In the Nest
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**_Behind-the-scenes stories, locker room insight into team culture_**
[The Falcons have named Michael Bearden the organization's Ollie Wilson Coaching Fellow for the 2026 season.](https://www.atlantafalcons.com/news/michael-bearden-ollie-wilson-coaching-fellowship-kevin-stefanski) This fellowship is named after Wilson, who served as the Falcons' running backs coach during two separate stints (1991–96 and 2002–07). In his first tenure, he coached three 1,000-yard rushers — Erric Pegram (1993), Craig Heyward and Jamal Anderson (1996). During his second stint, he helped Warrick Dunn produce three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2004–06.
Perhaps most notably, Wilson — like Bearden — began his coaching career in the league's Minority Coaching Fellowship, working under Jerry Glanville with the Houston Oilers and later with the Falcons from 1988–90.
He was the right person to represent, in name, what makes these programs as meaningful as they are necessary.
_"As a league, it is very obvious to me that we can do better having Black coaches in leadership positions," Stefanski said. "Having the ability in my chair to develop young, Black coaches on the offensive side of the ball is important if you want to affect change, which we do here at the Falcons."_
This is a program Stefanski cares deeply about, having seen so many young coaches get the foot in the door they need to not only be in this league, but grow in it. That's the hope for what a fellowship like this does for a young coach like Bearden.
_"In any line of work, we are the product of our experiences," Stefanski concluded. "With young coaches, the more we can expose our coaches to all, the better they will be on the other end._
_"Being with Tommy Rees on a daily basis, working with Kevin Koger, listening to how Bill Callahan coaches the offensive line, all of these add up to our coaches — in this case, Mike — finding his own voice as a coach. I think our job is to help our coaches develop, be intentional about their development, but when you have somebody like Mike who wants it, and wants to take all of this in and is someone with a very strong growth mindset, you have a chance in a given calendar year to grow exponentially."_