FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons are in search of the organization's 20th head coach in franchise history. The organization parted ways with Raheem Morris after the team's final game of the 2025 season. A new-look leadership group — including Falcons President of Football Matt Ryan — began the hunt to find his successor with the assistance of ZRG Partners and Sportsology Group.
"Our search committee will be structured a little bit differently than it has been in the past," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Thursday. "[It will] still be made up of a component of people that represent our leadership in all areas of our businesses, but we're going to put heavy emphasis, we're hiring this president of football first. That's the goal, and over the next couple of days, we have a series of interviews set up. We want to get that person in their seat and have them lead the interviews for the head coach and general manager position going forward."
The Falcons will announce these interviews after they are completed with each candidate. We'll provide those updates here, along with relevant information and background about each candidate.
The NFL has specific rules for how and when teams can conduct these interviews. They are outlined here.
The Falcons have officially completed an interview with John Harbaugh for their head coach position.
Interview date: Monday, Jan. 12
Previous role: Harbaugh was the Baltimore Ravens' head coach for 18 years from 2008-25.
Resume highlights:
- Nearly two decades of coaching experience with one team will lend itself to quite a number of accolades. For Harbaugh and the Ravens, that list is extensive, including 12 playoff appearances, four AFC championship game appearances and one Super Bowl win.
- After the Ravens experienced a playoff drought from 2015-17, they bounced back with the emergence of Lamar Jackson at quarterback. By 2019, the Ravens were back to their winning ways, finishing that season 14-2 and securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC. Harbaugh was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year following that 2019 run.
- Harbaugh got his start in the league as the special teams coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1998-2006. He moved to coach defensive backs in 2007 before making the jump to the Ravens to be their head coach.
Local connection: Harbaugh's brother — Jim — interviewed with the Falcons in 2024 for the head coach vacancy that was ultimately filled by Raheem Morris. Jim Harbaugh was a frontrunner for the Los Angeles Chargers' head coaching job at the time; a job he ultimately took.
Why he's a candidate: Harbaugh is one of the most respected, successful and long-standing head coaches in the NFL. His pedigree and resume speak for themselves and show that he is well-versed in putting a winning product on the field.
Harbaugh led the Ravens to 180 wins during his 18 seasons with the franchise, an average of 10 wins per season and the third-most wins in the NFL over that span. He is the winningest head coach in Ravens history.
The Ravens' 24 playoff game appearances are the second-most by any head coach in the NFL since 2008. Harbaugh is the only head coach in NFL history to win a playoff game in six of his first seven seasons as a head coach. What's more? He has the most road playoff wins by a head coach with eight.
Harbaugh and his various staffs have been known to be winners and playoff contenders for more than half of his career with the Ravens.
Though he leans towards being a defensive-minded head coach, Harbaugh has been masterful at filling out coaching staffs around him to get the most out of players. Given the success the Ravens have had throughout much of Harbaugh's time in Baltimore, coaching staffs consistently changed as more and more assistants and coordinators were poached and promoted. Through 18 seasons, Harbaugh worked with 14 different offensive and defensive coordinators and had various combinations of the two. Despite this turnover and staff adjustments, the Ravens have remained a constant at the top of most rankings year in and year out throughout the last two decades of football. That is a testament to Harbaugh at the helm.
