Dirty Birds Dispatch: How Matt Ryan landed on Kevin Stefanski
MOBILE, Ala. — Good morning, good football folks.
Hopped in the AJC Batmobile right after filing my story from the “Meet coach Kevin Stefanski-Smart and Tough” presser and drove down here for the Senior Bowl.
Yes, there was a stop at Buc-ee’s near Auburn.
Looking forward to watching the running backs, cornerbacks, tight ends and defensive tackles, all need areas for the Falcons.
Let’s go.
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MATT RYAN ON THE SQUAD
Falcons president of football Matt Ryan has eased comfortably into his new role. He’ll be forever linked to Stefanski as the first big move of his administration.
He shared some of his thought process about hiring Stefanski.
“So with Kevin, we land a head coach who’s accomplished a lot, a two-time NFL coach of the year,” Ryan said. “We also get someone who’s hungry, highly motivated, resilient with a lot to prove. We’re so excited to welcome Kevin Stefanski as the Atlanta Falcons head coach.”
The Falcons interviewed nine candidates, including an announced interview with John Harbaugh.
He also shared how they want to play football. Sounds a lot like coach Mike Smith’s teams to me.
🗣️ On offense: “The main thing was, we wanted a detailed, tough, physical football team on offense. We want an offense that has the ability to run the football. That is going to be explosive with the pass game off the run.”
🗣️ On defense: “We’re going to stop the run. We’re going to be physical against the run. In the pass game, we’re going to affect the quarterback physically. We’re going to affect him mentally as well, with disguise, with the way that we play coverage.”
🗣️ On special teams: “Then on special teams, we’re looking for a unit that was incredibly detailed. That plays with great effort and strength. So, it really set up the format for what we were looking for from the head coaching candidates that we spoke to. During that process we interviewed some incredible people. Some coaches that I have a tremendous amount of respect for.”
HOW HE LANDED ON STEFANSKI
After hiring Stefanski, interviewees Robert Saleh (Titans), Jeff Hafley (Dolphins) and Jesse Minter (Ravens) all landed jobs. The Falcons didn’t interview Mike McCarthy, who has won a Super Bowl and who went to the Steelers.
Mike Tomlin and Sean McDermott are sitting out this round. McDermott was fired after the Falcons hired Stefanski.
Going into this cycle the hot coordinators were Minter, Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, who reportedly bombed his interview with the Steelers.
“Throughout that process, Kevin separated himself,” Ryan said. “He separated himself No. 1 in the alignment of vision for the football team. He wants smart, tough, highly competitive players and coaches that are open to be held accountable and holding each other accountable.”
ANOTHER NOTABLE ENDORSEMENT
Minutes after Stefanski was hired, I called Browns cornerback Denzel Ward, a five-time Pro Bowler, and he applauded the hiring.
“That’s cool,” Ward told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I’m happy for him. I think coach Stefanski is a great coach. I think he’s going to do good things over there for Atlanta. I wish him nothing but the best.”
Ward indicated that Stefanski had command of the Browns’ locker room.
“He was great,” Ward said. “He’s a player’s coach and a guy that the players really respected. I think he’s going to do well over there.”
STEFANSKI’S SUPER POWER
Stefanski took the Browns to the playoffs twice, won two coach-of-the-year awards before the bottom fell out. He had a 45-56 losing record. A team with eight consecutive losing seasons, hired a coach with a losing record.
“He’s an excellent communicator,” Ryan said. “He’s clear. He’s decisive. Concise and he’s direct. I think that style of communication lends to connection, which is so huge among players and coaches, but also coaches and coaches.”
MR. PRESIDENT OF FB
Ryan on a few more matters:
On special teams coordinator: “We’re really excited about Craig Ackerman, who’s coming in and has a history of playing really solid special teams in his different stops.”
On defensive coordinator: “We’re excited about retaining Jeff Ulbrich as the defensive coordinator. He is a great coach who I’ve been around as a player and watched and commented and seen from a different lens as a defensive coordinator. I think he did a great job with our unit last year, a young group that is ascending and finished the season really strong.”
On the staff: “So we’re excited about the staff that Kevin has started to put together. I think that’s one of the most important things for a new coach coming in, is to be able to get a really strong staff around him. We don’t do this by ourselves. We do this with the collective.”
FREE AGENCY: STAY OR GO?
When the new general manager is hired (we’re projecting it will occur Friday after the Thursday interviews of Ian Cunningham and James Liipfert), he’ll have to quickly evaluate the roster and get ready for free agency, which begins at 4 p.m. March 11.
Here’s a look at the free agent class, with a recommendation of who should stay or go:
🤔 Dee Alford, CB: Stepped in at nickel back after Billy Bowman Jr. went down. He finished with 64 tackles, two sacks, three interceptions, 13 passes defended and three quarterback hits. Has a market value of $5.8 million per spotrac.com.
- Decision: Stay
🤔 Tyler Allgeier, RB: The Falcons will want to keep him, but the market will be too high for a backup running back. Some team will view Allgeier as a No. 1 running back on the open market. His value is projected at $1.8 million.
- Decision: Go.
🤔 Troy Andersen, LB: He played in 17 games as a rookie, but since hasn’t been able to complete a season. He missed all of 2025 as he has been injury prone.
- Decision: Go
🤔 Arnold Ebiketie, EDGE: He played in 17 games and made three starts as a quality backup in a rotational role. He had 36 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks. He played 384 defensive snaps (35% while rookie James Pearce Jr. was learning his way. His projected market value is $9 million.
- Decision. Go
🤔 Kaden Elliss, LB: He lead the team in tackles over the past two seasons. He has played for three different defensive coordinators. He may have played himself into a bigger deal. His market value $8.9 million.
- Decision: Stay
🤔 Leonard Floyd, EDGE: Provided a veteran presence and went about his business. He’s had a good career. His market value is $8.9 million.
- Decision: Go
🤔 Feleipe Franks, TE: Was signed to help the special teams and that didn’t work out too well. He was second on team with 11 special teams tackles. He played short-yardage quarterback as he had two carries.
- Decision: Go
🤔 DeAngelo Malone, LB: Key special teams player, who suffered a broken ankle in the loss to the Colts in Berlin. The Falcons need to upgrade the special teams units.
- Decision: Stay.
🤔 David Onyemata, DL: He’s set to turn 34 and the Falcons need to get bigger on the front lined to stop the run better. His market value is $8.3 million.
- Decision: Go
🤔 Bradley Pinion, P: He averaged 40.6 yards net on 64 punts. He punted 34 (53.1%) inside the 20 yard line. Had some placement issues with the new dynamic kickoff before giving way to Zane Gonzalez late in the season.
- Decision: Stay
🤔 Kyle Pitts, TE: Is coming off his most complete season. Made some tough catches in traffic. If the two sides can’t work out a contract extension, the team has the option to place the franchise tag on Pitts and asked him to duplicate last seasons. His market value is $14.6 million.
- Decision: Stay
🤔 Teagan Quitoriano, TE: He was a blocking tight end and did provide much energy in the run game.
- Decision: Go
🤔 Kentavius Street, DL: He was a quality backup on the interior of the defense. He played in seven games last season.
- Decision: Stay
🤔 Elijah Wilkinson, OL: Started all 17 games at right tackle for Kaleb McGary. He played 1,096 snaps and had a 62.9 grade by Pro Football Focus. He had a 61 grade versus the run an 68.3 in pass protection. He had 12 penalties, six sacks allowed and nine quarterback hits allowed. His market value is $1.7 million.
- Decision: Stay
🤔 Josh Woods, LB: He was second on the team with 11 special teams tackles.
- Decision: Stay
Don’t miss our 2025 season grades for the Falcons offense and defense/special teams.
THE SENIOR BOWL RB ROSTER
Stefanski and Ryan stressed things will start with the running game. They’ll have to convince Allgeier to stay or find a replacement. Here’s the list of running backs at the Senior Bowl:
NATIONAL TEAM
- Seth McGowan, Kentucky, 5-foot-11, 215 pounds
- Nick Singleton, Penn State, 6-0, 221
- Kaytron Allen, Penn State, 5-11, 220
- J’Mari Taylor, Virginia/North Carolina Central, 5-9, 205
- Kejon Owens, Florida International, 5-11, 210
AMERICAN TEAM
- Mike Washington Jr., Arkansas, 6-0, 228
- Adam Randall, Clemson, 6-2, 233 (More on him here.)
- Kaelon Black, Indiana, 5-9, 208
- Jaydn Ott, Oklahoma, 5-10, 202
- Rahsul Faison, South Carolina, 6-0, 218
SUPER BOWL LX PICK
We’re going with Seattle over the Patriots. We’ll share more from Santa Clara, California, next week.
MAILBAG TIME
📬 Reader Raymond Dickey: Falcons get new head coach with losing record
Do you remember Mark Jackson the former head coach of the Golden State Warriors? He built that team and they brought in Steve Kerr and they won a championship with that team and he’s a genius of a coach. Never giving Mark Jackson credit, for building that team. Do you remember Tony Dungy, the former head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? He built that team and they fire him and bring in Jon Gruden, and he wins the championship. Unlike what happened at Golden State, Jon Gruden thanked the previous coach for what was in place when he got there, in order for him to win the Super Bowl.
What will happen in Atlanta with the Falcons. The talent on the team is very much better under the GM that was just fired, than it was before he got the job. There really was not a good succession plan after Julio Jones and Matt Ryan. The talent is also much better on the defensive side of the ball two years after the hiring of coach Morris. His first Defensive coordinator was not successful and he let him go. He brings in a successful coordinator and the Owner want let him go. Will coach Morris get the credit for building a Falcons record braking defense in two years? If history is on our side probably not. Coach Morris should have been given the chance of replacing his offensive coordinator or not. He tied for the conference only to lose out by a tiebreaker. (If) he’d split with Carolina Panthers; he’s in the playoffs.
My response: Thanks for the history lesson on coaches getting credit for pushing already built teams over the top. Dungy was able to go to Indianapolis and get him a Super Bowl title on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Mark Jackson has been left in the broadcast booth for some reason. We’ll see what happens to the Falcons.
📬 From reader Jeff Daxe: I liked the article, but the special team’s section seemed incomplete without reference to the two blocked kicks. Plus the decision to even allow returns when the coverage unit was so porous.
My response: Thanks. You are correct.
The block against the Rams wasn’t as costly since they won.
They were blown out by Seattle.
But yeah, should have mentioned those two plays, too.
📬 From reader Tom Houston: Mr. Ledbetter,
I’m a longtime Falcons fan and will always be a supporter no matter what their record is.
After watching all 17 games this season, why isn’t anyone talking about the poor performance of Jake Matthews? I’m not a former coach or player, but I know what blocking and effort are. It’s plain to see the drop-off yet there’s been no article.
I challenge you to pick any game from this season and just watch the LT. If you don’t agree with me, then I must be a football illiterate.
I truly enjoy your writing.
My response: Hello Tom,
We knew that he was playing on a high ankle sprain. He was out there on one leg. It was kind of remarkable. Hopefully, he’s healthy next year and can push off on both legs in the run game. He had five penalties, mostly false starts trying to get a jump in setting up in pass protection.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
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About the Author
Honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his "long and distinguished reporting in the field of pro football," D. Orlando Ledbetter, Esq. has covered the NFL 28 seasons. A graduate of Howard University, he's a winner of Georgia Sportswriter of the Year and three Associated Press Sports Editor awards.
