The theme of the offseason for the Atlanta Falcons has been all about second chances. They're giving Kevin Stefanski a second shot to prove himself as a head coach, and Tua Tagovailoa will land a second chance to revive his career in Atlanta and prove he still has what it takes to be a starting QB, assuming he wins the starting job over Michael Penix Jr. in training camp.
Part of why the marriage between Tagovailoa and Stefanski works so well is because they both have something to prove to the rest of the football world. Everyone has been willing to cast them aside, but the change of scenery presents them with an opportunity to learn from their previous mistakes.
During the league meetings that are currently in Phoenix, Stefanski spoke to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo (and via NFL.com's Bobby Kownack), the 43-year-old elaborated on how he (and Tagovailoa) hope to respond from the sequence of events that has led to a second lease on life with the Falcons.
""There's something to be said when you're fired. I can attest to that. You want to prove people wrong. You have a chip on your shoulder.” "Kevin Stefanski
As a two-time Coach of the Year, Stefanski knows what it's like to be at the mountaintop. But after winning just eight games across his last two seasons in Cleveland, he has also seen his fair share of dark days. And it's those struggles that'll teach him exactly what he needs to do to turn things around and return to that level of success.
Tua Tagovailoa was the perfect fit for what Kevin Stefanski and the Atlanta Falcons are looking for
As weird as it sounds, Stefanski and Tagovailoa aren't all that different. They both had noticeable drop offs from their past success across the last couple of seasons, and the Dirty Birds are betting on their track records to win out over the risks, especially in what will be a more favorable situation for the both of them.
The Falcons have been stuck in QB purgatory for a while now, but now that they have all the pieces in place for a signal-caller to succeed, Atlanta could give Stefanski (and Tua) the stability they've lacked recently and prove that a marriage of convenience (and desperation) could be best for both parties.
Stefanski isn't overtly committing to Tagovailoa as Atlanta's starter just yet. That would announcing an open QB competition in training camp incredibly counterproductive. A lot of his belief hinges on where Penix is at in his rehab process, but Tua clearly has a leg up on Penix in the summer QB battle.
Thankfully, Stefanski also revealed that while he doesn't have an exact timeline for when Penix will return to the field, he's "excited for Mike to get back out there." And this article came hours after reports surfaced that the 25-year-old is on track to make a return at some point during training camp.
Frankly, Penix is in need of his own second chance. While his focus should be on getting healthy, he was not set up for success in the slightest in Zac Robinson's system. So with Stefanski and Tommy Rees coming along, the support system is better than ever for the former Heisman Trophy runner-up.
In the NFL, it's all a mater of situation. It's why we've seen so many QBs turn their career around playing with a better supporting cast, even if this is rare for coaches. Now that Stefanski and Tagovailoa have both been cast aside by their old teams, they can use that as motivation and learn from the experience to ensure it doesn't happen again with the Falcons.