Kevin Stefanski was officially announced as the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday. While the NFC Divisional Round game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers was happening, news broke of Stefanski moving to Atlanta, the second head coach to be hired in his cycle.
NFL World Approves Kevin Stefanski’s Hire By The Atlanta Falcons
With the Seahawks easily handling the 49ers, attention was divided among other factors. Stefanski was considered one of the best head coach prospects, and many in NFL circles approved the hire.
Mina Kimes is one of those. The ESPN analyst praised the move by the Atlanta Falcons, saying, “This is a good fit. His offense makes a ton of sense for Bijan.”:
This is a good fit. His offense makes a ton of sense for Bijan. https://t.co/ns9yxiQz4O
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) January 18, 2026
Connor Hughes also believes that the Falcons have done a good job. With John Harbaugh and Kevin Stefanski as the two best options available, he said that “whoever missed Harbaugh would get Kevin” during the week, and that’s exactly what happened:
Said this before about Giants & Falcons: Whoever missed Harbaugh would get Kevin.
Now it’s done https://t.co/7ZdO1hMGog
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) January 18, 2026
Dianna Russini shared details on how the Falcons zeroed in on Stefanski. According to the reporter, Matt Ryan led the search and “now, the two men from Philly are working together”. Ryan was recently hired as the President of the Atlanta Falcons.
Matt Ryan called many people in the NFL the last week to learn more about Stefanski and his style as a leader. Ryan drove the search and now the 2 Philly men are working together.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 18, 2026
Stefanski’s hire also has implications for other jobs. Cowboys reporter RJ Ochoa noted how, with Stefanski going to Atlanta and retaining defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, they’ll have to search for other options as the defensive coordinator.
Well there goes Ulbrich as an option for the Cowboys. https://t.co/vUKljFotrZ
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) January 18, 2026
Stefanski compiled a 45-56 record in his six seasons as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns. He won the Coach of the Year award in 2020 and 2023.
Despite some good seasons, his job was made harder in the final years due to the trade for quarterback Deshaun Watson, which hampered the franchise in both financial ways (due to his contract being fully guaranteed) and the amount of assets involved in the deal (three first-round picks).
Despite Watson being one of the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks, the Browns’ offense was poor in all years since he was acquired, except for 2023, when he missed most of the season through injury. In 2025, our PFSN Offense Impact Metric ranked Cleveland as No. 32, the worst in the league.
