{"id":711529,"date":"2026-01-28T13:25:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/711529\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T13:25:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:25:58","slug":"kevin-stefanski-breaks-his-silence-on-baker-mayfields-astonishing-social-media-outburst-on-new-falcons-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/711529\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Stefanski breaks his silence on Baker Mayfield’s astonishing social media outburst on new Falcons coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

By MAX WINTERS, US DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR<\/a> and OLIVER SALT, US ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 14:01 EST, 27 January 2026 | Updated: 14:02 EST, 27 January 2026 <\/p>\n

Kevin Stefanski has responded to Baker Mayfield after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback viciously attacked his former coach on social media last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayfield accused the new\u00a0Atlanta Falcons<\/a>\u00a0head coach of treating him ‘like a piece of garbage’ during their time together with the Cleveland Browns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers<\/a>\u00a0quarterback spent two seasons under Stefanski in Cleveland, where they amassed a 17-13 record together while making it to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs in 2020.<\/p>\n

Yet after a disappointing 2021 season, which saw the 8-9 Browns miss out on the postseason entirely, Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers<\/a> in 2022 following the arrival of Deshaun Watson at\u00a0Huntington Bank Field.<\/p>\n

After a reporter recently said Stefanski had to deal with a ‘dumpster fire at quarterback’ in Cleveland, Mayfield went on a tirade on social media.<\/p>\n

But, speaking on Tuesday, Stefanski took the high road and was just full of praise for his former player.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Kevin <\/p>\n

Kevin Stefanski has responded to Baker Mayfield after the Bucs star’s social media outburst<\/p>\n

\"Mayfield <\/p>\n

Mayfield accused the new Falcons coach of treating him ‘like a piece of garbage’ in Cleveland<\/p>\n

‘Baker’s somebody that I have a ton of respect for as a player and a person,’ Stefanski said.<\/p>\n

‘I love rivalries in sports and obviously Buccaneers-Falcons have a great rivalry. It’s something that I’m excited about, but I would not get into the specifics of those type of things other than to say I have a ton of respect for Baker as a player, as a person.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘That’s a great team with a great player.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the wake of the Falcons hiring Stefanski earlier this month, legendary Falcons reporter D. Orlando Ledbetter published a story for the\u00a0Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday which claimed their new coach had a ‘dumpster fire at quarterback in Cleveland’ and that both Mayfield and Watson ‘failed’ at quarterback.<\/p>\n

But the Bucs star replied to Ledbetter on X: ‘Failed is quite the reach pal. Still waiting on a text\/call from [Stefanski] after I got shipped off like a piece of garbage. Can\u2019t wait to see you twice a year, Coach.’<\/p>\n

With Tampa Bay and Atlanta both in the NFC South, Mayfield and Stefanski will be set for two awkward reunions in the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

The pair enjoyed success together in the 2020 campaign, earning Cleveland’s first playoff victory for 26 years after a Wild Card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They were ultimately beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional game, before the Browns went 8-9 the following year as Mayfield battled a shoulder injury that required surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the subsequent offseason, the franchise handed a staggering five-year, $230million contract to Watson after trading three first-round picks and several other draft assets to the Houston Texans for the three-time Pro Bowler.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The pair had success together in the 2020 campaign but the relationship eventually soured<\/p>\n

\"Stefanski <\/p>\n

Stefanski was unveiled with team owner Arthur M. Blank and president of football Matt Ryan<\/p>\n

With a new starter in town, Mayfield was traded to Carolina before requesting his own release in December 2022 after going 1-5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The former Oklahoma and Texas Tech signal caller was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams, where he enjoyed a successful five-game stint which he has claimed rejuvenated his career before heading to Tampa.<\/p>\n

Across three years with the Bucs, Mayfield has emerged as one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL, registering 12,237 passing yards for 37 touchdowns while going 27-24.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2025 campaign, which saw Tampa Bay go 8-9, was his first losing season with the team. Stefanski, meanwhile, only put up one winning season with the Browns in the four which followed after Mayfield’s exit.<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Kevin Stefanski breaks his silence on Baker Mayfield’s astonishing social media outburst on new Falcons coach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By MAX WINTERS, US DEPUTY SPORTS EDITOR and OLIVER SALT, US ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Published: 14:01 EST, 27…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[223,254,2554,3225,224,7,6,817],"class_list":{"0":"post-711529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-falcons","10":"tag-atlantafalcons","11":"tag-dailymail","12":"tag-falcons","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sport"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115972957894639693","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}