Michael Bearden, who recently joined the Atlanta Falcons as the Ollie Wilson Coaching Fellow, continues his development in the NFL after a year working with the Cleveland Browns. Last spring, during offseason training in Cleveland, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco asked Bearden for his perspective while reviewing game film.
“Hey Mike,” Flacco said, “what did you see on that?”
Bearden recalled his reaction to being consulted by a Super Bowl MVP: “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.” He added, “To me, it was almost like a confidence boost. You don’t need to feel a certain way when you walk into the room, you know it, too. Be confident.”
Bearden observed that players with long careers are always seeking new ideas and learning opportunities. As a coaching fellow under Kevin Stefanski’s staff in Cleveland, he aimed to learn as much as possible from these experiences.
Fellowships like this one are designed to help young coaches gain experience in the league. Stefanski explained his approach: “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,” he said. “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 started his own career in a similar role before moving up through coaching positions over several years. He emphasized how valuable time spent in quarterback rooms can be for developing coaching skills: “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.”
After being hired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons last month—becoming only their 20th head coach—Stefanski decided to continue supporting coaching fellowships within his new organization.
The fellowship is named after Ollie Wilson, who served two stints as running backs coach for Atlanta (1991–96 and 2002–07). Wilson coached multiple 1,000-yard rushers during those periods and began his own NFL career through minority coaching programs.
“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.”
In Atlanta—a team based in Georgia since its founding as an expansion franchise in 1965 according to their official website—Bearden will now work with tight ends coach Kevin Koger after previously working with quarterbacks.
“They were great experiences for me to broaden my scope and how I see the game,” Stefanski said about rotating between different position groups early in his career. “I wouldn’t trade any of those type of experiences.”
He added: “And I think one of the best ways to do that is to expose them to as many different positions as you can.”
Bearden expressed enthusiasm for these varied assignments: “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.”
He summed up his outlook simply: “Learning,” he said, “that’s my favorite thing about all of this.”
Stefanski concluded by emphasizing exposure across roles: “In any line of work, we are the product of our experiences,” he stated. “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…you have a chance…to grow exponentially.”
The Falcons compete in the NFL’s NFC South division and have advanced twice to Super Bowls, reaching championship games during their history.
