The Atlanta Falcons may have hired a new head coach in Kevin Stefanski, but it seems as though the new regime isn't too interested in completely cleaning out the remnants of the old guard on the defensive side of the ball.
Stefanski already confirmed that defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who was praised for his job turning around the 2025 defense despite multiple rookies starting at key positions, is going to stay in Atlanta for 2026 and beyond. Some of the team's position coaches are also sticking around.
Defensive line coach Nate Ollie may have played as big a role as anyone in turning the Falcons from one of the worst pass rush units in the NFL to one of the best almost overnight. Atlanta needed to keep him if they wanted to keep their defense as locked-in as it was last year, and Stefanski realized that move.
Ollie will officially be retained by the new staff. In addition to this hot-ticket assistant coach, secondary coach Justin Hood and tight ends coach Kevin Koger will be coming back for another season in Atlanta, albeit with a former Coach of the Year at the helm.
Falcons retain DL coach Nate Ollie after strong 2025 season
Ollie, who worked alongside Ulbrich with the New York Jets in 2021 and served as the Indianapolis Colts' defensive line coach in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, took a Falcons pass rush that had been a problem for years and turned them into one of the best units in football.
Former GM Terry Fontenot certainly invested a ton of resources in fixing that line, signing Leonard Floyd in free agency while committing two first-round picks to Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. However, Ollie clearly put them in positions where it was very easy to succeed.
Stefanski is essentially betting on the idea that Atlanta is poised to complete for postseason victories right out of the gate if he can improve the offense. In his eyes, the defense was terrific and not the reason that Raheem Morris and many others within the organization were fired.
In a weak division that is up for grabs after it was won by a Panthers team that was below .500, Matt Ryan seems to be of the mindset that if Stefanski can get Michael Penix Jr. back on track, a defense led bu Ulbrich and Ollie will be enough to get the Falcons back in the postseason.