The Atlanta Falcons have ended their professional relationship with wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard. T.J. Yates, currently the team’s passing game coordinator and former receivers coach from 2022 to 2023, is expected to take over Hilliard’s responsibilities.
Hilliard joined the Falcons when Raheem Morris became head coach in 2024. During his tenure, several receivers had notable individual performances. Drake London set personal records last season with 100 receptions, 1,271 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns. London became only the third player in franchise history to achieve at least 100 receptions, 1,200 yards, and nine touchdowns in a single season, joining Roddy White (2010) and Terance Mathis (1994).
Free agent acquisitions Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud also achieved career highs under Hilliard’s coaching last year. Mooney finished just eight yards short of reaching 1,000 receiving yards for the season. McCloud posted career bests with 62 receptions and 686 receiving yards.
This season has been less productive for the group. London has made 16 catches for 159 yards without scoring a touchdown. Mooney has six catches for 64 yards while McCloud has five for 71 yards.
The offense as a whole has struggled through three games this year; no wide receiver or tight end has caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Michael Penix Jr., and the team has managed only one touchdown in its last eight quarters—spanning from Week 2 through a shutout loss to the Carolina Panthers in Week 3.
“Full transparency, we didn’t play well as a team. We didn’t play well particularly at the quarterback position,” said head coach Raheem Morris on Monday. “I love the accountability by Mike. I love the accountability by the guys around him. We didn’t play well enough around him. We didn’t play well enough for him. We didn’t give him the help that was required to go out there and win that football game from a special teams standpoint or offensive standpoint.”
Drake London commented after Sunday’s game: “It just wasn’t good at all. It’s not our standard at all.”
Before joining Atlanta’s staff, Hilliard served as Auburn University’s co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach in 2022 and spent ten years coaching NFL receivers with teams including the Pittsburgh Steelers (2020-21), Washington Commanders (2012; 2014-19), and Buffalo Bills (2013).
As an NFL player, Hilliard was drafted seventh overall by the New York Giants in 1997 and played twelve seasons—eight with New York (1997-2004) and four with Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2005-08). He appeared in 161 games (106 starts), making 546 receptions for 6,397 yards and scoring 35 touchdowns.
Hilliard played college football at Florida from 1994 to 1996 where he totaled more than two thousand receiving yards and earned first-team All-SEC along with consensus All-American honors in his final year.
