Kevin Stefanski, the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, announced that Tommy Rees will serve as the team’s offensive coordinator and will be responsible for calling plays during the 2026 NFL season. The announcement was made at Stefanski’s introductory press conference in Atlanta.
“That’s a setup that I’m very, very comfortable with,” Stefanski said about Rees taking on play-calling duties.
Stefanski and Rees worked together last season with the Cleveland Browns in a similar arrangement. Stefanski, who became the Browns’ head coach in 2020, had previously handled play-calling himself before delegating those responsibilities to his offensive coordinators mid-season in both 2024 and 2025. Last year, Rees took over as play-caller starting in Week 10.
“He’s somebody that I trust,” Stefanski said. “We see the game similarly, but we also push each other because we’re different.”
Rees’ experience as an NFL play-caller began last season, but he has several years of experience calling plays at the college level. He first called plays for Notre Dame in 2019 during the Camping World Bowl and then served as their offensive coordinator from 2020 to 2022. In 2023, he moved to Alabama as offensive coordinator. Under his leadership, both programs averaged more than 30 points per game and made College Football Playoff appearances.
“Look, you learn every time you call plays, right?” Rees said at the time. “I started calling plays the last game of the season in 2019. I had a handful of years there in a row calling them, called them in big games, called them in games people didn’t watch, everywhere in between. Worked for two head coaches that are pretty intense on game day, so obviously you learned how to block out some noise, some friendly fire there. But I think you get into a groove, you get into a comfort level. So much of it is about learning your own team.”
The Falcons have not yet finalized roster decisions while they search for a general manager. However, most of the offensive coaching staff is already set. New additions include Bill Callahan as offensive line coach and Robert Prince as wide receivers coach; Kevin Koger (tight ends), Michael Pitre (running backs), and Nick Jones (assistant offensive line) were retained from previous seasons.
“Tommy will head up that offensive staff,” Stefanski said. “I’m excited about some of the people we’ve been able to bring in already to this group, and I have the utmost confidence in Tommy.”
Falcons president Matt Ryan explained that all head coach candidates were asked about their preferred coordinators during interviews: “I think these are big hires and important hires for them, and you want to make sure everybody’s seeing it the same way,” Ryan said. “So, we did a lot of reference work on Tommy and feel much like Kevin: very strongly about him as a young coach and what he can do. (We) agreed that he’s inexperienced when it comes to play-calling in the NFL, but he’s very experienced at calling plays.”
The Atlanta Falcons are based in Atlanta, Georgia and compete in the National Football League’s NFC South Division official website. Founded as an expansion franchise in 1965 official website, they have appeared twice in Super Bowls—in 1998 and 2016 official website. Freddie the Falcon serves as their mascot official website.
