Falcons finally make The Move, dismiss Quinn and Dimitroff
The first media report, by way of The Athletic, was tweeted a little bit before 5 p.m., not long after the fifth straight loss.
And it appeared the an announcement would come Monday or Tuesday.
Dan Quinn and Thomas Dimitroff didn’t last the day.
The Falcons released the news at 9:49 p.m. Sunday that their head coach and general manager had been let go, effective immediately.
The bio pages for both were immediately removed from www.atlantafalcons.com.
Quinn got a pair of second chances, after the Falcons blew a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl and then last year after a strong finish led to the belief that momentum might carry over to 2020.
Dimitroff has been the general manager since 2008, and the Falcons have ridden a roller coaster the entire time.
Atlanta has made the playoffs in 2008, 2010-12, and 2016-17. The Falcons are destined for their third straight losing season, and fifth under Dimitroff, who earned criticism for a variety of draft and trade moves that led to a slump preceding the firing of Mike Smith, who had five straight winning seasons followed by 4-12 and 6-10 and his dismissal.
Atlanta is 109-88 in the regular season under Dimitroff, who came to Atlanta from New England.
Team president and former general manager Rich McKay will take over day-to-day duties, and an interim coach will be named Monday. McKay is in his 17th season with the Falcons, the first four as GM and promoted to president and CEO in 2011.
Quinn’s coaching career began at William & Mary in 1994, followed by VMI and Hofstra before moving to the NFL with the 49ers in 2001 in defensive quality control, and then moving up to the defensive line.
He spent two years with the Dolphins, the Jets, and Seahawks before two seasons back in college at Florida. He returned to Seattle as defensive coordinator for two years, and was named to succeed Smith in February of 2015.
Smith went 66-46. Quinn leaves with a record of 43-42.
‘Decisions like this are very difficult’