The Falcons are looking for a replacement for coach Arthur Smith, who was fired after three losing seasons and record of 21-30.

The Falcons interviewed Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and San Francisco defensive coordinator Steve Wilks on Saturday, according to the team.

The Falcons also interviewed Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald on Friday. Panthers’ defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and Ravens assistant head coach/defensive line Anthony Weaver were interviewed for the head coaching job Sunday.

Callahan, 39, has been the Bengals’ offensive coordinator since 2019. He has also been the quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders and served as an offensive assistant for the Denver Broncos.

His father, Bill Callahan, is a former interim head coach for Washington and former head coach of the Raiders.

Wilks, 54, has head-coaching experience. He made his reputation as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator under Ron Rivera. He started his coaching career at Johnson C. Smith (1995-96) and Savannah State (1997-99) after playing at Appalachian State.

Wilks was the head coach at Savannah State in 1999. He was the Cardinals’ head coach in 2018 and was the Panthers’ interim head coach in 2023 after Matt Rhule was fired.

Macdonald, 36, attended Centennial High in Roswell and went to Georgia. While a student in Athens he was an assistant coach at Cedar Shoals High in 2008 and 2009. He was a grad assistant at Georgia in 2010 and was a defensive quality-control assistant from 2011-13.

Former New England coach Bill Belichick is the Falcons’ No. 1 target, a person familiar with the situation told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. It was reported Saturday by ESPN that the interest was “mutual.”

The Falcons have elected not to comment about the search and didn’t allow general manager Terry Fontenot to comment on Smith’s firing. The Falcons have announced their interviews after they were completed.

Belichick, 71, who led team to six Super Bowl titles, agreed to part ways with the Patriots’ franchise Thursday – bringing an end to his 24-year tenure as the mastermind of the most decorated dynasty of the NFL’s Super Bowl era.

Belichick reportedly is assembling a staff and could be a candidate in Washington and may wait to see if other jobs open during the post-season. Former Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris is a potential fallback candidate if the Falcons can’t land Belichick.

Blank and the Falcons have ties to the New England organization. Blank is a good friend of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and they often sit together at the commissioner’s press conferences at the Super Bowl.

Also, Falcons former general manager Thomas Dimitroff came from the New England organization. Scott Pioli, who was assistant general manager for five seasons (2014-19), also has New England roots and ties to Belichick.

Belichick became only the third coach in NFL history to reach 300 career regular season wins earlier this season, joining Hall of Famers Don Shula and George Halas. He has a total of 333 wins, including the playoffs. He trails only Shula (347 wins) for the record for victories by a coach.

The Falcons have also requested interviews with Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

Johnson, 37, was a walk-on quarterback at North Carolina. He’s been Detroit’s offensive coordinator for the past two seasons. The Lions were ranked third in total offense (394.8 YPG), second in passing (258.9) and fifth in rushing (135.9) and fifth in points scored (27.1).

Glenn, 51, played in the NFL from 1994-2008 and was a three-time Pro Bowl cornerback. He is a member of the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame. His defense was ranked 19th in yards allowed (336.1), second against the run (88.8), 27th against the pass (247.4) and 23rd in points allowed (23.2).

While the coaching search is under way, the Falcons blocked assistant coaches from interviewing for other opportunities.

Defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen had an opportunity with the Jaguars squashed.

The Giants’ interview request for offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford was declined. They have since hired former Raiders offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo.

The Giants’ request to interview special-teams coordinator Marquice Williams also was blocked by the Falcons.

Most of the assistants are under contract, and the new coach likely will want to bring in his own staff.

In Tennessee, where Mike Vrabel was fired, the assistant coaches are being allowed to interview and explore their options. The Chargers also blocked the Giants from interviewing their special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken.

While Smith was fired, the Falcons were impressed with how he and his staff kept the team together through a rough season. Five of the team’s 10 losses were by a total of 16 points. If they had gone 3-2 in those games, they would have won the division at 10-7.

“We’ve been around situations where the coach has lost the locker room – you’ve heard that, seen it, maybe experienced it here, maybe elsewhere you’ve read about it – but this coach never lost the locker room,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. “I want to be clear on that. It’s a great credit to (Smith) and the other coaches.”

The Bow Tie Chronicles