The Falcons hired Ryan Nielsen as their new defensive coordinator Friday. That meant the end of three defensive assistants’ time in Atlanta.
Falcons hire defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen.
Ryan Nielsen, who has spent the last six seasons coaching the defensive line in New Orleans, is the new defensive coordinator in Atlanta, the Falcons announced today.
Our Nielsen rating just went up
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) January 27, 2023
Nielsen is not a surprising hire—the team just completed their second interview with him the other day—but all the reports linking the team strongly to Wilks and others over the past few weeks will undoubtedly make this addition feel like it came out of left field.
As Matthew Chambers noted the other day, Nielsen’s connections to this Falcons front office, lauded work with a very good Saints defensive line, and relative youth all likely worked in his favor.
After serving as the defensive line coach for the Saints for several years, Nielsen earned a promotion to assistant head coach in 2021 when LSU tried to poach him to be their defensive coordinator.
He also took on the co-defensive coordinator role in 2022, so while he does not have extensive experience in larger roles, he does have some.
In what’s likely to be music to Atlanta fan ears, Nielsen oversaw a defensive line that was a key piece of the Saints’ very good pass rush, a pass rush that ranked in the top five in the league in sacks heading into 2022.
The Falcons are likely banking on Nielsen’s work with the New Orleans defense translating to Atlanta, where the defensive front has been a chronic weakness.
The Saints also didn’t allow a single 100 yard rusher in the four seasons Nielsen was the defensive line coach, which can’t solely be attributed to him but is promising for a coach that has also been widely lauded by his own players.
Other candidates the Falcons were known to be considering included former Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, Steelers senior defensive assistant/linebackers coach Brian Flores, Panthers interim defensive coordinator Al Holcomb and Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
The Falcons have been looking for a new defensive coordinator since Dean Pees retired at the end of the season.
The 43-year-old Nielsen worked at North Carolina State, Northern Illinois, UT-Martin, Central Connecticut State.
New Orleans allowed the ninth-fewest points in the NFL despite missing four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore for 10 games due to a lacerated kidney.
The defense was notably exceptional down the stretch, allowing just 10 points in each of its last three games and 13.0 PPG in its last six.
Falcons beat reporter/analyst Tori McElhaney broke down the Saints’ defensive front’s dominance under Nielsen further.
“The Saints defensive front has been one of the league’s best for the last decade. Since Nielsen joined the Saints staff in 2017, New Orleans has recorded 281 sacks – that’s the second most in the NFL over that span – and finished in the top 10 in sacks in five of the last six seasons.
“Also, during Nielsen’s time in New Orleans from 2017 to 2020, the Saints put together 55 regular season and postseason games without allowing a 100-yard rusher.”
Nielsen interviewed with the Falcons on Tuesday, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, and the job is now officially his as he works with a team looking to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
As McElhaney noted, Nielsen’s hire marks a reunion with Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot.
The two worked on the Saints together from 2017 to 2020. Fontenot was the Saints’ director of pro scouting (2017-2019) and assistant general manager and vice president of pro personnel (2020) during that span.
Nielsen’s hire continues a shake-up on the defensive staff. Per McElhaney, the team parted with defensive line coach Gary Emanuel, outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino and secondary coach Jon Hoke.