Beyond Tagovailoa’s addition elevating the quarterback room and fostering competition, Stefanski has in some ways become a kindred spirit with the QB thanks to how their 2025 campaigns ended.

Despite twice being an NFL Coach of the Year in six seasons leading the Cleveland Browns, Stefanski was fired on the heels of a 5-12 season. He endured a topsy-turvy tenure, going 45-56 overall but also delivering two of the franchise’s three playoff campaigns this century.

Tagovailoa, also with the Miami Dolphins for six years, has likewise seen his share of ups and downs. He initially struggled to find his footing as the No. 5 pick of the 2020 draft, then began flourishing under Mike McDaniel and even led the league in passing yards in 2023 before injuries and inconsistency derailed his last couple years in South Beach. The Dolphins benched Tagovailoa for the final three games of last season. A couple months later, they ate a record $99.2 million in dead money to move on from him.

Now, Stefanski and Tagovailoa both enter their redemption era together in Atlanta.

“There’s something to be said when you’re fired,” Stefanski said. “I can attest to that. You want to prove people wrong. You have a chip on your shoulder. I think where I’m coming into this, where Tua’s coming into this is, listen, this is not exactly how you thought it would go, but guess what, that’s the reality, and how are we gonna respond? I think that’s what he’s made of. You look back his career, you look back at his college career, he’s responded.”

Tagovailoa still must earn his chance to prove naysayers wrong, of course. Penix, a 2024 first-rounder similarly looking to rewrite his narrative after failing to cement himself as the Falcons’ future, has the same clean slate under a new regime. He’ll factor into the quarterback equation as soon as he’s fully recovered from his partially torn ACL.

“I’m excited for Mike to get back out there,” Stefanski said. “He has the right attitude. He is in the building every day, all day, rehabbing to get ready to go. I don’t have a timeline on what that looks like or when that will happen, but he’ll be ready to put his best foot forward. He’s focusing on what he needs to focus on right now, which is the main thing, which is getting healthy.”

The upcoming competition will be a storyline throughout the Falcons’ offseason and into training camp, much like the Cleveland Browns’ was between Joe Flacco, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.

Flacco won that battle, but he was eventually traded in-season, and all three signal-callers played during a trying year that led to Stefanski’s firing in Cleveland.

Whether it’s eventually Tagovailoa, Penix or both under center at different times in 2026 for the Falcons, Stefanski believes he’s bringing an evolved mindset to the equation after what went wrong before.

“Too many to name,” Stefanski said when asked what lessons he takes from his firing. “That’s part of life is learning, scuffing your feet, getting back up, figuring it out. A lot of things that, you know, you can’t change the past, but I look forward to, OK, I’m gonna take that with me. There’s things that I know that I can do better. I’ll start there. I know that. You have to have a growth mindset really in any line of work, but certainly in this line of work, where if it didn’t work the first time, I’m gonna make sure I do everything in my power to get this football team where it needs to go.”