Tommy Rees’ Rise Continues After Leaving Cleveland Browns

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was formally introduced as the 19th head coach of the Atlanta Falcons on Tuesday, a little over four weeks since being let go by the Browns.

And while news of Stefanski taking former Browns’ offensive coordinator Tommy Rees with him came out five days ago, Stefanski did reveal surprising information regarding Rees’ upcoming role in Atlanta during his introductory press conference.

Apparently, Rees did such an impressive job as playcaller after taking over that role midway through last season for the Browns, that Stefanski confirmed Rees as the Falcons new playcaller going forward.

Stefanski’s decision comes as a surprise, as he held playcalling duties for the most part of his six-year tenure in Cleveland.

The only two exceptions were when Stefanski handed the task down to former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey midway through a 2024 season that ended with Dorsey being fired and replaced with Rees, then the club’s pass game specialist & tight ends coach; and with Rees taking over the role in 2005, initially working alongside rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel before fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders became the Browns’ starting quarterback.

The Browns won three games last year under Rees’ playcalling, all of them with Sanders as the quarterback. Cleveland won just two games in 2025 with Stefanski as the playcaller before that, one with Joe Flacco throwing passes and the other one with Gabriel under center. During Rees’ time calling plays, the Browns went from averaging 15.8 to 17.0 total points scored per game, and from 236.5 to 260.9 total yards per game.

Tommy Rees’ rapid rise

Rees’ confirmation as Atlanta’s playcaller marks a continuation of a rapid rise through the coaching ranks. He started out as a grad assistant with Northwestern in 2015 before moving to the NFL as an offensive assistant for the San Diego Chargers in 2016.

He then found his way back to his alma mater where he served as Notre Dame’s quarterbacks coach (2017-2019) and offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach (2020-2022). Rees then served a one-year tenure under Nick Saban at Alabama as the school’s offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach, before returning to the NFL with the Browns, working under Stefanski and Dorsey.

Rees was the first candidate interviewed by Cleveland for the head coach vacancy after the Browns parted ways with Stefanski, before deciding on joining his boss in Atlanta. Even though the team reportedly wanted to keep him in Berea, he's now set to take over the Falcons’ offense succeeding Zac Robinson, who's now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator.

As a player, Rees was Notre Dame’s quarterback from 2010 to 2013.