NFL's Black Monday: Falcons fire head coach Arthur Smith, Commanders' Ron Rivera dismissed

Arthur Smith, who inherited a rebuilding project in his first NFL head coaching job and failed to lift Atlanta from its playoff drought, was fired late Sunday night, hours after completing his third straight losing season with the Falcons.

Smith, the 41-year-old son of FedEx founder Fred Smith, finished with a record of 21-30. He went 7-10 each year.

Smith was dismissed after a 48-17 loss at New Orleans, the second-worst setback of his tenure, topped only by a 43-3 rout at Dallas in 2021. The Falcons dropped four of their last five games and were blown out in Smith's final two contests, losing 37-17 at Chicago a week ago.

The Falcons have posted six straight losing seasons since their last playoff appearance in 2017.

After the team arrived back in Atlanta, Smith met with owner Arthur Blank and CEO Rich McKay. The firing was announced shortly after midnight, the first of what is expected to be several coaching changes around the NFL on "Black Monday."

"Decisions like this are never easy and they never feel good," said Blank, the 81-year-old owner who now begins the search for the sixth full-time head coach of his two-plus decades as the Falcons' owner.

The franchise that joined the league in 1966 is still seeking its first Super Bowl championship. Blank and McKay will lead the coaching search with input from general manager Terry Fontenot, who is keeping his job after also being hired ahead of the 2021 season.

The expectations on Smith grew immensely this season, with Blank making it clear he expected nothing less than the team's first trip to the playoffs since 2017 after a free-agent spending spree to improve the defence and using three straight top-10 draft picks on offensive playmakers Kyle Pitts, Drake London and