Bush Hamdan officially hired as quarterbacks coach of the Atlanta Falcons

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

Hamdan is a former Boise State quarterback who spent the past two seasons under UW coach Chris Petersen. He replaces Matt LeFleur, the new offensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams.

“Bush Hamdan has been an outstanding member of the Washington football program these last two years,” Petersen said in a 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.”

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

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.

Hamdan 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, Calif.

A native of Gaithersburg, Md., Hamdan just completed the first year of a two-year contract that pays him $295,000 annually.

In Atlanta, Hamdan will 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.

Hamdan and Falcons head coach Dan Quinn worked together at Florida in 2012, when Hamdan coached wide receivers and Quinn was the defensive coordinator.

This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Bush Hamdan officially hired as quarterbacks coach of the Atlanta Falcons."