Former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was hired by the Atlanta Falcons to become the franchise’s new head coach on Jan. 17, 2026. This marks the first coaching hire of Matt Ryan’s illustrious career with the Falcons as President of Football.
Unfortunately, Stefanski’s hiring isn’t without its controversy.
While in Cleveland, Stefanski had his hands occupied with a quarterback room that reached capacity. Among those QBs are Shedeur Sanders, arguably the most popular draft prospect in the 2025 class who was expected to be a Top-10 draft pick in the first round, but fell all the way to the fifth.
Sanders is a popular figure in the Black community, but his fans expected more from Stefanski to utilize him more than what he did in Cleveland. Stefanski’s underutilization of Sanders prompted fan theories that centered on sabotage and racism.
As a Black man, I will be the first individual to call out racism on any level alongside any suspicious activity that seeks to undermine the integrity of an athlete’s career, but I also find these conversations that view Stefanski as a racist to be disgusting and embarrassing.
Aditi Kinkhabwala, reporter for CBS Sports, appeared on Dukes and Bell 92.9 and discussed how involved Stefanski was with Sanders. He had extra individual practice time every Monday and Friday for Sanders when he wasn’t dressing. Stefanski also created an extensive and specific development plan tailored to each QB, including Sanders, while meeting with Sanders multiple times a week when he was going to be starting.
The funniest thing about the previous paragraph is that some Falcons fans will still see the information but will still stick to their guns about their preconceived notions about Stefanski.
The entire Falcons fanbase is entitled to its opinion of Stefanski, but I want to be clear: it would be a shame if these same fans continue to spread false rhetoric on a coach, who was actively involved with his QBs, and all of sudden, find themselves at a tailgate or football game because the team is playing winning football.
I believe Stefanski can do great things with the Falcons, specifically, with QB Michael Penix Jr. and with Kirk Cousins, a familiar face that worked with him in his time with the Minnesota Vikings.
He deserves a chance to show the fanbase what he’s made of in a division that’s expected to be won by the Falcons.