FLOWERY BRANCH — It was a somber day at the Falcons’ practice facility.

Former coach Raheem Morris and former general manager Terry Fontenot met with the team for the final time Monday.

“It’s was hard for a lot of guys,” Falcons long snapper Liam McCullough said. “They are great people. They have a massive amount of respect with the guys on this team. There were tears that were shed.”

The Falcons posted their eighth consecutive losing season.

“Unfortunately, this business that we signed up for — player, coach, staff member — there are changes that are made year in, year out,” McCullough said.

Fontenot had been with the Falcons for the past five seasons. Morris was the head coach for the past two seasons. The back-to-back 8-9 records and the shuffling of the quarterback position led to the changes.

“It’s one of those things in the back of your mind that you always have to be prepared for,” McCullough said. “It sucks. You hate to see good people leave the organization. Those are two great, phenomenal human beings that I and my teammates have a lot of respect for.”

No players spoke during the meeting, according to linebacker Josh Woods.

“Main messages (were), we have a lot of good, solid players and good people on this team,” McCullough said. “Good players. We can win football games. We’re going to win football games. We’ve got a great core of veterans and a lot of young talent.”

Morris and Fontenot believe the Falcons have a lot of talent. But that doesn’t explain how they lost to the Jets (3-14 record), twice to the Panthers (8-9) and the Dolphins (7-10) this season. A superior team would have prevailed in most of those games — coaching notwithstanding.

“We’ve got the pieces, and we were close this year,” McCullough said. “This was not the outcome that anybody wanted or anyone expected, but we have the pieces. We trust the leadership in this organization. We are looking forward to winning a lot of games next year.”

The Falcons were 3-2 after five games and then lost seven of the next eight games and were eliminated from the playoffs. The Falcons then won their final four games, all meaningless.

There also was turmoil in the building this season.

The Falcons fired respected wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard after three games and a 30-0 loss at Carolina. Later, Ray-Ray McCloud, who Hilliard spoke of as his son, was released. The Falcons said the releases were “performance” related.

Woods was surprised by the firings, he said.

“Yeah, I was (surprised),” Woods said. “Ending the season on the four-game win streak that we did. Righting a couple of wrongs that everybody was talking about. I was hoping that it didn’t go that way. Obviously, that’s the nature of the business that we are in. We are here to win. So, haven’t been (winning). So, I understand, but I’m definitely a little disappointed by it, for sure.”

The Falcons defense made strides under first-year coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, but remained in the bottom half of the NFL in rushing yards allowed (136.2 per game, ranked 24th) and points allowed (23.6, 20th).

“For sure, I’ll go ahead and start by saying I hope that (Ulbrich) is here,” Woods said. “He’s a heck of a coach. Created a heck of a culture that I hope you guys could see on the field. He developed a true connection with each and every one of the guys. We’ve got a young group on defense here.”

Woods gave his description of the meeting.

“They both kind of gave their spiel,” Woods said. “Said their goodbyes and wished everybody well. Let everybody know that they were proud of the way that we finished, especially after being eliminated.”

It was a tough day.

“These are people’s livelihoods,” Woods said. “I think to a lot of people it’s a game. But at the end of the day these are real humans, emotions (and) relationships. Nobody wants to see anybody go. This is a family. Everybody that was within the confinement of that room, that’s team. That’s brotherhood. Some sisters. So, it obviously wasn’t a joyful meeting. Everybody was kind of somber.”

Woods was close to Morris.

“‘Rah’ was somebody that you could rely on for being himself,” Woods said. “You know exactly what you were getting every single day. He made it fun. He made football fun again. I think a lot of guys kind of lose that, players and coaches. He just made the workplace fun. It was fun to come in.”

Woods had the birth of a child during the season.

“He was a father figure for me,” Woods said. “Just how he took me under his wing and encouraged me to continue to develop. It meant a lot.”