The Atlanta Falcons briefly intrigued me by interviewing a pair of interesting candidates for their offensive coordinator opening, but in the end, it went to the favorite and the familiar face. That would be Tommy Rees, who held that same position on Kevin Stefanski’s 2025 Cleveland Browns coaching staff.
With former Browns offensive line coach Bill Callahan also joining Stefanski in Atlanta, his offensive staff increasingly looks like it will be getting the band back together. They’ll need to prove that’s a wise decision after a lackluster offense was a big part of the problem over the last couple of years with the Browns; it’s fair to note that Callahan wasn’t there for that.
This is an underwhelming hire on first blush, but Rees was also working in the same doomed environment as Stefanski last year in Cleveland, so how much you hold against him probably is in line with how much you hold against his head coach. He took over play calling from Stefanski in early November after the Browns put up more than 20 points just once in eight games; Rees’ Browns hit 20 or more points four times in the final nine games but also put up 3 and 8 point duds along the way. Rees did preside over a passing attack that was more productive once Shedeur Sanders entered the lineup and got the screen game cooking while giving Sanders a chance to attack downfield, but there were a few too many go-nowhere gadget plays for anyone’s liking. Overall, of course, the offense stunk out loud no matter who was running it, which makes Rees an option that isn’t immediately going to create a lot of enthusiasm.
We don’t have a great sense based on that nine game sample size and Cleveland’s obvious offensive limitations how effective Rees can be, but we’re going to find out. The cupboard is certainly less bare in Atlanta, but Stefanski and Rees using Bijan effectively, feeding Drake London and (likely) Kyle Pitts, and coming up with less predictable, stale gameplans will be paramount. If Rees is successful here, he can parley the gig into a shot at a head coaching vacancy in a couple of years, so there’s plenty of pressure and plenty of reward involved.
Rees, who is just 33 years old, got his start as a graduate assistant with Northwestern in 2015 and has steadily climbed the ranks since, with stints in Notre Dame (quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator), Alabama (ditto), and Cleveland (pass game specialist and tight ends coach, then offensive coordinator). His experience as an NFL play caller is certainly limited, but his experience as a coordinator across all levels is not.
Rees is here because Stefanski likes and trusts him, and his hiring at least raises the possibility that Rees will be the play caller instead of Stefanski, though I still expect the head coach to assume that role. We’ll hope that the duo can coax far more out of the Falcons than we saw in 2025, and certainly a lot more than we saw from the 2025 Browns.
