FLOWERY BRANCH — T.J. Yates, the former Pope High and North Carolina standout, is being retained by new coach Raheem Morris and will coach the quarterbacks.
Yates was the wide receivers coach for the past two seasons and was the passing-game specialist in 2021 on former coach Arthur Smith’s staff.
Charles London was the quarterbacks coach in 2021 and 2022 before leaving to join the Titans’ staff. Last season, the Falcons didn’t have a quarterbacks coach. Offensive coordinator Dave Ragone, a former NFL quarterback, worked with the quarterbacks.
After playing in the NFL from 2011-18 spent a year out of football. In 2019, he joined Bill O’Brien’s staff in Houston as an offensive assistant. In 2020, he was the assistant quarterbacks coach.
Yates, after becoming North Carolina’s career passing-yards leader and setting the single-season mark for passing yards, was drafted in the fifth-round by the Texans in 2011.
He was with the Texans from 2011-13 before joining the Falcons in 2014. He went back to the Texans in 2015 before stops in Miami (2016) and Buffalo (2017) before returning for a third stint with the Texans in 2017.
Yates played in 22 games and made 10 NFL starts.
After things imploded in Houston in 2019 with O’Brien’s firing, Yates was happy to continue his coaching career with the Falcons. In 2019 and 2020, Yates helped quarterback Deshaun Watson make it to the Pro Bowl.
Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinicke and Logan Woodside currently are the quarterback on the roster.
The Falcons are likely to make some moves at the position this offseason.
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