Atlanta Falcons officially announce hire of Bush Hamdan as QBs coach

Bush Hamdan has officially left the Washington Huskies, as the Atlanta Falcons officially announced Friday morning that the former UW receivers coach will be their new quarterbacks coach.

The Sporting News first reported Hamdan’s departure on Wednesday.

“Bush Hamdan has been an outstanding member of the Washington football program these last two years,” UW coach Chris Petersen said in a written statement released by the school. “In his time at Washington, Bush elevated the wide receivers group to new heights and was a key contributor to our success. I thank him for all his hard work and contributions to our program. We wish Bush nothing but the best as he takes this next step in his career.”

Hamdan’s only season as a position coach at UW was a rousing success. He coached a group that included first-team All-Pac-12 receiver John Ross, who led the league and finished tied for third nationally in touchdown receptions with 17, and helped Dante Pettis to a big season, too. Hamdan came to UW in 2015 as an offensive quality control assistant after stints as an offensive coordinator at Davidson and Arkansas State, and was promoted to receivers coach after Brent Pease was fired following the 2015 season. He played quarterback for UW coach Chris Petersen at Boise State, and is the younger brother of Gibran Hamdan, a quarterback who was on the Seahawks’ active roster for a short time.

Hamdan capitalized on the momentum of the 2016 season by helping to recruit three sought-after receivers in UW’s 2017 recruiting class -- Ty Jones, Terrell Bynum and Alex Cook, each of whom is rated by Scout.com as a top-300 player. And the Huskies recently received an oral commitment from Austin Osborne, a four-star receiver prospect from Mission Viejo, California.

A native of Gaithersburg, Maryland, Hamdan just completed the first year of a two-year contract that pays him $295,000 annually. If his hire does become official, Hamdan would work closely with former UW head coach Steve Sarkisian, who was recently hired as the Falcons’ new offensive coordinator.

Behind an offense led by quarterback Matt Ryan and receiver Julio Jones, Atlanta won the NFC South division with an 11-5 record in 2016 before advancing to the Super Bowl, where it blew a 28-3 lead in a crushing, 34-28 overtime loss to the New England Patriots.

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 8:36 AM with the headline "Atlanta Falcons officially announce hire of Bush Hamdan as QBs coach."