FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons have parted ways with wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard. Current passing game coordinator T.J. Yates is expected to assume those duties. Yates was the Falcons' receivers coach from 2022-23.
Hilliard has been the Falcons' wide receivers coach since Raheem Morris took over as head coach in 2024.
Last season saw individual success for a number of Falcons receivers, starting with Drake London, who recorded single-season highs in receptions (100), receiving yards (1,271) and receiving touchdowns (nine). London became the third player in franchise history with 100 receptions, 1,200 yards and nine touchdowns in a single season, joining Roddy White (2010) and Terance Mathis (1994) in the record books.
Free agent signings Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud also put up career bests. Mooney was 8 yards away from breaking the 1,000-yards receiving mark, while McCloud had career highs in receptions (62) and receiving yards (686).
This season, however, London has 16 receptions for 159 yards and no touchdowns. Mooney has six catches for 64 yards and McCloud has five catches for 71 yards.
This is illustrative of the Falcons' offense through the first three games: No wide receiver or tight end has caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The Falcons have only scored one touchdown in their last eight quarters of play from Week 2 to Week 3's shutout loss against the Carolina Panthers last Sunday.
"Full transparency, we didn't play well as a team. We didn't play well particularly at the quarterback position," Morris said Monday. "I love the accountability by Mike. I love the accountability by the guys around him. We didn't play well enough around him. We didn't play well enough for him. We didn't give him the help that was required to go out there and win that football game from a special teams standpoint or offensive standpoint."
London in the locker room Sunday: "It just wasn't good at all. It's not our standard at all."
Hilliard joined the Falcons' staff after serving as Auburn's co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach in 2022. He spent a decade as a receivers coach in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers (2020-21), Washington Commanders (2012; 2014-19) and Buffalo Bills (2013).
As a player, Hilliard was selected by the New York Giants in the first round (seventh overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played 12 seasons – eight with the New York Giants (1997-2004) and four with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2005-08). In 161 career games (106 starts), Hilliard caught 546 passes for 6,397 yards and 35 touchdowns.
Hilliard played collegiately at the University of Florida from 1994-96, where he recorded 126 receptions for 2,214 yards and 26 touchdowns and earned first-team All-SEC and consensus All-American honors in 1996, as he helped lead the Gators to a national title.
