ATLANTA — After the Atlanta Falcons conducted a virtual interview with Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, a former University of Georgia assistant, the organization’s interview list includes some new names.

Since then, the Falcons announced on X, formerly Twitter they have interviewed two more candidates, meeting virtually with Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.

The 39-year-old Callahan has spent five seasons as offensive coordinator for the Bengals, working with quarterback Joe Burrow on a team that reached the Super Bowl after the 2021 season and the conference title game a year ago.

Callahan previously served one season as quarterbacks coach for the Las Vegas Raiders and two years in the same post with the Detroit Lions.

Callahan began his NFL coaching career with the Denver Broncos in 2010, serving in a variety of roles for the team.

The 54-year-old Wilks has coached in the NFL for 16 years. He was the Arizona Cardinals head coach in 2018 and stepped in as the Carolina Panthers interim coach during the 2022 season.

A defensive specialist, Wilks has coached defensive backs for the Chicago Bears, the San Diego Chargers, and the Panthers. He was promoted to defensive coordinator with Carolina in 2016, remaining in that role for two seasons before the Cardinals hired him.

Wilks was Cleveland’s defensive coordinator in 2019 and returned to Carolina in 2022 as secondary coach.

Beginning on Jan. 22, teams may hold in-person interviews with coaches whose teams are no longer in the playoffs.

The Falcons fired Arthur Smith last Sunday night after his third consecutive 7-10 season.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and CEO Rich McKay addressed the media for nearly 90 minutes.

The two revealed that they had a two-hour meeting on Sunday night with Arthur Smith after their loss to the Saints before they decided to part ways.

Blank said the decision to fire Smith didn’t necessarily come down to one thing.

“Obviously not a snap decision. It’s one that you continue to ruminate on as the season goes on. What’s our record against winning teams? What’s our record against losing teams? Our record against losing teams this year was abysmal honestly. Lots of reasons. But we lost a bunch of games we probably should not have lost,” Blank said.

Blank said general manager Terry Fontenot, who was in not attendance during Monday’s news conference, will be “heavily involved” in the process going forward as will others.

But Blank will have the final decision on the next head coach. The Falcons owner stressed there is no timetable for when that will be.

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