FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski picked someone with whom he is familiar to be the team's new offensive coordinator.

On Thursday, the Falcons officially hired Tommy Rees to fill the role.

Rees and Stefanski worked together as offensive coordinator and head coach last season with the Cleveland Browns. Rees joined Stefanski's staff in 2024 as the pass game specialist and tight ends coach before moving into the coordinator role in 2025.

The Browns finished the 2025 season with a 5-12 record. The offense averaged 16.4 points per game and 262.1 yards per game.

Cleveland started three different quarterbacks throughout the season, beginning with Joe Flacco for the first four games. Rookie Dillon Gabriel then started for the team's next six games before turning it over to another rookie in Shedeur Sanders to close out the final seven games. They combined for 2,807 yards passing and 16 touchdowns.

Running back Quinshon Judkins led the Browns with 998 yards from scrimmage, including 827 yards on the ground, and seven rushing touchdowns. Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. led the team with 731 yards receiving and six touchdown grabs.

In 2024, with Rees focusing on the passing game, the Browns had the most pass attempts in the NFL and averaged 206.2 passing yards per game while starting four different quarterbacks in 17 games. Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy was the leader with 1,229 yards receiving. From Rees' position group, tight ends David Njoku and Jordan Akins were among the Browns' five most productive receivers, totaling 505 and 390 yards, respectively. Akins had two touchdown catches, and Njoku led the team with five.

The Browns went 3-14 in Rees' first year.

Cleveland was Rees' second opportunity in the NFL. He was an offensive assistant for the then-San Diego Chargers in 2016. The Chargers had a top-10 scoring offense at the time. Otherwise, Rees worked at the collegiate level.

He served as the University of Alabama's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2023, when the Crimson Tide won the SEC championship and made the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Before joining the Tide, Rees spent six seasons at the University of Notre Dame.

He arrived in 2017 as the team's quarterbacks coach and added offensive coordinator responsibilities before the 2020 season. The Fighting Irish made a bowl game each season with Rees on staff, including a trip to the CFP semifinals during the 2020 season.

Rees was uniquely suited to coach the Fighting Irish's quarterbacks for so long because he was one from 2010-13. In 2011, as Notre Dame's starter, he led the independent schools with 2,871 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns. He did the same in 2013 with 3,256 yards and 27 touchdowns.

Rees' first-ever job was at Northwestern University as a graduate assistant in 2015.

The Falcons also announced the hiring of Jacqueline Roberts as the manager of coaching operations on Wednesday. She, too, was with the Browns in 2025 as their coordinator of coaching logistics.

With Bill Callahan as offensive line coach and now Rees and Roberts on board, Stefanski has brought in people he knows well and who can help instill his vision.