Falcons lose QBs coach Charles London to Titans

London, who drew offensive coordinator interest from some teams, is off to Tennessee.

Charles London was not going to stick around in Atlanta forever. The team’s quarterbacks coach was a popular interview candidate for offensive coordinator gigs in each of the past two offseasons, and given that interest, will inevitably be an offensive coordinator in the not-too-distant future.

For now, though, London is leaving Atlanta to join the Tennessee Titans for a different kind of promotion. He’ll be the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator under new offensive coordinator Tim Kelly, hoping to elevate Ryan Tannehill, Malik Willis, and/or whoever else joins the quarterbacks room this spring and summer.

London, who had spent much of his career as a running backs coach, joined Arthur Smith’s staff in 2021 as a quarterbacks coach and has been well-regarded for his work in that role. He worked with Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, and Desmond Ridder over that short span, and was also instrumental (alongside fellow Chicago import Dave Ragone, the team’s offensive coordinator) in getting the team to sign Cordarrelle Patterson. London also was the offensive coordinator for the Senior Bowl this year, another opportunity that showed he’s on the path to that kind of role.

In Tennessee, he’ll get experience that will help him get there as the passing game coordinator, with the Titans undoubtedly hoping for more from what used to be a very reliable aerial attack. I’m sad to see him go, but it’s a deserved opportunity, and one London will likely excel in.

This does leave the Falcons with yet another opening on their coaching staff, one they’ll want to fill sooner than later. In-house wide receivers coach T.J. Yates is a very sensible option, given that he was a longtime NFL quarterback himself and was an assistant quarterbacks coach in Houston back in 2020. If the team wants to look outside Atlanta, they’ll undoubtedly have a long list of candidates to pull from, and we’ll go sniffing around to see who might be out there in the next couple of days.

Again, congratulations to London, and let’s hope the Falcons get a stellar coach in to help whoever is under center next season.