Kevin Stefanski Makes Major Play-Calling Decision for Falcons Offense

ATLANTA – Kevin Stefanski was formally introduced as the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday, but the question on many minds was who would call plays for the offense.

Over his six years with the Cleveland Browns, Stefanski was the primary play-caller in each. However, the head coach did give up those responsibilities in each of the last two seasons. The most recent of which, he bequeathed those duties to Tommy Rees, who so happened to join Stefanski in Atlanta.

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The new coach was asked on Tuesday about who would handle that for the Falcons, and the response was about as clear as it could be.

“Tommy will call plays,” Stefanski said. “That's a setup that I'm very comfortable with. I think he's an outstanding football coach. He's young, but I don't know if you always measure experience just in years. I think he's had unbelievable experiences in his young career. He's somebody that I trust.

"We see the game similarly, but we also push each other because we're different. Tommy will head up that offensive staff. I'm excited about some of the people we've been able to bring in already to this group. I have the utmost confidence in Tommy.”

Stefanski, while he will not call plays, confirmed later on an interview on Sports Radio 92.9 The Game that he will still be an active participant in the offensive game-planning process.

Rees, 33, spent those last two seasons with the Browns under Stefanski, starting as a passing-game specialist and tight ends coach in 2024 before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2025.

“We did a lot of reference work on Tommy, and feel very strongly about him as a young coach and what he can do,” Falcons’ president of football, Matt Ryan, said. “He's inexperienced when it comes to play-calling in the NFL, but he's very experienced at calling plays.”

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Despite his age, Rees already has five years of experience as an offensive coordinator between the college and NFL ranks. He held the position at Notre Dame (2020-22) before leaving to coach with Nick Saban at Alabama, where he won an SEC Championship in his only season in Tuscaloosa (2023).

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. 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).

Rees and Stefanski stand to inherit a much more potent offense in Atlanta than what they had in Cleveland, but they will have some similar questions to answer at the quarterback position. How they address that will be just as important as who calls the plays.