Falcons make coaching-staff shakeup following Week 3 loss

Pass-game coordinator T.J. Yates will take over in the role, per a team announcement. A former NFL wideout, Hilliard has been a coach in the league for 13 seasons. Hilliard, 49, has been with five NFL teams since he began coaching in the league in 2011. Only one of those stays (with Washington) surpassed two years in length.

Ike Hilliard is better known for his days as an NFL WR

Hilliard remains better known for his run as a receiver, enjoying memorable stays in New York and Tampa after being a No. 7 overall pick in 1997, but he has been in the coaching ranks since coaching in UFL 1.0 from 2009-10. He has since been an assistant wide receivers coach with the Dolphins and wideouts coach with the Bills, Washington (two stints), Steelers and Falcons. For a season in 2022, Hilliard served as Auburn’s WRs coach and interim co-OC.

Raheem Morris added Hilliard nearly 20 years after the two overlapped in Tampa. The Falcons HC was on Jon Gruden‘s staff during Hilliard’s final NFL seasons, which came in Tampa. Hilliard, who had served previously as a Giants Amani Toomer sidekick from 1997-2004, overlapped with Morris in 2005 and from 2007-08. The Bucs released Hilliard weeks into Morris’ first offseason in charge back in 2009. Hilliard served as Washington’s receivers coach under Jay Gruden from 2014-19 and interviewed for the Lions’ OC job during his two-year Pittsburgh stint (2020-21). After not coaching in 2023, he caught on with the Falcons.

Last season, Drake London took a significant step forward — after being tied to run-based attacks in 2022 and 2023 — with a 1,271-yard season. He is off to a much slower start this year, totaling 159 through three games. No other Atlanta receiver has more than 70 receiving yards. Although it is not known if this dismissal is strictly performance-related, it comes after a 30-0 upset loss to the previously winless Panthers.