ATLANTA — In what will be an offseason full of change, the Atlanta Falcons have begun interviewing head coach candidates a few days after firing Arthur Smith, who led the team for three seasons.
The team has talked to some big names in the football world, including University of Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick.
On Tuesday, the Atlanta Falcons announced they interviewed Harbaugh for the job. Harbaugh has been in the spotlight after his team overpowered Washington to win the College Football Playoff title game. The season came with woes after the NCAA revealed a few months ago it was investigating the program for potentially breaking rules that prohibit in-person scouting of opponents and using video equipment to attempt decode play signals of opponents. Harbaugh spent the past nine years leading the Wolverines. Before his time at Michigan, he coached the San Francisco 49ers for four seasons, including an appearance in the Super Bowl.
Monday night, the team announced they completed an interview with Belichick for the position. Belichick spent the past 24 seasons as head coach of the New England Patriots. He led the team to 17 division titles and six Super Bowl titles. The Patriots announced his departure on Thursday.
The Falcons started meeting with candidates last week. On Friday, the team had its first interview with a head coaching candidate when they interviewed Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan where he was also a coach there in various roles for seven seasons.
On Saturday, the Falcons interviewed both Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.
Callahan has spent the last five seasons as the Bengals OC. Wilks just completed his first season as the 49ers DC, where he previously served on the Carolina Panthers staff before serving as their interim head coach after they fired ex-head coach Matt Rhule.
On Sunday, the Falcons said they completed an interview with Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. Evero was previously the defensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos in 2022. The team also interviewed Baltimore Ravens assistant head coach Anthony Weaver, who has served the past two seasons as the assistant head coach and defensive line coach in Baltimore.
On Thursday, the Falcons announced they completed an interview with Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson. He has been under intense scrutiny from the fan base after the Eagles lost six of their final seven games, including a blowout loss to Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.
On Friday, the Falcons said they completed an interview with Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. He has served as the DC in Detroit since 2021 and was previously the defensive backs coach for the New Orleans Saints from 2016 to 2020.
Other potential head coach candidates:
The Falcons have not given a timetable for when they expect its new head coach to be hired.