There will be no sweeping changes within the Atlanta Falcons organization in 2020, despite the disappointment that came attached to the 2019 season. The team has announced it will retain both head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff following the team's final regular season game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 17.
This comes on the heels of a 6-9 record heading into Central Florida on Sunday, with owner Arthur Blank now making good on his continued commitment throughout the season in Quinn and Dimitroff. Quinn, who joined the Falcons in 2015, saw immediate success after building the club up initially to an 8-8 record in his first year -- going on to make a Super Bowl appearance in his second. Matt Ryan was named league MVP that same year, and things were going swimmingly until they weren't, the team's slow decline beginning in the second half of that very Super Bowl when they lost a 28-3 lead -- and ultimately the game -- to to the New England Patriots.
They'd still manage a 10-6 record in Year 3 under Quinn, but lost in the NFC Divisional Round before stumbling to a 7-9 finish in 2018. They entered the 2019 season with high expectations, but lost six straight after a 1-1 start. This led many to believe Quinn's coaching seat was white-hot, and the same goes for the one beneath Dimitroff, but Blank often swatted away insinuations he'd fire either.
Quinn also retained play-calling duties on defense and, to his credit, was able to rally a downtrodden Falcons club to five wins in their last seven games, and that includes dismantling the high-powered Saints in New Orleans as well as an upset of the equally potent San Francisco 49ers.
That may all have truly been the beginning of Blank feeling good about the future of Quinn and Dimitroff alike, and it bought them at least one more season to get the Falcons back to The Promised Land.
The team also named Raheem Morris as defensive coordinator, and with one small change, both Quinn and Dimitroff will report directly to team CEO Rich McKay -- as opposed to Blank. Blank will continue to oversee football operations, but McKay will be the conduit between all parties involved. It'll be interesting to see if that small alteration in process bears any real fruit going forward.
