Shortly after Marquice Williams was reportedly named Special Teams Coordinator, the Falcons may have their Quarterbacks Coach — a Dunwoody native.
The #Falcons are expected to hire Charles London as their quarterbacks coach, source said. A notable title for London, who has coached running backs the past nine years with Penn State, the #Texans and the #Bears.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 21, 2021
London actually worked with the running backs in Chicago, and it has been reported that Smith is interested in Bears Quarterbacks Coach Dave Ragone as his second in command on the offense. From London’s profile via the Chicago Bears:
Charles London is in his third season as the Bears running backs coach in 2020, after originally joining the club on January 12, 2018. His return to Chicago comes after serving as an offensive assistant with the Bears from 2007-09. London owns a decade of coaching experience and spent four seasons as the Texans running backs coach prior to re-joining the Bears.
Most recently in 2019, London played a key role in the development of rookie running back David Montgomery, who totaled 889 rushing yards with six rushing touchdowns. Montgomery’s yards and touchdown totals (7) were each good for second-best among rookie running backs in 2019 (Josh Jacobs, OAK) and tied for the team lead with WR Allen Robinson II.
Under London’s watch in 2018, Tarik Cohen enjoyed a breakout season, both as a running back and a punt return specialist, while Jordan Howard nearly eclipsed the 1,000-yard milestone for a third consecutive season with 935 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. Cohen led the team with 71 catches out of the backfield for a team-high 725 yards and five scores, while also rushing 99 times for 444 yards and three touchdowns. Cohen recorded a career-high 186 scrimmage yards in Week 13 against the Giants. His 156 receiving yards in that game were the most in a single game by a Bears running back since at least 1960 while his 12 catches matched a Bears single-game high for a running back.
In 2016, the Texans featured the eighth-best rushing attack in the NFL, averaging 116.2 yards per game and rushing for 1,859 yards as a team. In Lamar Miller’s first season with the Texans, he set career highs in carries (268) and 100-yard games (4) and topped 1,000 rushing yards for the second time in his five-year career, becoming just the fourth player in Texans’ history to accomplish the feat.
Prior to coaching in Houston, London spent two seasons (2012-13) at Penn State as the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator. During his time there, London was key in the progression of RB Zach Zwinak, who rushed for 1,989 yards from 2012-13, good for the third-most rushing yards by a running back in the Big Ten in that time.Â
London was an Offensive Assistant with the Titans in 2011, so there is a connection to Arthur Smith. Hiring a former Running Backs Coach to handle the quarterbacks is interesting, but it looks like we could see a flurry of hires today.
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