Falcons scoop adds intrigue to Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak's head coach search

The period between the end of the regular season and the week after the Super Bowl is something like war-time in the NFL. When it comes to head coach hirings and firings and the beginning of 32 offseason dramas, nobody really knows anything until it's official.

The latest news on the NFL head coach cycle confirms this. The New York Giants appear to have won the biggest prize by hiring John Harbaugh, but three days after the initial report the news is still not yet completely official.

Harbaguh will be just the first domino to fall, whether with the Giants or somewhere else. The next best job in the market this cycle is that of the Atlanta Falcons, where Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak has been considered the frontrunner to win the job.

However, new reporting from Adam Schefter at ESPN indicates that's far from a done deal. The Falcons are apparently bringing in former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski for a second head coach interview.

Sources: The Falcons are kicking off their second round of head coach interviews Saturday by bringing former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski to Atlanta for another round of talks. Stefanski will be the first candidate to have a second interview with the Falcons. pic.twitter.com/nlrjQeoHXH
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 17, 2026

Outside of Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin (who intends to take at least one year off) and Pete Carroll (nobody really knows) Stefanski is the most-experienced head coach in this cycle.

Since taking over as the Browns' head coach in 2020 Stefanski went 45-46 in the regular season and 1-2 in the playoffs. Despite the losing record, Stefanski won the NFL's Head Coach of the Year award twice during his time in Cleveland, giving him a leg up on most of the competition for new head coach openings.

Kubiak has an impressive track record himself, even though he has no head coach experience as of yet at this level. After receiving positive reviews for his work as an OC with the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints, Kubiak helped turn around an underperforming Seahawks unit immediately, turning a below-average offense into a top-three scoring unit in just one season.

Kubiak also runs the type of scheme that the Falcons want to offensively, but the same is true of Stefanski and about half of the teams around the league these days.

While Kubiak has probably earned a step up, Stefanski getting hired by Atlanta would probably be best for the Seahawks. The Giants and Falcons jobs are solid, but the rest of the head coach openings around the NFL are not nearly as promising. If Kubiak doesn't land the Atlanta position he may decide his best course is to stay in Seattle a while longer until a better opportunity presents itself.

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