Falcons fire defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake, defensive line coach

The Falcons’ coaching staff was expected to undergo some change after they finished 8-9 and did not make the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.

Lake, who was in his first season of calling plays in the NFL, was expected to be heavily scrutinized after the defense gave up 44 points to the Panthers in the regular-season finale and two long overtime touchdown drives in the final two games, both losses (to Washington and Carolina) that knocked the Falcons out of the playoffs.

Morris was noncommittal Monday when asked about Lake’s future.

“We have to evaluate all of our coaches,” Morris said. “We have to evaluate all of our players. We have to evaluate everything that we do from a whole program standpoint.”

Morris indicated that he’ll embrace change on the coaching staff.

“There will never been anything that’s the same in the National Football League, whether it’s players, whether it’s coaches, whatever the case may be,” Morris said. “That’s just how it is.”

The defense finished in the bottom half in the league in three of the four major categories. The ranked 23rd in total yards allowed (345.2 per game), 15th in rushing yards allowed (120.6), 22nd in passing (224.5) and 23rd in scoring (24.9 points per game).

Lake, 48, was head coach at Washington, but was fired after two seasons and received a $9.9 million buyout.

Lake had been at Washington in various capacities since 2014, including a stint as defensive coordinator from 2018-19. He was the play-caller in 2018 and had the Pac-12′s top defense in scoring (15.5 points per game) and total defense (301.8 yards per game). In 2019, the defense gave up 19.4 points per game after losing nine defensive starters.

Before his stint with the Huskies, Lake was at Boise State. His NFL experience included stints with the Buccaneers (2006-07, assistant defensive backs), Lions (2008, defensive backs) and Bucs again (2010-11, defensive backs).

A native of Walnut Creek, California, Lake played defensive back at Eastern Washington.

One of the potential candidates to replace Lake is former Jets defensive coordinator and interim coach Jeff Ulbrich. He was with the Falcons from 2015-20 as the linebackers coach and helped to call the defense with Dan Quinn in 2019 and Morris in the 2020 season.

Another potential candidate is former Cardinals coach Steve Wilks, who was a visitor to the Falcons’ training camp last season. Wilks, who was the head coach at Savannah State in 1999, has been a long-time NFL coordinator and was head coach of the Cardinals for one season.

Rodgers, who played quarterback in college at Indiana and Missouri State, has coached in the NFL since 2009. He’s been with the Broncos (2009-14), Bears (2015-20) and Chargers (2021-23). In 2018 with the Bears, he won the John Teerlinck award, which goes to the top defensive line coach in the league.

The Falcons continued to struggle in rushing opposing passers. They finished the season with 31 sacks, which ranked 31st in the league. The Patriots were last in the league with 28 sacks. The Broncos led the league with 63 sacks.

Wilks, a former longtime Carolina assistant coach and interim head coach, was a visitor at Falcons practice in late July. Wilks was the head coach for the Cardinals in 2018 and was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 2023.

“Really respect him,” Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said at the time. “We actually interviewed him (this past offseason after coach Arthur Smith was fired). That’s exactly what that is. When you don’t have a job, you come and look at it from afar.”

Fontenot sensed Wilks wanted to join in the drills.

“I was teasing him during practice, it’s hard when you’re back there and you want to jump on the field and coach,” Fontenot said. “It was probably hard for him not getting his hands dirty. Just have a lot of respect for him. (Falcons coach) Raheem (Morris) is great about that, opening his door to coaches.”