On the day John Harbaugh‘s Giants hire became official, another major domino in the head coaching market is set to fall. Kevin Stefanski‘s next gig has been lined up. 
Stefanski is finalizing a deal with the Falcons to become their next head coach, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Stefanski, 43, flew to Atlanta earlier today to meet with team officials. That interview has now produced an accepted offer, as confirmed by a team announcement. This is a five-year deal, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
“We’re thrilled to land a lead-by-example leader in Kevin Stefanski who brings a clear vision for his staff, our team and a closely aligned focus on building this team on fundamentals, toughness and active collaboration with every area of the football operation,” a statement from new president of football Matt Ryan reads.
Ryan’s hire last week represented the first major piece of business for Atlanta. It recently become known the team’s preference was to hire a new head coach before filling the only current general manager vacancy in the NFL. Today’s news thus comes as no surprise. Likewise, the fact Stefanski is set to take charge of the Falcons fits with several reports leading up to his agreement.
At the time of his Browns firing, Stefanski loomed as the top HC candidate on the market. Shortly thereafter, Harbaugh’s dismissal changed the pecking order amongst available staffers. There was a widespread expectation Harbaugh would be the first candidate to take one of the nine available positions in this year’s cycle, with Stefanski soon to follow. In particular, the Giants and Falcons were named as frontrunners in Harbaugh’s case. Stefanski, meanwhile, was seen as Plan B for both teams. Shortly after learning Harbaugh would not be an option, Atlanta’s attention clearly shifted back to Stefanski.
Earlier today, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported Stefanski would be open to retaining Jeff Ulbrich as the Falcons’ defensive coordinator. WFAA’s Ed Werder confirms Ulbrich – who was blocked from interviewing with the Cowboys for their DC opening – is expected to remain in place. Meanwhile, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com notes former Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is a strong candidate to follow Stefanski to his new home.
As part of a lengthy stint with the Vikings, Stefanski spent one season as the team’s OC. That year cemented his status as one of the top head coaching candidates at the time, and his first HC opportunity came in Cleveland. The Browns won double-digit games twice during his tenure (2020 and ’23). On both occasions, Stefanski took home Coach of the Year honors.
The high points of Stefanski’s Cleveland stint brought about a pair of playoff berths but otherwise it resulted in four losing seasons. Since the start of the 2024 campaign, the Browns have won just eight games. Overall, Stefanski’s six seasons produced a record of 45-56. The Falcons will hope to provide him with a stable QB situation (although with Michael Penix Jr.‘s injury situation, that may prove difficult). In any case, a strong offensive line and a skill-position group headlined by running back Bijan Robinson and receiver Drake London awaits Stefanski.
After Arthur Smith guided them to three consecutive 7-10 seasons, the Falcons made a change on the sidelines. A reunion with Raheem Morris took place during the 2024 hiring cycle. His first year back in Atlanta ended with a finish of 8-9 and extended the team’s playoff drought. Expectations were higher for this season, one which ended on a four-game winning streak to yield another 8-9 mark. Owner Arthur Blank acted quickly once the campaign was over, firing Morris along with GM Terry Fontenot and embarking on the restructuring which has landed Ryan in a position of considerable power.
Stefanski was among the Titans’ HC finalists and was scheduled to conduct a second interview with Tennessee tomorrow. He was also a strong candidate to speak with the Ravens for their vacancy a second time. Those arrangements are now moot, while two of the NFL’s head coaching vacancies have been filled.
Not sure exactly what the path forward looks like for the Falcons, but I think it’s a good hire. I think he’s a very good coach if you don’t saddle him with the single worst transaction in NFL history.
Should have gotten Minter. We will see if he can develop Penix or Cousins?
Cousins will be cut
Develop Cousins?! Did we time travel back to 2014?
Develop 38-year old Cousins? That cake is fully baked.
Minter is a great coaching prospect, but there are plenty of good DCs around, including Ulbrich, who’s still in Atlanta for the time being.
Cousins might just retire, he’s made so much money, and he’s talked about not wanting to keep moving his kids around & keep changing schools. He’s actually really considerate about his family at this stage. There’s no point in changing cities for backup money when he got $90 million guaranteed on his last contract.
The problem with money is that it has a tendency to depart and not return.
If you could build your wealth for you and family generations to come, would you just walk away from it?
He’s been paid well over $300 million strictly from teams. If he doesn’t have enough money to make his grandchildren wealthy then he has some sort of extremely serious problem.
You do understand that they pay agent fees, heavy taxes, and they probably invest some of it. Some investments work, some don’t.
You are assuming that “his money” is equal to the contracts stated value as if nothing is removed/used from that. Not so straight up as you are suggesting.
Buddy, you could round down to $300 million, cut it in half from those things, and assume he’s never made a dime on endorsements or investments, and it should still safely be enough to make your grandchildren wealthy.
Sure thing pal. In theory.
Don’t know the whole story, so it is not smart making assumptions.
That’s all I am saying.
In theory? I promise you it’s a safe assumption that someone with well over $300 million in career earnings has enough money to leave behind wealth that lasts more than a generation. I don’t know what kind of investments you think he could have made that would make him have *less* money, but look at it this way: He made over $40 million just between the 2016 and 2017 seasons. If he put just $5 million in an index fund tracking the S&P 500 after the 2017 season, it would be worth over $12 million by now. It’s very, very hard to blow the kind of money he’s made. I think we would have heard by now if he were the most reckless NFL player with money of the last 25 years.
Hey, that’s fine buddy.
Just keep making your assumptions and feel safe in your knowledge of other people’s financial situations and life events. You are absolutely free to think how you want.
I merely offered my opinion about Cousins just walking away due to money he already had. That’s all. I get it, you think my comment was stupid.
Let it go and don’t respond to stupid then…
Congratulations they got a hell of a coach.
Wondering how Falcons fans feel about this ?
As a falcons fan, its a good hire. Do I feel like there were better options, yes.(minter, either Rams coordinators). Stefanski last season was rough but hey what can you do with a 72 year old flacco, all about himself sanders and a tiny million Gabriel. Pretty much had to rely on all rookies
He was also dealt a crappy hand by ownership trading a billion 1st round picks for a QB who was a shell of himself after sitting out and dealing with the repercussions of being a horrible person and letting the better QB go. Constant turnover is not a recipe for success. He’s a 2x coach of the year for a reason.
Thank you. As a die hard Browns fan, he got screwed by management.
Even as a Steelers fan I have to agree with the spare parts comment. I knew that it wouldn’t happen but I thought it’d be ironic (& iconic) if Stefanski ended up in Pittsburgh. I mean we got Bill from the Browns coaching staff. Double dipping would’ve been fun.
Falcons fan(lol duh my name) I love this hire he was my number 2 guy behind only Harbaugh. Yall don understand he uplifted that franchise with spare parts. Two time coach of the year.
And the Falcons aren’t that far off. I think given the autonomy, he will solve QB, whether that’s Penix or an outside piece. The division is for the taking.
As a Browns fan, I agree on the spare parts. It was time for him to leave Cleveland though and he was obviously burnt out. I’m glad he moved on and I think he will love working with London, Penix, and Bijan.
I would be really concerned about hiring a worse coach, though.
Cleveland hopefully in better hands with a fresh start. A lot of young talent they have to build around that core. That kid from UCLA is nasty good
Problem for them is that it’s not so fresh with Berry still around. Between he and Stefanski, Berry definitely was more involved with the roster direction.
The problem is Jimmy Haslam. Always has been. A new coach won’t change that. He’s likely the reason they drafted Manziel, traded for Watson, and then drafted Sanders. He tries to influence personnel decisions, rather than listen to the people he hires.
I think Stefanski getting fired was more of a mutual agreement, because Stefanski was burned out by the drama and knew he’d land on his feet elsewhere.
I totally agree about the owner, that Browns are at the top of my list of teams you just can’t fix because if how meddlesome the owner is. I’m convinced he picked Manziel, he made them pick Baker Mayfield first overall in 2018, then pushed him out & forced the trade for Deshaun Watson, at any & all cost. At least Shedeur Sanders wasn’t as expensive. I just don’t know how their head coaching job is going to look appealing to anyone outside of the fact that they can say they were an NFL head coach. You can’t plan on succeeding there.
Honestly very happy for you and other Falcons fans, Sentinel. As a Steeler fan who has a mother living in Browns territory I’ve followed Stefanski fairly closely. He’s made some mistakes but he also was consistently dealt a crappy hand by Browns ownership and management… but his teams always played hard no matter what. Looking forward to what he might do with that set of offensive skill players.
Thanks Monkey’s Unckle being a falcons fan has been rough man. How do we have a top 12 defense a 2,000 scrimmage yard RB and no playoffs? It’s so aggravating
I find Arthur Blank to be in some regards similar to Shad Khan in Jacksonville: owners who mean well, try to hire the right people and let them do their jobs, but just haven’t made the right decisions. I defended Khan for years (well, except for the Urban Meyer fiasco), not so much his decisions but his willingness to eventually admit mistakes and move on… and take the blame for those mistakes. And it looks like Khan finally got it right this year… so maybe Blank will too.
Let’s hope so
Going to need a QB soon
Falcons got themselves a darn good coach.
Agree😊
Matt Ryan will develop Kirk Cousins
as his replacement at CBS!
I really like this hire he was my top 4 hire prospects next to Harbaugh, Kubiak, & Joe Brady.
Imo Joe brady needs a strong arm QB to run his offense. Penix and cousins are not that. And kubiak- idk just don’t like his play calling watching a lot of seahawks games
I would trade penix to rams or maybe steelers for a 3rd that could turn into a 2nd. Penix would be good to recover and learn under Stafford for a year. And then get Willis, fields or Lance in free agency or trade a late pick for Mac Jones.
Penix will already be 26 heading into next season and the league has seen enough tape to know he sucks. Nobody is trading a 3rd round pick for him
They could easily get a 3rd round pick for Penix. But Atlanta would NEVER trade him for a 3rd rounder.
I dunno. Too many injuries that will inhibit his development into an NFL QB (if that’s his actual ceiling).
The 49ers are not trading Mac Jones for a late round pick after he filled in so well for them. They might get a decent pick for him with so many teams needing quarterbacks this year.
You’re spot on, and that’s especially with a less.than stellar QB class in the draft…And that is putting it nicely..lol
Penix and a 5th to 9ers for Mac
Good hire. Lets see what he can actually do with an offense that has multiple stars.
You mean like the one he had when he got the Cleveland job?
Either your profile name is an oxymoron or you’re just trying to be a troll. Even as a Steelers fan, if I’m being honest, given the hand he was dealt I have to admit that Stefanski was good coach.
Kubiak has called a great game today. Seahawks are about to pull away …
Looking like it could be Rams Seahawks Pt 3 next week
Stephanski is supposed to be an offensive genius?! He had major problems with game management and offensive play calling. Gave up play calling two years in a row! Sad hire for the Falcons!
Lol he was given Deshaun Watson, Jameis Winston, Bailey Zappe, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel, and Shedeur Sanders to work with. Don’t be a bitter NE Ohio sports fan.
Yeah, and he had Baker Mayfield when he got there and alienated and ran him out of town. Also, Watson was an MVP candidate when he got him. That’s kind of on him that he got a thousand percent worse on his watch. Apparently, nothing is Kevin’s fault.
Falcons needed to hire an experienced HC as they have been hiring coordinators since Dan Reaves left. I am happy with this hire
Except Morris had been an HC before
Oh yes, you are correct! Shows how little of an impression he made…
That should’ve been enough for the falcons before hiring him to be HC
45-56 Yep, He’s a Falcons Head Coach !!
Solid hire by the falcons. Browns blew it by canning him. But then again that’s the browns. Dumpster fire franchises will never learn
I genuinely think that Stefanski wanted the heck out of there before the end of this past season. The fact that he didn’t even know about the Flacco trade spoke volumes.
Two times coach of the year in six seasons is pretty good.
♫ He’s leavin’, leavin’, on that midnight train to Georgia
Leavin’ on that midnight train, mm, yes
Said he’s goin’ back, goin’ back to find
To a simpler place and time ♫
Some more 7-10 seasons incoming.
When the Browns fired Stefanski, I said it was the equivalent of amputating an arm to try and treat brain cancer. Stefanski will be solid for Atlanta. Interesting to see who the Browns hire to replace him.
Raheem Morris
Mike McDaniel
Ok. I have no doubt your profile name isn’t an oxymoron. You’re just trolling.
Probably Raheem Morris