Atlanta brings in Rams coordinator fired in 2025

The Atlanta Falcons hired Chase Blackburn as their assistant special teams coach on Wednesday, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelliser, adding the former NFL special teams coordinator and two-time Super Bowl champion to new head coach Kevin Stefanski’s staff. Blackburn, 42, joins the Falcons after serving as the Los Angeles Rams’ special teams coordinator from 2023 until his firing on Dec. 20, 2025.

Blackburn left Los Angeles with two games remaining in the 2025 regular season following a 38–37 Week 16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. In that game, the Rams allowed a 58-yard punt return touchdown to wide receiver Rashid Shahid that was the key play in Seattle’s comeback. Kicker Harrison Mavis also missed a 48-yard field goal in the loss. The win secured home field advantage in the playoffs for the Seahawks, who went on to win the Super Bowl LX.

Blackburn was replaced by Ben Kotwitz, and Los Angeles later hired Bubba Ventrone from the Cleveland Browns as their special teams coordinator for 2026. Under Blackburn, the Rams’ special teams continued to decline, and all of the problems finally caught up in 2025.

In Atlanta, Blackburn will work under newly hired special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman. The Falcons also added several former coordinators to their coaching staff. The team hired Tanner Engstrandformerly the offensive coordinator of the New York Jets, as the offensive coordinator of the passing game, and Alex Van Pelt, former New England Patriots offensive coordinator, as running backs coach. Furthermore, Atlanta football president Matt Ryan brought in former Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn to join the front office under new GM Ian Cunningham.

Blackburn is no stranger to the NFC South. From 2016 to 2021, he coached the Carolina Panthers. He started as an assistant special teams coach, was promoted to coordinator in 2018 and continued in that role until 2021. Head coach Matt Rhule retained him in 2020, but the Panthers fired him after the 2021 season. He then spent the 2022 season as an assistant special teams coach with the Tennessee Titans before joining the Rams in February 2023.

Before coaching, Blackburn played 10 NFL seasons after entering the league as an undrafted free agent out of Akron in 2005. He appeared in 132 games with 45 starts, recording 372 tackles, 4.5 sacks, four interceptions, 10 pass deflections, six forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. He scored one defensive touchdown and added another interception return touchdown earlier in his career. With the New York Giants, where he spent eight seasons, Blackburn won two Super Bowl titles against the New England Patriots. In Super Bowl XLVI, he intercepted Tom Brady in the fourth quarter, the only turnover in a 21–17 victory. He was also selected as a team captain in 2010, representing special teams.

Blackburn later signed a two-year deal with Carolina in 2013 and played in 19 games, with nine starts, over two seasons, recording 39 combined tackles. During his NFL career, he accumulated 372 tackles and four interceptions.