Getty Michael Thomas #13 of the New Orleans Saints makes the reception against A.J. Terrell #24 of the Atlanta Falcons.
The Atlanta Falcons are on the search for their next general manager and another notable name has emerged for the vacant position.
Atlanta is looking to replace former general manager Thomas Dimitroff, who was dismissed from his duties along with head coach Dan Quinn on Oct. 11, after the Falcons started the 2020 season at 0-5.
According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Falcons are interested in interviewing Terry Fontenot, the New Orleans Saints vice president/assistant general manager-pro personnel.
This news comes about after the Falcons were swept by the Saints this season, including just last Sunday in a close 21-16 matchup.
This wouldn’t be Fontenot’s first interview for a GM position as the Jets looked into him during their search in 2019.
Fontenot’s Resume
Fontenot is in his 16th season with the Saints but his sixth as the team’s director of pro scouting. He is responsible for evaluating players from all professional leagues, including the Saints roster, monitoring the waiver wire, and supervising the advance scouting of upcoming opponents.
He has helped land some notable players to stack the defense including linebacker Demario Davis, linebacker Kwon Alexander and defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Trey Hendrickson, and safety Malcolm Jenkins.
Before being promoted to his current role, Fontenot spent seven years as a professional scout for New Orleans. Over the years, he has been a big help to New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis and building the Saints into a Super Bowl contender.
The Saints will close in on their fourth consecutive NFC South title and have dominated the Falcons in recent years, winning six of seven meetings.
Fontenot is a former ballplayer himself and played safety at Tulane (1999-2002) and was the team captain in 2001 and also made the 2002 Hawaii Bowl team. The former Green Wave has a degree in business and organizational information technology.
He went back to school in 2012 where he attended Stanford Business School’s executive-education NFL-Stanford program, which is well-known across the league for training future executives.
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Falcons’ GM Candidate List Keeps Growing
Aside from Terry Fontenot, the Falcons have also reportedly been looking into five others, including ESPN’s Louis Riddick, former Houston Texans GM Rick Smith, Los Angeles Rams director of college scouting Brad Holmes, Las Vegas Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie, and current Chicago Bears personnel man Champ Kelly.
Reggie McKenzie played in the NFL before becoming general manager of the Raiders. McKenzie helped land DE Khalil Mack, WR Amari Cooper, and QB Derek Carr. This season he is working with the Miami Dolphins as a senior personnel executive.
Rick Smith played college football at Purdue before becoming the general manager of the Texans in 2006. Smith was promoted to executive vice president of football operations and general manager. He was the youngest GM at the time at 36-years-old.
Champ Kelly played his pro football career with the Lexington Horseman and stayed as a coach. He eventually made his way to the NFL as a scout for the Broncos. Kelly is now the assistant director of player personnel for the Bears.
Brad Holmes has spent 15 years climbing the ladder to establish himself as a pro scout. Now, he oversees the Rams area scouts and is known to be general manager Les Snead’s most trusted confidant.
Louis Riddick is a current ESPN NFL analyst on Monday Night Football. He also spent two years as a Falcons player and is an ex-personnel director for the Philadephia Eagles and Washington Football Team.
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