Falcons offensive line embracing challenge from ‘prolific’ Bill Callahan

Chris Lindstrom is the second-longest tenured player on the Falcons’ roster, an eight-year veteran who knows every corner of the team’s Flowery Branch facility as well as anyone.

But on the first day of Falcons OTAs earlier this summer, Lindstrom no longer felt like the established, Pro Bowl right guard he’s grown to be. The drill order was different. So, too, were the techniques being taught to him and the rest of the offensive linemen.

Lindstrom, on a mid-May Monday in Flowery Branch, felt like a rookie under new offensive line coach Bill Callahan.

“I definitely felt like a baby deer for a minute there,” Lindstrom said May 19. “I had to get my legs back under me.”

Beforehand, the Falcons’ offensive line steadily grew synonymous with continuity.

Dwayne Ledford, hired in 2021 to coach the unit on Arthur Smith’s staff, survived one coaching change and ultimately spent five seasons leading the team’s offensive line. The Falcons changed no more than two starters in a single offseason under Ledford, and in his final two years, they lost only one starter combined.

The collective group up front still looks relatively the same. Lindstrom returns along with left tackle Jake Matthews, left guard Matthew Bergeron and center Ryan Neuzil.

But the lone absentee — right tackle Kaleb McGary, who retired this offseason — is significant to Lindstrom. They arrived together as first-round picks in 2019 and spent the better part of seven seasons holding down the right side of the offensive line. Now, there’s no McGary, and there’s no Ledford, who has taken over as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive line coach.

The Falcons, however, found quite a replacement for Ledford.

Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski hired Callahan, a 69-year-old whose first year as an offensive line coach predated the birth of any of this team’s active roster. Callahan has also been a head coach and offensive coordinator in the NFL, and he carries a distinguished resume.

“He’s obviously done it as one of the most prolific line coaches,” Lindstrom said. “So, very thankful for the opportunity to get to work with him.”

Matthews added that Callahan is “one of the best to do it,” and has been for a long time — long enough to assemble an abundance of core memories working with All-Pro offensive linemen like Tyron Smith and Joe Thomas.

Such memories add credibility to Callahan’s messages, but they’ve also drawn laughs in meeting rooms.

“The guys will chuckle a lot because he’s always got some type of memory or a throwback with, like, a Hall of Fame player,” Matthews said. “And it’s like, ‘Yeah, you definitely know what you’re talking about.’”

Most references resonate with the 34-year-old Matthews, the team’s second-oldest player. But Callahan is cognizant of the generational gap between Matthews and some of his younger linemen, too.

So, Callahan makes his rookies do presentations. The newcomers are assigned topics, be it by coaches or teammates, and present in front of the entire offensive line room. They’re effectively book reports and often pertain to the history of the NFL — a particularly important topic to Callahan, who’s lived so much of it.

“I make them do a little bit more background because I have such a great reverence for the game,” Callahan said. “I think the history of the game is important. We stand on the broad shoulders for the guys that have come before us.”

Callahan’s experience makes him an easy voice for his players to trust. He has wisdom-laced answers to any and every question.

And Callahan isn’t trying to rewire brains or reinvent the wheel, either. His first week with the Falcons, he emphasized the respect he carried for his players. He watched film on everybody — practice tape, even — and knew enough to put his support behind their playing style, character and work habits.

Callahan merely wants to make a few tweaks to an already humming operation.

“Coach Led did a phenomenal job here,” Callahan said. “He’s got the line rolling. They’re physical. They have a great attitude about themselves. They did a great job producing in the run game. So, I’m just here to maintain what they’ve done and improve upon it.”

Callahan spent four years working under Stefanski with the Cleveland Browns. Stefanski said he leans on Callahan, who’s an “extremely valuable” resource both for the coaching staff and offensive linemen.

“He’s a great, great, great technician,” Stefanski said. “I think he’s outstanding at developing players. Coach is obsessed with the techniques of it, so it’s fun to watch those offensive linemen work.”

Callahan has found the balance with how much information to give each player depending on their experience level. For veterans like Matthews and Lindstrom, he challenges them with new information or a fresh idea they haven’t thought of previously. Conversely, he’s cautious not to overload or confuse bright-eyed rookies.

All told, Callahan’s approach has drawn rave reviews — even if it’s pushed some of his most dependable veterans out of their comfort zones.

“It’s been really good,” Matthews said. “It’s got us all thinking a little different and mixing things up a little differently, and we’re catching on. I expect a lot of good things from him.”

The Falcons’ offensive line enters this new era — one led by Stefanski, Callahan and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees — with momentum behind it from last season. The team allowed only 26 sacks, the fourth-fewest in the NFL, while posting the eighth-best rushing attack.

McGary aside, four starters return. Competition will take place in training camp, Callahan said, when pads come on and drills come alive. The evaluations are purer and the reps are more representative.

The Falcons want competition, if for no other reason than to develop young offensive linemen. That is one of Callahan’s strengths, after all. They have an open battle at right tackle, where Jawaan Taylor projects as the favorite, but Michael Jerrell has received first-team snaps at the position with Taylor not participating in offense vs. defense portions at OTAs.

No matter, there will be a different player lining up alongside Lindstrom this fall. That’s new. So, too, is the face he’ll see and voice he’ll hear when he gets to the sideline.

But change, in this case, isn’t bad. The Falcons’ linemen loved Ledford, but they’re embracing Callahan, too — and his track record suggests those early-camp deer-in-headlights moments will ultimately prove fruitful when cleats meet turf this fall.