Falcons 'Excited' About New DL Coach with Emphasis on Pass Rush

Atlanta Falcons defensive line coach Nate Ollie has a history of improving pass rushes. Atlanta is backing on similar results in 2025.

The Atlanta Falcons' biggest offseason developments centered around the stagnation of quarterback Kirk Cousins, hiring defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich and, to a lesser degree, signing outside linebacker Leonard Floyd in free agency.

There was little discourse about new defensive line coach Nate Ollie. Perhaps there should've been more.

Ollie, who spent 2024 as the assistant defensive line coach of the Houston Texans and replaces the fired Jay Rodgers in Atlanta, has a background rooted in elevating pass rushes. He'll need to do it again with the Falcons, who ranked second-to-last in the NFL with 31 sacks last season and haven't been inside the top 10 in sacks since 2004.

One of the two trends will give. Falcons head coach Raheem Morris, who spoke April 1 at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., is optimistic it won't be Ollie's.

“Excited about the energy from the coach, excited about the energy on putting the emphasis on rush,” Morris said. “Definitely got to have emphasis on the rush game, how you get after the quarterback and getting off the football and do some of the different things we want to do, some things we want to add.”

Ollie, who played defensive tackle at Ball State University from 2010-13, has 11 years of coaching experience, starting in 2014 at Yorktown Middle School. He was a graduate assistant at the University of Tennessee from 2015-17 and spent part of 2017 as the interim defensive line coach. In 2018, Ollie coached at Eastern Kentucky University.

The Philadelphia Eagles hired Ollie as their assistant defensive line coach in 2019, and he held the role through 2020. Ollie joined Ulbrich — and first-year Falcons defensive pass game coordinator Mike Rutenberg — with the New York Jets in 2021 before becoming the Indianapolis Colts' defensive line coach from 2022-23.

The Colts didn't retain Ollie once his contract expired after the 2023 season despite coaching a unit that posted an Indianapolis-franchise-record 51 sacks.

Ollie went to Houston in 2024, helping guide the unit to 49 sacks, tied for the fourth most in the NFL. Along with defensive line coach Rod Wright, Ollie gave nicknames to the Texans' defensive linemen as a motivation tactic that also built a stronger culture.

Morris has never worked with Ollie, and while Ulbrich and Rutenberg have, Morris believes Ollie — who spent the past three years around a vast group of influences — brings enough of a different perspective to benefit the room.

“Really excited being able to get him,” Morris said. “Excited about getting that different opinion, different voice, in that room with us — myself, Brich, all of us, all the coaches involved — getting those guys in there, just really excited about the room in there to help us.”

The Falcons plan on giving Ollie more pieces. Aside from Floyd, who has 48 sacks over the past five seasons, Atlanta also signed veteran defensive lineman Morgan Fox, who tallied 15.5 sacks in three years with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Morris expects a step forward from the team's 2024 draftees -- defensive tackles Ruke Orhorhoro and Brandon Dorlus and outside linebacker Bralen Trice, who missed the regular season due to a torn ACL -- and the Falcons bring back their sack leader from last season in outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie.

Atlanta parted ways with defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, who was tied for second on the team with 12 quarterback hits in 2024.

But with the 15th and 46th picks in the 2025 NFL draft still under their belt, the Falcons have pathways to improving the talent in Ollie's room.

Atlanta expects Ollie will do the rest.