Falcons OC Tommy Rees Carries Hard Lessons From Cleveland

FLOWERY BRANCH – New Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has had a unique path to his new post at Flowery Branch.

Despite his age, Rees, 33, already has five years of experience as an offensive coordinator between the college and NFL ranks.

The Falcons Podcast: Spotify | Apple Pods | WATCH

After four years at Notre Dame, Rees was back with his alma mater as a quarterbacks coach. By 2020, the then 28-year-old Rees had taken over as offensive coordinator for the Fighting Irish. He held that position for three years (2020-22) before leaving to coach with Nick Saban at Alabama (2023), where he won an SEC title in his lone season in Tuscaloosa.

Rees’ college offenses at Notre Dame scored 33.4 (30th in FBS), 35.2 (20th), and 31.8 points per game (42nd). His offense at Alabama scored 34.0 points per game (24th).

Those experiences led him to Cleveland, where he wanted to work for head coach Kevin Stefanski. He joined the Browns as a pass game specialist and tight ends coach in 2024, but was elevated to offensive coordinator in 2025. By midseason, he was calling the plays.

Ultimately, the offense struggled and the wins never materialized, but the offensive coach was not dissuaded about his decision to work for Stefanski.

“You learn a lot about how to balance what maybe you want to do and what you're able to do from an offensive standpoint based on what you’ve got,” Rees explained. “You learn a lot about continuing to find ways to put your players in the best position to have success and we were able to string along a couple wins there down the stretch, but obviously had our challenges throughout.”

The Browns finished 30th in total offense (262.1) and 31st in scoring (16.4 points per game), but they cycled through three different starting quarterbacks throughout the season.

No matter the struggles, Rees said there was a lot to learn from that experience that could translate to success in Atlanta.

“If you look back and look at last year, we didn't really flinch,” he explained. “We won the last two games, divisional opponents and our guys kept playing. We had however many rookies playing for us there at the end of the year and I give our staff, I'm not speaking of myself here, but I would give our staff a ton of credit for how they handled some of that adversity and handled the challenges of coming in and having – and speaking to the group and getting them to buy in and getting them to play for one another and continue to fight through it. So, I'd say there's a resilience level there that you learn to continue to persevere through and find ways to get in front of the group and be a leader.

“Everybody wants to talk about calling plays, but being a coordinator is so much more than that. You have to lead the staff, you have to lead the group, you have to have consistent messaging. That gets lost in the shuffle, I think, a lot of the time, and so when you are not having a ton of success, and it's hard to get in front of the group, you have to find ways to continue to be a leader, continue to motivate and continue to find ways to get guys to pull for each other.”

What happens next for the Atlanta Falcons? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Falcons news delivered to your inbox daily!

That impact he continued to make on his team down the stretch clearly resonated with the Browns’ ownership group. After Stefanski was dismissed, Rees reportedly interviewed for the Browns’ head coaching vacancy.

The numbers in Cleveland weren’t good enough. Rees doesn’t hide from that, but neither does he shy away from what he learned in the process.

Stefanski confirmed that Rees will resume his play-calling duties in Atlanta. Now that he is reunited with the coach he chased in Cleveland, the duo will have a fresh opportunity to show the NFL what they can do.

They inherit a similar quarterback conundrum, but a significantly more talented offense that should open things up for them right away. If the young play-caller can marry his resilience with a more explosive roster, the Falcons’ offense may look far different from the one that struggled a season ago.