With the recent firing of Arthur Smith, the Atlanta Falcons are now in search of a new coach who could provide a U-turn the franchise desperately longs for. Following consecutive losing seasons, team owner Arthur Blank and CEO Rich McKay made the big decision on Sunday. The next day, both executives appeared in a press conference to answer questions regarding the coaching change.

To start the discussions, Blank lamented how difficult it is to make decisions that involve letting go of tenured individuals such as Smith.

“It's very painful when you have to make decisions like this,” Blank said, via Falcons reporter Tori McElhaney.

The Falcons owner also added that while the search for a new coach has commenced, there's no telling when an announcement can be made.

“We're moving…but there is no timetable. We will take as much time as we need to do this and do this correctly.”

At the same time, there were moments during the press conference when Blank made it clear that the team wasn't able to achieve its goals with Smith at the helm these last three years. He specifically mentioned how the Falcons' record against losing teams was “abysmal.”

“Our record against losing teams was abysmal. We lost a bunch of games we shouldn't have lost,” he said.

McKay also echoed Blank's statements. While the team CEO gave Smith credit for retooling the roster during the latter's tenure, McKay made it clear that the team intends to win more games in the coming season.

“We intend to win and compete at the highest level in 2024,” McKay said. “This year we did not achieve what we wanted to achieve.”

In all three years as head coach, Smith's coaching produced three consecutive 7-10 season records with no playoff appearances. Safe to say, Arthur Blank had enough and decided it was time to move on.