Mike Smith Fired by Atlanta Falcons: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

Mike Smith, the most successful head coach in Atlanta Falcons franchise history, has been fired.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank announced Smith's firing Monday morning at the team's press conference:

ESPN's Vaughn McClure as well as ProFootballTalk were first to report the news of Smith's firing prior to the press conference.

Smith finishes his tenure with the Falcons with a 1-4 postseason showing and a rough final two campaigns.

While this marks a disappointing end to Smith's time in Atlanta—the Falcons went 4-12 in 2013 and 6-10 in 2014 under his watch—the 55-year-old head coach will remain known as one of the main individuals responsible for providing the Falcons with their longest stretch of success.

In the 25 years before Smith, Atlanta made the playoffs just five times. Smith nearly equaled that number in his first five seasons, as he led the Falcons to a pair of division titles and four playoff appearances.

Even as Smith's Falcons struggled for the majority of the last two seasons, that success had earned him a vote of confidence from Blank.

"I didn't have any wonder before the season and I still don't have any wonder," Blank told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jeff Schultz in October. "Smitty and the team delivered over a long period of time."

Still, although Smith's early success won't be forgotten, there were reasons this change needed to be made, as NFL.com's Adam Schein argued in October:

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But is he the right man to take this franchise to the next level, to make the Falcons a consistent bunch that can win in the playoffs?

Evidence says absolutely not. Intuition says the same thing.

Mike Smith's playoff record is 1-4. His fourth-down antics in a wild-card loss to the New York Giants back in January of 2012 serve as a snapshot of Smith's goofy and questionable in-game strategy in big spots, a microcosm of larger frustration.

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Injuries—most notably on the offensive line—didn't make Smith's job any easier. But even with a slew of talent at the quarterback and wide receiver positions, he struggled to take advantage of a thoroughly weak NFC South in 2014.

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And when you raise expectations to a certain level, as Smith did from 2008 through 2012, it's going to be difficult to keep your job after two seasons of this nature.

His 15 years of NFL experience mean he'll likely land on his feet somewhere, while Falcons fans will simply be hoping the next head coaching transition goes as well as the previous one.

If the Falcons are able to improve the rushing attack to take pressure off Matt Ryan and Julio Jones in the aerial attack, Atlanta should have enough fire-power to make noise in the NFC South regardless of who Blank hires to be the next head coach.