The Atlanta Falcons announced their three new coordinators under Arthur Smith on Thursday evening with the addition of Dean Pees as defensive coordinator, Dave Ragone as offensive coordinator and Marquice Williams as special teams coordinator.
Four more coaches were added to Smith’s staff on Friday morning: Frank Bush (linebackers coach) Charles London (quarterbacks coach), Dwayne Ledford (offensive line coach) and Danny Breyer (offensive assistant).
Bush spent the last two seasons with the New York Jets as assistant head coach defense/linebackers coach and was promoted to defensive coordinator for the final four games of the 2020 season. Prior to his time with the Jets, Bush served as the assistant head coach/linebackers coach from 2017-18 for the Miami Dolphins. His 30-year coaching career has also included stops with the Rams (2013-16), Titans (2011-12), Texans (2007-10), Cardinals (2004-06) and Broncos (1995-2003).
London served as the Chicago Bears’ running backs coach over the last three seasons working directly with and developing David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen. He began his NFL coaching career in Chicago (2007-09) as an offensive quality control assistant before moving to Tennessee where he had that same role for the 2011 season. London returned to the coaching ranks in 2012 where he was the running backs coach at Penn State. The Houston Texans lured London back to the NFL in 2014 where he was the running backs coach from 2014-17 before heading back to Chicago.
Ledford joins the Falcons from the college ranks where he most recently ran the Louisville Cardinals offense as offensive coordinator/offensive line coach since 2018. Prior to his stint with the Cards, Ledford served as the associate head coach/run game coordinator/offensive line coach at NC State (2016-17). While coaching in the NFL will be new for Ledford, the game isn’t. Ledford played in the league from 1999-2006 for five different teams (49ers, Jaguars, Panthers, Browns and Saints).
Breyer returns for his second season with the Falcons. He and Dave Brock are two coaches Arthur Smith has retained from the previous coaching staff. Prior to his time in Atlanta, Breyer was an analytics assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before being promoted to defensive assistant coach in 2017-18.
