The Atlanta Falcons have named Craig Aukerman as their special teams coordinator for the 2026 season. This appointment completes the team’s coordinator staff under new head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Aukerman joins the Falcons after spending last season in the same role with the Miami Dolphins. He brings 26 years of coaching experience, including 16 seasons in the NFL, half of which he served as a coordinator.
In 2025, while Aukerman was with Miami, the Dolphins achieved a field-goal success rate of 93.1%, ranking fourth in the league. Kicker Riley Patterson converted 27 out of 29 attempts and was perfect from distances between 40 and 49 yards. The team also blocked two field goals, placing them among six teams to do so that season.
The Dolphins averaged 13.3 yards per punt return (seventh in the league) and allowed an average of 10.4 yards per punt return (17th). On kickoffs, they averaged a return of 26.4 yards and allowed an average of 26.8 yards per return, ranking them eleventh and twenty-third respectively.
Miami finished its season with an 8-9 record, placing second in the AFC East.
Before his time with Miami, Aukerman worked as a special teams assistant for the Los Angeles Rams during their NFC West-winning campaign in 2024 when they reached the divisional round of playoffs.
Aukerman spent seven seasons with the Tennessee Titans where he started as a special teams assistant before being promoted to coordinator and later adding assistant head coach to his responsibilities from 2019 to 2023. During this period, Tennessee made four postseason appearances, won two division titles, and advanced twice into the divisional round.
While at Tennessee, Aukerman coached punter Brett Kern and long snapper Morgan Cox to Pro Bowl selections; Kern received honors from 2017 through 2019 while Cox earned recognition in 2022. In addition to these accolades, Kern was named first-team All-Pro by Associated Press in 2019 and second-team All-Pro in 2017.
Earlier NFL roles included stints with then-San Diego Chargers—where he became special teams coordinator in 2016—and assistant positions with both Jacksonville Jaguars and Denver Broncos beginning in defensive coaching roles starting in Denver (2010).
Prior to joining NFL ranks, Aukerman spent ten years coaching at various colleges including Kent State University, Miami University (Ohio), Western Kentucky University and University of Findlay. Originally from Ohio himself, Aukerman played wide receiver and defensive back for Findlay between 1995-98 earning NAIA All-American status twice along with a national championship title before being inducted into Findlay’s Hall of Fame in 2013.
Alongside Aukerman’s appointment, Atlanta announced Robert Prince will serve as wide receivers coach—also coming from Miami—and Bob Quinn will join as senior advisor to Stefanski after previously working for Cleveland Browns last year.
The Atlanta Falcons are based in Atlanta, Georgia; they compete within the National Football League’s NFC South Division since their founding as an expansion franchise in 1965. The team has appeared twice on football’s biggest stage: Super Bowls held following both 1998 and 2016 seasons.
