T.J. Yates was hired as the Atlanta Falcons wide receivers coach on March 22, 2022, after serving as passing game specialist in 2021. In his previous role, Yates worked primarily with Atlanta's wide receivers.
In Yates' first season as wide receivers coach, Drake 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. Additionally, fourth-year receiver Olamide Zaccheaus set single-season career highs for receptions (40) and receiving yards (533), while matching his career high with three touchdown receptions.
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.
