T.J. Yates
Passing Game Coordinator
Biography
T.J. Yates joined the Falcons on Jan. 30, 2021, and has spent the last three seasons as a passing game specialist (2021) and wide receivers coach (2022-23) before transitioning to quarterbacks coach on Jan. 31, 2024.
Under Yates guidance, second year wide out Drake London broke Julio Jones' (133) club record for receptions through a player's first two seasons with 141 catches. London's 1,771 receiving yards over his first two years rank second to Jones (2,157) and the USC product led the Falcons in yards and receptions in each of the last two seasons.
In 2023, London caught 69 passes for a career-high 906 yards with two touchdowns. He generated 2.0 yards per route run, 8.2 yards per target and a 12.2-yard average depth of target. London was Atlanta's most productive receiver and was targeted on nearly a quarter of the Falcons pass plays.
In Yates' first season as wide receivers coach, London finished his rookie season with 72 receptions for 866 yards and four touchdowns, surpassing Kyle Pitts (68 in 2021) for the most receptions by a rookie in franchise history.
Yates joined the Falcons coaching staff after spending two seasons (2019-20) working with the Houston Texans. In 2020, he served as the assistant quarterbacks coach helping Deshaun Watson earn his third Pro Bowl nod. With Yates' assistance, Watson led the NFL with 4,823 passing yards while throwing 33 touchdowns against seven interceptions and completing 70.2 percent of his passes. Yates spent the 2019 season as an offensive assistant helping the Texans capture an AFC South title after a 10-6 regular season. Houston defeated the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round and advanced to the Divisional Round for the fourth time in team history.
Yates spent seven seasons in the NFL as a quarterback playing for the Texans (2011-13, 2015, 2017, Falcons (2014), Dolphins (2016), and Buffalo Bills (2017). He was originally selected by the Texans in the fifth round (152nd overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft and went on to start five regular-season games and both postseason games that season. He completed 11-of-20 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown in the Wild Card Playoff Round vs. Cincinnati in the franchise's first postseason game and postseason victory.
Yates appeared in 13 games with five starts over three seasons with the Texans before being traded to the Falcons where he spent one season backing up Matt Ryan. Yates returned to Houston in 2015 and appeared in four games with two starts. After spending time with the Dolphins and Bills, he returned for a third stint with the Texans in 2017 threw a career-high four touchdowns in four games played.
Prior to his NFL career, Yates was a four-year starter at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. He set records for most completions and passing yards in a single game, single season, and career. He also became the first quarterback in school history to record more than 3,000 passing yards in a single season and was named Honorable-Mention All-ACC as a senior in 2010.
A Marietta, Ga. native, Yates and his wife, Amy, have two sons, Carter and Teddy.
