The Atlanta Falcons have hired Tommy Rees as their new offensive coordinator, the team announced Thursday.
It will be a reunion for Rees and Kevin Stefanski, who was hired Saturday as head coach of the Falcons. Stefanski came to Atlanta after a six-year run leading the Cleveland Browns before being fired on Jan. 5 after that team went 5-12 this season, dropping his overall record to 45-56.
The 33-year-old Rees, a former Notre Dame quarterback, was on staff during Stefanski’s final two seasons with the Browns. He was initially brought on as tight ends coach and pass game specialist in 2024, got promoted to offensive coordinator prior to this past season, then took over play-calling duties from Stefanski on that side of the ball after Cleveland’s 2-6 start.
Before that, Rees spent one season as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Alabama in 2023, the Crimson Tide’s final year under the direction of Nick Saban. Rees was on staff at his collegiate alma mater from 2017-22 after spending 2016 as an offensive assistant for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers, and he was a graduate assistant at Northwestern University in 2015.
Rees replaces Zac Robinson, who was hired this week as the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — one of the Falcons’ division rivals in the NFC South — after two seasons in Atlanta, both of them under Raheem Morris, whose tenure as head coach produced back-to-back 8-9 records. Atlanta and Tampa Bay both missed the playoffs this past season.
Rees joins a team coming off its eighth straight losing season, but he inherits an offense with versatile threat Bijan Robinson — the third-year pro was the All-Pro first-team running back and second-team all-purpose player this season — All-Pro second-team guard Chris Lindstrom, and standout receiver Drake London. All-Pro second-team tight end Kyle Pitts’ future with the Falcons hangs in the balance as he approaches free agency.
The Falcons also announced the hiring of Jacqueline Roberts, who will serve as the manager of coaching operations. Roberts was with Stefanski and Rees for two years in Cleveland, initially as a team logistics intern in 2024 and then coordinator of coaching operations in 2025.
In addition to the pair of new hires, the Falcons also announced the return of senior defensive assistant Dave Huxtable, assistant offensive line coach Nick Jones and running backs coach Michael Pitre. The team announced Monday that Jeff Ulbrich would be staying on as defensive coordinator; the 2025 season was his first in that role for Atlanta.
The Falcons still have several other vacancies to fill, including general manager, with Terry Fontenot fired from that role after five years in Atlanta on Jan. 4 — hours after the regular-season finale, which is when Morris was also fired.
The Falcons announced Thursday that they had completed an interview with James Liipfert, who most recently served as an assistant GM for the Houston Texans this past season. Matt Ryan, the former Falcons quarterback hired this month for the team’s newly created president of football position, is leading the search for a GM after doing the same in the coaching search.