Mike Smith Rumors: Latest Buzz and Speculation on Coach's Future with Falcons

Updates from Sunday, Nov. 2

CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reports Mike Smith is not expected to be the Falcons' head coach for the 2015-16 season:

"

Coach Mike Smith is not expected to be back next season, according to the source, with his job security now become a regular topic of conversation in Atlanta. Blank is mulling a move for a big-name head coach to help usher his team into the new stadium he is constructing.

"

Original Text

The seat is heating up for Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith, who's overseeing a second straight disappointing season amid a current five-game losing streak.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Falcons owner Arthur Blank will allow Smith and general manager Thomas Dimitroff to finish out the rest of the 2014 NFL season, per Around The NFL:

Whatever happens after that is anyone's guess, but Smith may be in trouble if he can't help Atlanta mount a rally in the second half of the year.

Bleacher Report insider Jason Cole has suggested current New York Jets coach Rex Ryan could be in line for the head Falcons gig should he be available if and when Smith departs.

Smith led Atlanta to the NFC Championship Game just two years ago, but he has a record of just 6-18 since then.

After mounting some potential momentum in leading the Detroit Lions 21-0 at Wembley Stadium in London in Week 8, Atlanta proceeded to blow the lead and lose 22-21 to fall to 2-6.

Sports Illustrated's Aaron Nagler was among those who criticized Smith's management of the meltdown:

If Smith was worried afterward, he didn't show it in his postgame comments regarding potential concerns about his job security.

"None whatsoever," said Smith Monday, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Michael Cunningham. "We are going to do what we’ve done last the six-plus years and prepare each and every week like we know how to do it and I'm going to continue to do that until Mr. (Arthur) Blank tells me otherwise."

Even with as weak as the NFC South is at the moment, it's hard to be optimistic about the Falcons' chances to be competitive right now. Quarterback Matt Ryan directs a one-dimensional offense that hasn't been helped by a sieve of a defense that is 28th in points allowed and 31st in total yards conceded.

Defense is supposed to be Smith's specialty, though Dimitroff does deserve blame for not acquiring better talent for his coach to work with.

What appeared to be a dynamic, energetic partnership between coach and GM may see both of them lose their positions of authority just two years removed from the cusp of a Super Bowl berth. That just goes to show how quickly fortunes can turn in the parity that subsumes most NFL franchises.