ATLANTA FALCONS MAKE DEFENSIVE STAFF CHANGES, APPOINT RYAN NIELSEN AS NEW DC
The Atlanta Falcons have appointed former Saints co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen as their new defensive coordinator, the team confirmed the news this past week.
43-year-old Nielsen makes a move within the division, transitioning from New Orleans to Atlanta, and will look forward to battling his old team in the NFC South. Nielsen was also the defensive line coach in New Orleans and worked closely with Pro Bowl defensive end Cam Jordan, who said he was “happy-ish” about his former coach going to a division rival.
“Ryan to DC job was inevitable,” Jordan tweeted on Saturday. “Top tier DL coach in terms of developing pass rush and emphasizing technique on run and gap integrity. Wish him the semi-best as he willingly went to the Falcons. Happy-ish for him.”
The Atlanta Falcons interviewed Nielsen on Tuesday and were quick to make a decision going forward, hiring him just four days removed from the interview.
The 2016 NFC Champions were in the market for a new defensive coordinator after Dean Pees announced his retirement at the end of the regular season. According to ESPN, the Falcons are still in the market for coaching staff on defense as the team let go of defensive line coach Gary Emmanuel, outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino, and secondary coach Jon Hoke a few weeks prior.
Nielsen started his coaching career at the collegiate level and spent two seasons in Northern Illinois (2011-2012) before completing four seasons at North Carolina State (2013-2016) as the defensive line coach, recruiting coordinator, and run game coordinator. He would then leave the college ranks to join the Saints coaching staff as their defensive line coach, a position he has held since 2017. Nielsen and Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot met in New Orleans, a place where Fontenot had spent close to two decades in the front office.
Since 2017, New Orleans’ 281 sacks ranked second in the league, with the team ranking in the top ten in sacks in five of the six seasons Nielsen spent with the team. The Saints have also produced up to seven different defensive linemen with multi-sack games in that period and put up a total of 55 consecutive regular season and postseason games without allowing a 100-yard rusher between the years 2017 to 2020.
The Saints also finished the season this year with a top-five defense in yards allowed per game (314.8), passing yards allowed per game (184.4), and total sacks (48). The Falcons, on the other hand, finished 31st in the NFL in 2022 in sacks (21) – a dismal defensive performance but a slight improvement from the 18 total sacks the team registered in 2021 – and were swept by New Orleans in both NFC South matchups. The team is hoping to upgrade the defense in the offseason through both the draft and free agency and is confident they have the right man to lead the process.
As per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Falcons are also working on a deal with veteran defensive coach Jerry Gray to join Nielsen in Atlanta. Gray has been with the Green Bay Packers for the past three seasons as their defensive backs coach/ pass game coordinator and has coached with head coach Arthur Smith before.
Smith and Gray worked together on the defensive side of the ball with the Washington Redskins in 2007-2008, two years in which Smith was the team’s defensive quality control coach while Gray was the defensive backs coach. Both coaches also worked together in Tennessee with the Titans. Gray is without a contract for 2023 and is therefore free to leave Green Bay in the offseason. With Atlanta interested in his services, the Falcons’ defensive staff could be shaping up just in time for the spring.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero