The Atlanta Falcons are in search of the organization's 20th head coach in franchise history. The organization parted ways with Raheem Morris after the team's final game of the 2025 season. A new-look leadership group — including Falcons President of Football Matt Ryan — began the hunt to find his successor with the assistance of ZRG Partners and Sportsology Group.
"Our search committee will be structured a little bit differently than it has been in the past," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Thursday. "[It will] still be made up of a component of people that represent our leadership in all areas of our businesses, but we're going to put heavy emphasis, we're hiring this president of football first. That's the goal, and over the next couple of days, we have a series of interviews set up. We want to get that person in their seat and have them lead the interviews for the head coach and general manager position going forward."
The Falcons will announce these interviews after they are completed with each candidate. We'll provide those updates here, along with relevant information and background about each candidate.
The NFL has specific rules for how and when teams can conduct these interviews. They are outlined here.
The Falcons have officially completed an interview with Kevin Stefanski for their head coach position.
Interview date: Sunday, Jan. 11
Previous role: Stefanski spent six seasons as head coach for the Cleveland Browns from 2020-25.
Resume highlights:
- Under Stefanski's leadership, the Browns made their first playoff appearance since 2002, with an 11-5 record his first season. That year, he earned AP NFL Coach of the Year honors. He won again in 2023, after he marked another 11-win season and playoff berth for the franchise.
- Prior to his time in Cleveland, Stefanski was a loyal Minnesota Viking. He held various positions with the Vikings, including assistant to the head coach, tight ends coach, running backs coach and quarterbacks coach. When the Vikings went through coaching changes in 2018, Stefanski became the interim offensive coordinator, a position he retained in official capacity in 2019.
Local connection: Stefanski was Kirk Cousins' quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator while the two were with the Vikings. Together, they formed a plentiful collaboration. When Stefanski was Cousins' quarterback coach in 2018, Cousins finished the season with one of the highest completion rates of his career along with 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.
Why he's a candidate: If the Falcons are wanting a head coach with offensive experience particularly with elevating quarterback and offensive play, Stefanski is one of the best options on the market.
As a play caller with Minnesota, the Vikings produced one of the best run-heavy units in the league at the time, ranking sixth in rushing yards per game in 2019. Along with Cousins' accuracy that season, it made the Vikings offense as well-rounded and balanced as any in the league at the time.
As the head coach of the Browns, Stefanski led the team to its first playoff win in 26 years. His early years in Cleveland produced top-ranked offensives with stability at the quarterback position with Baker Mayfield and later Jacoby Brissett. Even though both players missed time sporadically, they kept the offensive operation running and ranked in the top half of the league in most categories. Instability at the quarterback positions — nine different starters at quarterback in three seasons — marred growth and production for the Browns offense in Stefanski's later years.
Still, Stefanski's offense continued to show success in moments through its core identity of wide-zone, under-center run game and heavy play-action. Though Michael Penix Jr. has not been asked to work under center much in his career, it doesn't mean Stefanski's scheme couldn't be a fit as the two found ground to work together and learn from each other. This could also be very beneficial to Penix's growth and development.
