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ATLANTA (AP) — Arthur Smith, who inherited a rebuilding project in his first NFL head coaching job and failed to lift Atlanta from its playoff drought, was fired late Sunday night, hours after completing his third season with the Falcons.
Smith, the 41-year-old son of FedEx founder Fred Smith, went 7-10 in each of his three seasons. The Falcons' 48-17 loss at New Orleans was the second consecutive lopsided defeated that sealed Smith's fate, following a 37-17 loss at Chicago.
The Falcons have posted six straight losing seasons since their last playoff appearance in 2017.
Smith was hired by the Falcons in 2021 after a decade-long stint as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans, moving up to become their offensive coordinator.
Smith didn’t feel much heat after his first two losing seasons as Atlanta dealt with major salary cap issues after trading away two long-term stalwarts of the franchise: quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Julio Jones.
The expectations on Smith grew immensely this season, with owner Arthur Blank making it clear he expected nothing less than the team’s first trip to the playoffs since 2017 after a free-agent spending spree to improve the defense and using three straight top-10 draft picks on offensive playmakers Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Bijan Robinson.
But Smith never got reliable quarterback play, switching back and forth between Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke this season.
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