The Atlanta Falcons announced Tuesday, January 19, Terry Fontenot has been named the team's general manager.
Fontenot joins the Falcons after spending the last 18 seasons as a member of the New Orleans Saints organization. He worked his way through the organization's ranks, starting out as a marketing intern before switching to the scouting department and climbing the ladder from intern to pro scout, and eventually advancing to vice president/assistant general manager of pro personnel.
In New Orleans, Fontenot served as a close confidant for general manager Mickey Loomis and managed the pro personnel department include player acquisitions and evaluating players. With Fontenot leading the pro personnel department, the Saints have shown a keen eye for adding impact players through free agency.
Although he's spent much of his career on the pro scouting side, serving as a pro scouting intern, player personnel assistant and pro scout before his promotion to director of pro scouting, Fontenot has seen his role expand in scope since 2015. After Ryan Pace was hired as the general manager of the Chicago Bears, Fontenot began working closely with college scouting director, and former Dolphins GM, Jeff Ireland, Loomis and head coach Sean Payton to develop a versatile group that could identify players that fit the team's vision, whether they were on NFL rosters, practice squads, free agents, college players or otherwise.
Free agents who have signed with the Saints since 2015 that have gone on to earn Pro Bowl honors include tight end Jared Cook, linebacker Demario Davis, kicker Wil Lutz and guard Larry Warford, along with center Max Unger who the Saints acquired in a trade with Seattle.
In 2012, Fontenot attended the Stanford Business School's Executive Education NFL-Stanford Program for Managers, an education program and honor known across the league as training ground for promising executives.
A native of Lake Charles, La., he was an all-state defensive back at Lagrange High School. A four-year letterman at safety for Tulane (1999-2002), Fontenot served as a team captain in 2001 and was a member of the 2002 team that won the Hawaii Bowl. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business and organizational information technology.
