When he took the Atlanta Falcons' head coaching job, Kevin Stefanski was always expected to bring several assistants from Cleveland's coaching staff along with him. The hire of Bill Callahan was alredy made official earlier this week, but Tommy Rees was also expected to come aboard as Atlanta's OC.
After a few other offensive coordinator interviews the last couple of days, Stefanski made the hire of Rees as the Falcons' new OC official. He was his OC in Cleveland, so this was always inevitable, but the 43-year-still wanted to take some time to keep an open mind and conduct a real hiring process.
The #Falcons are expected to hire former #Browns OC Tommy Rees as the new OC for coach Kevin Stefanski, sources say.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 21, 2026
The favorite all along, Rees now lands in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/06VrkKGxGJ
However, just like with Matt Ryan and the president of football position, it was a formality, as it was always going to be Rees. The 33-year-old did a rough job calling the Browns' offense last season, but in all likelihood, Stefanski will be calling plays and he just wants a trusted assistant coach by his side.
Falcons are officially hiring Tommy Rees to be their new offensive coordinator
Luckily for Rees, he's following up Zac Robinson, so even though his track record isn't on their side, the Dirty Birds couldn't possibly have downgraded. The offense looked terrible until Michael Penix Jr. went down, and unlike Rees did in Cleveland, Robinson can't blame his lack of success on talent.
This is a big win for Rees, as he's going from working with an offense relying on Quinshon Judkins, Jerry Jeudy, and Harold Fannin Jr. to an offense with Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts. That's not even like comparing apples and oranges, because at least those two belong in the same stratosphere.
Under his tutelage, the Browns boasted one of the worst offenses in football. They ranked 31st in EPA per play and 30th in total yards per game, but he had no quarterback while the only viable weapons his offense had at its disposal were rookies, so it's not the best situation for a first-time NFL OC.
He called plays at both Notre Dame and Alabama, so with Stefanski's help, they can cater this offense to Penix's strengths. The whole appeal of hiring this staff was to work with Penix, and Rees is young enough that he will be innovative without the risk of him being poached to become a head coach.
Rees is one of the brightest names in coaching circles for good reason, as he even landed an interview for Cleveland's head coaching position. However, only time will tell if hiring him was the right call over someone more experienced like Brian Callahan, but hopefully he's not Robinson 2.0