FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Marquice Williams is staying in Atlanta.
The respected special teams coordinator will continue his tenure with the Falcons for a fourth season, the team announced on Monday, as a carryover from the previous coaching staff.
New Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was able to keep Williams on staff despite the fact that, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Williams also received strong interest from the New England Patriots and New York Giants.
It's uncertain at this time if Morris will retain any Falcons other assistants.
That news of Williams remaining in Atlanta will be well received by many in the Falcons locker room, where he was extremely popular with specialists and core special teams players alike.
Kicker Younghoe Koo and punter Bradley Pinion have thrived under Williams, as had return man Avery Williams before suffering a season-ending knee injury during last year's offseason program.
His units created two touchdowns in 2022, off a blocked punt against the Rams and a kickoff return against Chicago by star kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson, who set an NFL record with his ninth career kick-return touchdown.
Also in 2022, the Falcons had the league's best punt return average and were roughly in the middle of the pack in kickoff coverage and kick returns. While there were some steps back in 2023 without Avery Williams returning punts, specifically, Marquice Williams' units are consistently strong and his schematic creativity has led to some big plays
Williams’ first NFL experience came with the Chicago Bears in 2013 as a member of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship. In 2015, he was a coaching intern for the Detroit Lions' linebackers and special teams.
He joined the Chargers in 2016 as an assistant special teams coach until 2017, and was their defensive assistant in 2018. He was Detroit's assistant special teams coach from 2019-20, before joining the Falcons as their special teams coordinator in 2021.
