ATLANTA - The Atlanta Falcons announced they have named Dave Ragone as their offensive coordinator, Dean Pees as defensive coordinator and Marquice Williams as special teams coordinator.
The Falcons also announced new head coach Arthur Smith will retain wide receivers coach Dave Brock.
Ragone comes to Atlanta after five seasons with the Chicago Bears. He spent the 2020 season as Chicago's passing game coordinator after four seasons as quarterbacks coach. Last season, Ragone assisted quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles as the Bears earned a Wild Card playoff berth. Trubisky and Foles combined to complete 65.8 percent of their passes for 3,907 yards with 26 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Ragone also guided Trubisky to Pro Bowl honors following the 2018 season after throwing for 3,233 yards with 24 touchdowns in 14 games.
Prior to joining the Bears, Ragone worked in Washington, helping quarterback Kirk Cousins lead the NFL in completion percentage (69.8) and rank fifth in passer rating in the NFL (101.6) as he tossed 29 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. Ragone also coached quarterbacks for the Tennessee Titans in 2013 after spending two seasons coaching the wide receivers from 2011-12.
Pees comes to Atlanta out of retirement with 16 years of NFL coaching experience, including 12 seasons as a defensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots. Pees is one of eight defensive coordinators in NFL history to coach in a Super Bowl with two different teams: with New England in 2007 and Baltimore in 2012.
In 10 of his 12 seasons as a defensive coordinator, Pees’ defenses have ranked in the top 12, including his first season in Tennessee in 2018 when the Titans ranked eighth in total defense and third in scoring defense, allowing only 18.9 points per game – the fewest points allowed by Tennessee since 2008.
Pees also spent eight seasons in Baltimore (2010-17), including six seasons as defensive coordinator (2012-17). Over his six years as defensive coordinator, Pees’ defense ranked eighth in yards allowed per game (334.7), ninth in points allowed (21.1 avgerage), eighth in rushing yards per game (103.4 avgerage), fourth in rushing yards per play (3.9 average) and seventh in opponent passer rating (85.4).
Before joining Baltimore’s staff, Pees spent six seasons (2004-09) under Bill Belichick on New England’s staff, including four years (2006-09) as defensive coordinator. During his tenure as defensive coordinator, the Patriots were the only team in the NFL to finish in the top 10 in scoring defense in four consecutive seasons. The Patriots also allowed fewer than 20 points per game in every season under Pees, the best four-year run of any coordinator in the Belichick era.
Williams joins the Falcons after two seasons with the Detroit Lions, where he was an assistant special teams coach. During that time, he helped Jamal Agnew put up 1,237 yards on 45 kickoff returns – the fourth-most in the NFL – while averaging 27.5 yards per return and breaking a return 100 yards for a touchdown. Agnew tied for the league lead with two total return touchdowns in 2019. With Williams’ assistance, Matt Prater converted 47-of-59 field goal attempts, including 10-of-13 from 50-plus yards with a long kick of 59 yards.
Prior to joining the Lions in 2019, he spent three seasons (2016-18) with the Los Angeles Chargers coaching staff. As a defensive assistant with the Chargers in 2018, Williams assisted the ninth-best defensive unit (333.7 yards per game) in the league and guided rookie safety Derwin James to his first-career Pro Bowl.
As for Brock, it will mark his fifth season with the Falcons, having served in multiple roles on the offensive staff over the past four seasons. Brock coached wide receivers in 2018 and 2020, running backs in 2019 and was an offensive assistant in 2017. Last season, wide receiver Calvin Ridley recorded single-season career-highs in receptions (90) and receiving yards (1,374), while tallying a team-high nine touchdown receptions and earned second-team Associated Press All-Pro honors. The third-year receiver eclipsed 100 receiving yards in eight games in 2020, the most in the NFL and the third-most in a single season in franchise history. Wide receiver Russell Gage also set single-season career-highs for receptions (72), receiving yards (786) and receiving touchdowns (four) under Brock’s tutelage in 2020.