List of Atlanta Falcons head coaches

Arthur Smith (pictured in 2019) is the current head coach of the Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are an American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are members of the South division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Falcons joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1966, and have compiled an all-time record of 337 wins, 436 losses, and 6 ties. The team has won the NFC West championship twice in 1980 and 1998 and the NFC South championship 4 times in 2004, 2010, 2012 and 2016. The Falcons have appeared in two Super Bowls, losing both times; their first appearance was in Super Bowl XXXIII, with the Falcons falling to the Denver Broncos 19–34, and the second was in Super Bowl LI, where the Falcons fell to the New England Patriots 28–34 in overtime. ^[1]

There have been 18 head coaches for the Falcons franchise, 13 serving full-time. Among full-time head coaches, Mike Smith is the Falcons' winningest and longest tenured head coach, with a 66–46 regular season record. Under Smith's leadership, the team attained consecutive winning seasons (11–5 in 2008 and 9–7 in 2009), consecutive playoff appearances (2010 and 2011), and consecutive seasons with 10 wins or more (also in 2010 and 2011) for the first time in franchise history. Also, Smith is the only Falcons coach to win 2 divisional titles (NFC South, 2010 and 2012).

Key

#	Number of coaches [N 1]
Yrs	Years coached
First	First season coached
Last	Last season coached
GC	Games Coached
W	Wins
L	Loses
T	Ties
Win%	Win – Loss percentage
00‡	Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
00*	Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Falcons

Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct as of end of the 2022 NFL season.

#	Image	Name	Term [N 2]			Regular season					Playoffs			Accomplishments	Ref.
			Yrs	First	Last	GC	W	L	T	Win%	GC	W	L
1		Norb Hecker *	3	1966	1968 [N 3]	31	4	26	1	.133	—				[2]
2		Norm Van Brocklin ‡	7	1968 [N 3]	1974 [N 4]	89	37	49	3	.430	—				[3]
3		Marion Campbell [N 5]	3	1974 [N 4]	1976 [N 6]	25	6	19	0	.240	—				[4]
4		Pat Peppler *	1	1976 [N 6]		9	3	6	0	.333	—				[5]
5		Leeman Bennett	6	1977	1982	87	46	41	0	.529	4	1	3	1 NFC West Championship (1978) 3 Playoff Berths 2 UPI NFL Coach of the Year Awards (1977, 1980)	[6]
6		Dan Henning	4	1983	1986	64	22	41	1	.352	—				[7]
–		Marion Campbell [N 5]	3	1987	1989 [N 7]	43	11	32	0	.256	—				[4]
7		Jim Hanifan	1	1989 [N 7]		4	0	4	0	.000	—				[8]
8		Jerry Glanville	4	1990	1993	64	27	37	0	.422	2	1	1	1 Playoff Berth	[9]
9		June Jones	3	1994	1996	48	19	29	0	.396	1	0	1	1 Playoff Berth	[10]
10		Dan Reeves	7	1997	2003 [N 8]	109	49	59	1	.454	5	3	2	1 NFC Championship (1998) 1 NFC South Championship (1998) 2 Playoff Berths 1 AP NFL Coach of the Year Award (1998)	[11]
11		Wade Phillips	1	2003 [N 8]		3	2	1	0	.667	—				[12]
12		Jim L. Mora	3	2004	2006	48	26	22	0	.542	2	1	1	1 NFC South Championship (2004) 1 Playoff Berth	[13]
13		Bobby Petrino *	1	2007 [N 9]		13	3	10	0	.231	—				[14]
14		Emmitt Thomas * ‡	1			3	1	2	0	.333	—				[15]
15		Mike Smith *	7	2008	2014	112	66	46	0	.589	5	1	4	2 NFC South Championships (2010, 2012) 4 Playoff Berths 1 AP NFL Coach of the Year Award (2008) [16]	[17]
16		Dan Quinn *	6	2015	2020 [N 10]	85	43	42	0	.506	5	3	2	1 NFC Championship (2016) 1 NFC South Championship (2016) 2 Playoff Berths	[18]
17		Raheem Morris	1	2020 [N 10]		11	4	7	0	.364	—				[19]
18		Arthur Smith *	2	2021	present	34	14	20	0	.412	—				[20]

Notes

1. A running total of the number of coaches of the Falcons. Thus, any coach who has two or more terms as head coach is only counted once.
2. Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
3. When Atlanta began the 1968 NFL season by dropping their first three games, Hecker was fired on October 1 and replaced by former Viking head coach Norm Van Brocklin.
4. After winning just two of his first eight games in 1974, Van Brocklin was fired. He was replaced by defensive coordinator Campbell on an interim basis.
5. Marion Campbell's full coaching record with the Falcons is 68 regular season games coached with a record of 17–51 (.250)
6. After a 1-4 start to the season, head coach Marion Campbell was fired by general manager Pat Peppler, who himself would close out the season as the interim head coach and finish the season with a 3-6 record.
7. Marion Campbell retired after the twelfth game of the season and replaced by offensive line coach, Jim Hanifan, on an interim basis.
8. After losing seven straight games, Dan Reeves was let go by Falcons management, and Wade Phillps took over for the rest of the season.
9. Petrino resigned just 13 games into the season to coach Arkansas. He was replaced by defensive backs coach Thomas on an interim basis.
10. Quinn was fired after starting the season 0–5. He was replaced by defensive coordinator Morris on an interim basis.

References

1. "Atlanta Falcons". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
2. "Norb Hecker Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
3. "Norm Van Brocklin Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
4. "Marion Campbell Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
5. "Pat Peppler Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
6. "Leeman Bennett Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
7. "Dan Henning Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
8. "Jim Hanifan Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
9. "Jerry Glanville Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
10. "June Jones Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
11. "Dan Reeves Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
12. "Wade Phillips Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
13. "Jim Mora Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
14. "Bobby Petrino Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
15. "Emmitt Thomas Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
16. "Falcons' Smith voted as coach of year". www.espn.com. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
17. "Mike Smith Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 3, 2015.
18. "Dan Quinn Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
19. "Raheem Morris Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
20. "Arthur Smith Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 26, 2023.