FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons have hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski to be the 20th head coach in Falcons franchise history. The announcement was made late Saturday evening.
"We're thrilled to land a lead-by-example leader in Kevin Stefanski who brings a clear vision for his staff, our team and a closely aligned focus on building this team on fundamentals, toughness and active collaboration with every area of the football operation," Falcons President of Football Matt Ryan said. "Coach Stefanski is a team-first leader who puts a premium on accountability for everyone and a player-driven culture.
"His experience in Cleveland and Minnesota has given him a great understanding of the importance of working in sync with scouting, personnel and the rest of the football staff to maximize talent across the roster and in doing everything possible to put our players in the best position to succeed."
Get to know more about the Falcons' newest head coach.
1. The Matt Ryan connection
There's been a lot made in recent days about how Ryan and Stefanski are both from the state of Pennsylvania, but there's a connection between the two that matters significantly more than that.
Back in 2008, Ryan was a rookie quarterback just dipping his toes into the league's rough waters. The quarterbacks coach who helped him grow and develop in those first couple of years was Bill Musgraves. Ryan exploded onto the scene in his first seasons as a time when that was a rarity for quarterbacks. He was named Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2008 and made his first Pro Bowl in 2010. Those years set the foundation that carried Ryan through 14 years as the Falcons' franchise quarterback.
"For me personally, Bill taught me so much about protections," Ryan was quoted saying in 2011. "He taught me so much about understanding the passing game, understanding the running game, understanding how to play the position. He taught me about managing games, being smart and making good decisions."
That year, Musgraves left Atlanta to become the Minnesota Vikings' offensive coordinator for three seasons. It was there that he crossed paths with a young assistant quarterbacks coach, Stefanski.
Similar to how Musgraves laid the foundation for Ryan's development as a player in Atlanta, he did the same for Stefanski's development as a coach in Minnesota. A really cool, full-circle moment as a decade later, Stefanski takes the reins of a football team derived from a Ryan-led organization.
And yet, it could be a story that isn't done yet. Who's to say Musgraves won't find his way back to Atlanta, too?
In 2023, Stefanski brought Musgraves to Cleveland as a senior offensive assistant. He was moved to be the full-time quarterbacks coach in 2025. There is obvious trust there between the two. And as Stefanski builds a staff in Atlanta, it's fair to wonder if that could also include Musgraves coming on in some capacity as well.
2. Director of the Captain Kirk takeover in Minnesota
As we noted in our analysis of why Stefanski was considered a strong candidate for the job in Atlanta, he was Kirk Cousins' quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for a time while the two were with the Vikings.
Together, they formed a productive collaboration. When Stefanski was Cousins' quarterback coach in 2018, Cousins finished the season with one of the highest completion rates of his career and the second-most passing yards in Vikings franchise history at that time.
The next season, Stefanski was promoted to offensive coordinator and the duo reached the height of their success together. Cousins was awarded a Pro Bowl nod because of his high passer ratings through this season. Across 2018-19, Cousins completed nearly 70% of his passes, threw 56 touchdowns to only 16 interceptions and the Vikings went 18-12-1 in those games.
Cousins' future with the organization is uncertain at this point, with Blank stating the team will “see what will happen with him going forward.” The Falcons and Cousins agreed to a reported restructure last week, but the Cousins-Stefanski partnership not too long ago was one of the best of both individuals' careers to this point.
When Stefanski was brought back in 2019 as the full-time offensive coordinator after being the interim in 2018, Cousins was particularly pleased.
"I was thrilled to hear that he'd be back," Cousins was reported saying. "... Kevin's proven over many years in the Vikings facility that he's a great coach, a great leader, carries himself well and is the right person to lead our offense going forward."
Cousins continued by highlighting what traits stood out to him when playing for Stefanski.
"I think it's important to note that while he doesn't ride the roller coaster emotionally and he does have a consistent demeanor about him, he also has a strength of personality that would suggest he's not a pushover or somebody that players can take advantage of," Cousins said. "So it's something I go back to that it's the right balance of personality. I think players appreciate his demeanor, his level-headedness, but at the same time, he has convictions and he has a plan."
3. Quarterbacks and more quarterbacks
Across nearly two decades of coaching experience in the league, Stefanski has worked with a plethora of quarterbacks of varying skill sets. While the up-and-down nature of Cleveland's quarterback position in recent years has been a knock to Stefanski's resume by some, there is something to be said about the wealth of experience Stefanski alone has in working with 15 different quarterbacks since joining the league's coaching ranks in 2009.
In case you were curious, here's the list:
Brett Favre, Christian Ponder, Matt Cassel, Josh Freeman, Case Keenum, Kirk Cousins, Baker Mayfield, Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Jacoby Brissett, Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.
Quarterbacks of every shape, size, experience, strength, weakness, high-powered arm, take-off legs — you name it, Stefanski has seen it at the quarterback position. He's seen guys thrive. He's seen them struggle. All of this compounds into a knowledge base that Stefanski can draw upon as he leads a Falcons' roster that has a bit of a question mark at the quarterback position.
Michael Penix Jr. underwent ACL surgery in November. Without speculating too much about his recovery timeline, the Falcons should get him back for the 2026 season, but to what capacity in the early months of the season is up for debate. If Penix is not fully ready to start the season in the pocket, the Falcons have decisions to make. As previously stated, Cousins' future is uncertain. So, if the Falcons move on from Cousins and Penix won't be ready right away, they need a starter to lead them through the early days of the 2026 season.
If finding a head coach and general manager was priority 1A for the organization this offseason, answering their quarterback question with a plan and backup plan is priority 1B.
4. Wooed over steaks
One of the best anecdotes to come out of Saturday night's breaking news was more details about Stefanski's second — and final — interview with the Falcons' search committee.
According to Albert Breer, the committee met with Stefanski for an hour-and-a-half at the home of owner Arthur Blank. The committee included Blank, president and CEO Greg Beadles, president of football Matt Ryan and vice president of executive strategy for AMBSE Josh Blank.
After the interview concluded, the group broke for dinner — a steak-and-potato bar. According to Breer, Blank "surprised everyone" by cooking the steaks himself. At the conclusion of the dinner, Blank offered Stefanski the job. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the contract is for five years.
5. The Stefanski system
Stefanski's foundational base as a play-caller is running a wide-zone, play-action offense rooted in the Kubiak coaching tree, seeing as Stefanski himself said his year working with Gary Kubiak was very important to his development as a play-caller. It was a year that "allowed him to grow."
"For years, that scheme has been very hard on defenses, when you talk about defending the run game and the play-action game," Stefanski said in an interview with Cleveland.com in 2021. "I had never been in that scheme specifically. I've been in other ones, and I had my own thoughts about the run game and play-action game, but to be able to be exposed to coach Kub and the different nuance that he had into those plays was was incredible for me."
The core identity of a Stefanski-run offense is the stretch zone runs that the Falcons have been known to see significant success in with Bijan Robinson. The cut-back lanes Robinson loves to much to take advantage of? Yeah, that's a staple for Stefanski. Many will discuss Stefanski's quarterback repertoire — we did earlier, too — but the ease of which Robinson and this Falcons' offensive line falls into line with what Stefanski is known for is actually the main note you should take about a Stefanski-led Falcons offense.
Like most modern NFL offenses, Stefanski runs a heavy play-action unit. He has his quarterback under center frequently, and the use of 12 personnel became a go-to for Stefanski in Cleveland as it allowed flexibility amongst RPO looks.
If you had to describe Stefanski's system simply, one could say he is a run-first, play-action-driven offensive leader. Still, one should note that Stefanski's system isn't so rigid it doesn't adhere to the strengths of different quarterbacks. Stefanski has evolved his offense based on who exactly is under center.
With Cousins in Minnesota, that was probably the purest form of a Stefanski system with a lot of under-center work. With Baker Mayfield, that system moved to more 12 personnel looks, and Stefanski limited empty sets and spread looks to better protect Mayfield as he developed his pocket presence and ability to see progressions manifest downfield. By the time Stefanski was coaching Watson, he moved even more to shotgun looks to allow Watson comfort in what he had been known to do.
All of this shows a play-caller who has a system, yes, but is not so tied to it that he doesn't bend to the strengths of the players actually running it on the field. This will be something to monitor as the Falcons' offense enters 2026 with questions at the quarterback position.
