FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — It was during the first few days of the offseason training program in Cleveland last spring when quarterback Joe Flacco turned to coaching fellow Michael Bearden in the Browns' quarterback room as he watched film.
"Hey Mike," Flacco said, "what did you see on that?"
It wasn't a question meant to catch the young coach off guard. It was genuine; one the 17-year veteran, Super Bowl champion, Pro Bowl selection and Comeback Player of the Year truly wanted Bearden's opinion on.
Bearden paused.
"This dude is a Super Bowl MVP," Bearden said. "It's just my first year in the league and we're just having conversations about coverages and what we saw."
Then, he answered. The conversation that followed confirmed for Bearden that he was exactly where he wanted — and needed — to be.
"To me, it was almost like a confidence boost," Bearden said of the moment etched into his memory. "You don't need to feel a certain way when you walk into the room, you know it, too. Be confident."
That brief exchange taught Bearden something that day: The players who last the longest in this league, the ones who achieve sustained success, are constantly chasing new ideas. They are always trying to learn.
In many ways, Bearden is the same. As a coaching fellow on Kevin Stefanski's staff, he is constantly trying to absorb and grow, which is the purpose of programs like this. Fellowships are designed to help young coaches gain a foothold in the league.
Last season, Bearden worked as a fellow in the Browns' quarterback room. He went through a rigorous interview process to land the fellowship, named after Bill Willis — and that was by design, Stefanski said.
"I want to be so intentional about this position and finding the right people so we can develop coaches along the offensive side of the ball," the Falcons head coach explained. "I am so passionate about this because I was the beneficiary of being developed in this way.
"And it was evident right away that this was someone who was going to make an impact on this game. I believe that very strongly."
Stefanski began his own coaching career in the quarterbacks room, spending five seasons there before moving to his first full-time role coaching tight ends. His experience — and what he gained from it — is why Bearden found himself in the Cleveland quarterback room that spring day, talking with Flacco and fielding calls from two Browns rookies with countless questions about installations in the weeks that followed.
"Being in the quarterback room is a great place to start," Stefanski explained. "It's also a great place where you can be a fly on the wall, and be a sponge and listen and absorb, similar to how a backup quarterback does in that room sometimes. There is a lot of high-level discussion in that room."
Stefanski was hired by the Atlanta Falcons as the 20th head coach in franchise history just last month. As he began assembling his staff, he knew he wanted to continue the fellowship initiative. So, he called Bearden and brought him to Atlanta.
After conversations with organizational leaders, the Falcons finalized Bearden's title: The Ollie Wilson Coaching Fellow.
Ollie Wilson served as the Falcons' running backs coach during two separate stints (1991–96 and 2002–07). In his first tenure, he coached three 1,000-yard rushers — Erric Pegram (1993), Craig Heyward and Jamal Anderson (1996). During his second stint, he helped Warrick Dunn produce three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2004–06.
Perhaps most notably, Wilson — like Bearden — began his coaching career in the league's Minority Coaching Fellowship, working under Jerry Glanville with the Houston Oilers and later with the Falcons from 1988–90.
He was the right person to represent, in name, what makes these programs as meaningful as they are necessary.
"As a league, it is very obvious to me that we can do better having Black coaches in leadership positions," Stefanski said. "Having the ability in my chair to develop young, Black coaches on the offensive side of the ball is important if you want to affect change, which we do here at the Falcons."
Bearden's responsibilities are expanding in his second year with Stefanski, as well as offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. He is moving from the quarterbacks room to the tight ends room under coach Kevin Koger. Drawing from his own experience, Stefanski said he found similar transitions valuable in giving him new perspectives.
"They were great experiences for me to broaden my scope and how I see the game," he said. "I wouldn't trade any of those type of experiences."
Ultimately, Stefanski added, one of his primary responsibilities is developing coaches.
"And I think one of the best ways to do that is to expose them to as many different positions as you can," Stefanski said.
Bearden wholeheartedly agreed.
"It's cool being able to bounce around different rooms and hear the different nuanced teachings," he said. "Tight end nuances are different than quarterbacks. And receivers are different than tight ends. The nuances are where you grow."
For Bearden, this next step is one he embraces.
"Learning," he said, "that's my favorite thing about all of this."
Through the Ollie Wilson Coaching Fellowship, that is precisely what the next year of Bearden's career will center on.
"In any line of work, we are the product of our experiences," Stefanski concluded. "With young coaches, the more we can expose our coaches to all, the better they will be on the other end.
"Being with Tommy Rees on a daily basis, working with Kevin Koger, listening to how Bill Callahan coaches the offensive line, all of these add up to our coaches — in this case, Mike — finding his own voice as a coach. I think our job is to help our coaches develop, be intentional about their development, but when you have somebody like Mike who wants it, and wants to take all of this in and is someone with a very strong growth mindset, you have a chance in a given calendar year to grow exponentially."
