Arthur Smith reaches an agreement to become the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons

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16:55 ET

  • Turron DavenportESPN

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    • Eagles covered by USA Today
    • He covered The Ravens for the Baltimore Times
    • He played college football at Cheyney University

The Atlanta Falcons have agreed pacts with Arthur Smith to be the team’s new coach, it was announced Friday.

Smith has been the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans for the past two seasons.

Smith, 38, replaces Dan Quinn, whom the Falcons fired along with general manager Thomas Dimitroff on Oct. 11 after a 0-5 start. Raheem Morris took over as interim head coach and led the Falcons to their only wins of the 2020 season on the road to an overall record of 4-12.

The Titans ranked fourth in the league by scoring during the regular season, averaging 30.7 points per game with Smith. Tennessee finished the regular season averaging 396.4 total yards per game, good for the NFL’s third. The Titans’ hasty attack recorded 168.1 yards per game, just after the Baltimore Ravens (191.9 yards).

Tennessee achieved a rare balance under Smith. Derrick Henry’s 2,027 running yards were the fifth best running total in history and he became the eighth player to surpass the 2,000-yard plateau. Titans receiver AJ Brown finished with 1,075 receiving yards, and teammate Corey Davis finished the season 16 yards off the 1,000-yard plateau.

Smith joined the Titans in 2011 as a quality control defensive coach; He then held various roles in Tennessee, including quality control offensive coach, offensive line assistant and narrow-tip coach.

Smith also interviewed the Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. The Jaguars hired Urban Meyer as their new head coach on Thursday.

Dave Ragone, game coordinator for Bears Passing, is the favorite to join Smith as offensive coordinator in Atlanta, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The Falcons had a remote interview with Smith Monday before flying him to Atlanta for a second interview Wednesday. The team also interviewed Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Green offensive coordinator Bay Packers Nathaniel Hackett.

The Jets announced Thursday night that they had reached an agreement in principle with Saleh to be their next coach.

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