decision on HC Arthur Smith, in an interview with Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Jeff Hullinger.
“We are committed to coach Smith,” Blank said. “We are going to play these last three games; we are committed to win. We will let the season play out and go from there. Obviously, this has not been the kind of year we expected; you would hear that from coach Smith, you would hear it from our fans and our players. We understand that; we understand the challenges. At the end of the year, we will assess where we are and go from there.”
The Falcons were a popular pick to take a step forward after two straight 7-10 seasons under Smith as they navigated a tight cap situation. They finally had money to spend to upgrade the defense this past offseason.
While that side of the ball has taken a step forward, the Falcons overall have struggled to take command of an underwhelming NFC South.
Atlanta just lost to the Panthers this past weekend to fall to 6-8 on the season, and that has raised scrutiny on Smith’s job status.
Blank told Hullinger he did not give Smith a playoff mandate before the start of the season but he acknowledged the team is not meeting expectations right now.
“No, that was never really a requirement,” he said. “The requirement was we have more of a competitive team this year. I think through this part of the season, it’s been mixed, quite honestly, that’s what I think. And that’s what the coach would say. Arthur is a very honest, very … he looks at himself very critically, so he comes from a beautiful family, that has great values and he reflects those values in his leadership the best he can. So, we’ll see how the season plays out and go from there.”
Smith, 41, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at North Carolina back in 2006. From there, he worked for Washington for two years before being hired as an administrative assistant/defensive intern at Ole Miss in 2010.
The Titans hired Smith as a defensive assistant/quality control coach a year later and he worked his way to TEs coach in 2015. Tennessee promoted him to offensive coordinator after Matt LaFleur accepted the Packers’ HC job.
After Smith found success in that role, the Falcons hired him as their head coach in 2021.
In three seasons in Atlanta, Smith has a record of 20-28 with no playoff appearances.
We’ll have more on the Falcons’ coaching situation as the news is available.
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