Atlanta has reached an agreement with the coach, who has been the Titans’ offensive coordinator for the past two years.
The Atlanta Falcons have named Arthur Smith as their new head coachannounced the team in a statement.
Smith has been the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans for the past two seasons, where he helped revive the career of quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who won the Comeback of the Year Award in 2019.
Smith, 38, will replace Dan Quinn, who was fired by the Falcons along with general manager Thomas Dimitroff on Oct. 11 after a 0-5 start.. Raheem Morris took over as interim head coach and led the Falcons to their only victories in the 2020 season, on their way to finishing with an overall record of 4-12.
We agreed to make arrangements with Arthur Smith to become our next head coach.
– Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) January 15, 2021
The terms of Smith’s agreement with the Falcons were not disclosed.
The Titans ranked fourth in the league in points scored in the regular season, averaging 30.7 points per game under Smith. Tennessee finished the regular season averaging 396.4 total yards per game, finishing third in the NFL. The Titans’ running attack recorded 168.1 yards per game, behind only the Baltimore Ravens (191.9 yards).
Tennessee got a strange balance with Smith. Derrick Henry’s backstroke of 2,027 meters was the fifth in history and he became the eighth player to break the 2,000-meter barrier. The Titans’ wide receiver, AJ Brown, finished with 1,075 receiving meters, while teammate Corey Davis finished the season in the 1,000 meters with a mark of 1,000.
Smith joined the Titans in 2001 as a defensive coach for quality control; He has since worked in several positions in Tennessee, including quality control offensive coach, offensive line assistant and tight-headed coach..
Smith also interviewed the Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. The Jaguars hired Urban Meyer as their new head coach on Thursday.
The Falcons had a long-distance interview with Smith Monday before hosting him in Atlanta for a second interview Wednesday. The team also interviewed Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bienemy; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh; Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady; and Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
The Jets announced Thursday night that they have reached an agreement with Saleh to be their next head coach.