It’s a new era for the Falcons again. This time, team owner Arthur Blank promises a new president of football operations who will oversee the search for new leadership.

The Falcons dismissed coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot on Sunday evening, hours after the team ended its season with a (meaningless) four-game win streak.

Blank decided neither gentleman was suited to transform the Falcons into a contender. He deserves credit for acknowledging the team’s poor results, and moving swiftly, but it won’t matter unless the right replacements are acquired.

The new president of football operations — perhaps beloved former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan — will have the task to shape this franchise into a modern organization after years of feeling stuck in the past.

That introduces the obvious question: What should the Falcons seek in their next coach?

Certainly, the NFL trend is finding upstart offensive minds. It began with the Rams’ stunning hire of a young Sean McVay, an unconventional move that has since shaped the NFL. Everyone is seemingly chasing the next McVay; some have succeeded, others have failed miserably.

When the Falcons hired Morris they cited sustainability. Blank believed Morris would be the long-term coach (another reason they passed on the elder Bill Belichick). Morris touted his enormous staff and the need to backfill when teams raid their group as they have the Rams.

None of that happened, of course. Morris lasted only two years. The Falcons surely are embarrassed by how all of this has played out, particularly given their playoff aspirations over that span in a division that an NFL playoff committee would’ve left out of the bracket entirely.

Now, they again seek that long-term solution. In this age, that’s often found in an offensive hire.

The early guess is the Falcons go that route. Such hires have turned the Bears and Jaguars into immediate powers after years of being laughingstocks. A brilliant offensive coach is football’s greatest entity.

It’s also easier to maintain the sustainability that Blank seeks with an offensive-centered coach. A defensive-minded coach is punished for nailing his OC hires because they end up head coaches quickly (see what’s happened in Tampa Bay), whereas the offensive-minded head coach keeps his great DC longer because teams are less likely to go that route. And obviously, in having the head coach as your play-caller, one doesn’t need to worry about disrupting the quarterback or subjecting the players to changing offensive systems.

That’s led to the sustainability in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Green Bay, etc. So it’s easy to envision the Falcons emphasizing offense in their next hire.

The feel here is the Falcons will seek an offensive mind who could develop quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (or a replacement, should it reach that point). It also seems possible the Falcons could want a more experienced coach. Morris had been a head coach before, but it had been over a decade ago and he had failed as the Buccaneers’ leader, having never made the playoffs.

That takes us to some options, from the home-run tier to the eh-maybe tier.

The Browns fired two-time coach of the year Kevin Stefanski, who has a sterling reputation despite the Browns’ constant losing. Stefanski, 43, is 45-56 as a coach (though with Cleveland that might as well be considered a resounding success). The Browns won 11 games in his debut season (2020), including a playoff game. They also won 11 games in 2023.

But Stefanski is 8-26 since. The Deshaun Watson trade largely sank the franchise, and it hasn’t recovered, so it’s not as if the disaster was all on him. That’s how the league apparently sees it, too, as he’s reportedly expected to get another job this cycle. That very well could be here.

Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak also will get mention. There’s no Ben Johnson this cycle — the impeccable Lions play-caller who landed the Bears’ gig last winter — but Kubiak generally is considered the most sought-after OC.

The Seahawks earned the No. 1 seed, though their offense had sputtered at points down the stretch with quarterback Sam Darnold. It was nonetheless another strong season for Darnold (though he was a bit turnover prone) after it appeared he was destined to be a career backup. Jaxon Smith-Njigba also emerged into arguably the league’s best receiver.

Kubiak is a more soft-spoken, tamer personality, so he won’t ignite press conference enthusiasm in the ways many picture a younger offensive mind would. That doesn’t matter if he’s a good coach, but note the head coaching role is a leader, too. Those are the intricacies that the new president will need to explore during the process.

If Ryan takes over, would he be interested in his former offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian? He seems to have it made at Texas, where he hasn’t yet won big, but that’s not because of lacking resources. The Athletic reported months ago that “Sark” could have interest in an NFL return, but he emphatically denied it. Sark obviously has never been an NFL head coach but he had some success in the league.

Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, despite an uncertain job status, is expected to garner interest. He led the Cardinals to the playoffs as a head coach, but he had one winning season in four years and his teams became known for wilting later in the season.

The Giants fired Brian Daboll earlier this year. Daboll had earned the job thanks to his work with Bills MVP quarterback Josh Allen. He led the Giants to a playoff win in 2022 but fizzled out afterward. He was 11-33 over the past three years before New York fired him after 10 games this season.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur, a former Falcons assistant, reportedly isn’t rock-solid safe. It would seem foolish for Green Bay to dismiss him, but it would be a coup for the Falcons. LaFleur is 76-40 with the Packers, helping guide future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers to two MVP awards before developing the raw Jordan Love into a franchise quarterback.

LaFleur would be the ideal candidate for any team, but his expertise and familiarity with the organization would make him a perfect fit here. Still, it makes little sense for the Packers to move on.

It’s worth noting LaFleur’s brother, Mike, the Rams’ offensive coordinator, also is a candidate this cycle, though he doesn’t call plays (he previously had for the Jets but the pair parted ways after a poor 2022 campaign with Zach Wilson at quarterback).

Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, 29, is viewed as a rising star, but coach Liam Coen calls the plays there. Choosing Udinski would be a bit bold, but there could be massive payoff.

The same goes for Rams offensive assistant Nate Scheelhaase, another under-the-radar name. The 35-year-old has play-calling experience only at Iowa State, though, and it would be a massive leap of faith to hire him as head coach before he’s been a coordinator.

There’s more than just offensive coaches, too. You’re looking for the right coach, after all, and there are varying elements that go into that.

There’s a case that defensive coordinators Chris Shula (Rams) and Jesse Minter (Chargers) are the top candidates available. There also have been successful defensive coaches recently hired, including Mike Vrabel (New England) and Mike Macdonald (Seattle). The latter has parallels with Minter as part of the Harbaugh coaching tree.

If the Ravens dismiss coach John Harbaugh, a rumored possibility, he’d bring credibility as the Falcons’ next coach. He isn’t a young offensive mind, but he’s won consistently since 2008 for one of the sport’s best organizations. His offensive coordinator, Todd Monken, the two-time national champion play-caller with Georgia, also is a potential candidate, though he’d be a first-time head coach at age 60.

Former Jets coach Robert Saleh is well-respected and did an outstanding job maximizing the 49ers’ defense this year despite injuries to linebacker Fred Warner and edge rusher Nick Bosa. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who had a messy stint as the Dolphins’ coach (which includes a pending lawsuit against the NFL), has done brilliant work as a DC and many feel he deserves another opportunity. The OC hires would be pivotal for both.