Atlanta Falcons Fire Head Coach Dan Quinn and General Manager Thomas Dimitroff

The Atlanta Falcons have fired their head coach and general manager. On Sunday, the team announced they are parting ways with head coach Dan Quinn after being hired to be the head coach back in 2015. This comes on the heels of the Falcons starting the 2020 season 0-5, which is the team's worst start since 1997. The team also announced they have fired general manager Thomas Dimitroff after being hired by the team in 2008.

Quinn was named the head coach after the team fired Mike Smith at the end of the 2014 season. Overall, Quinn posted a 43-40 record in his nearly five and half seasons in Atlanta. But after the Falcons suffered a brutal overtime loss in Super Bowl LI during the 2016 season, they have only reached the playoffs once and had two consecutive losing seasons. Quinn was brought in to help improve the Falcons' defense, but the group never met expectations. The Falcons defense has only been a top-10 unit under Quinn once, which was in 2017.

In 2019, Quinn's job was thought to be in danger when the Falcons started the season 1-7. However, the Falcons rallied and won six of the next eight games after they made some coaching changes. After the loss to the Cowboys, Falcons owner Arthur Blank was asked about the status of the team.

"Decisions like these are very difficult, but the previous two seasons and start to this one have been especially hard for me because of the deep love, admiration and respect I and my family have for Dan, Thomas and their families," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a press release. "For many years, they have represented me, our team, organization and Atlanta with class, commitment and all the passion you would want in the leaders of the team. But as everyone knows, this is a results business and I owe it to our fans to put the best product we can on the field. We have poured every resource possible into winning and will continue to do so, but the results of late do not meet our standard or what I've promised our fans. Therefore, we will install new coaching and personnel leadership of the Atlanta Falcons at the appropriate time."

The Falcons will now begin their search for a new head coach. Top candidates the team could go after are Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and University of Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley. Falcons President and CEO Rich McKay will assume the day-to-day oversight of football operations. An interim head coach will be announced on Monday.