FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons hired Kevin Stefanski to be their new head coach on the night of Saturday, January 17. The following Tuesday, less than 72 hours after joining his new club, Stefanski made the first external hire for his coaching staff — offensive line coach Bill Callahan.
Stefanski and new general manager Ian Cunningham have said they plan to invest in the trenches on both sides of the ball to make the Falcons a physical and tough football team. The hiring of Callahan was the clearest articulation of that message.
"Yeah, I think he's the best in the business," Stefanski said at the NFL Combine. "I'm biased, but if you watch what he's done over the course of his career, I think the world of Bill."
Callahan began his football career as a graduate assistant at the University of Illinois in 1980 and has coached the sport each of the last 46 years. He first joined the NFL in 1995 as an offensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles. Since then, Callahan has been an offensive coordinator, an assistant head coach and a head coach — in both college and the pros.
For the vast majority of his coaching career, though, Callahan has coached the offensive line. Over more than four decades, he has seen the NFL change and iterate on itself countless times. In this current cat-and-mouse era, Callahan's understanding of the game is invaluable.
Stefanski first worked with Callahan in 2020 when he hired him as the Cleveland Browns' offensive line coach. In 2019, Cleveland ranked 12th in rushing offense with 1,901 yards on the ground. In 2020, the Browns gained 2,374 rushing yards, the third-highest total in the league. They finished fourth and sixth in total rushing yards in 2021 and 2022, respectively, under Callahan and still finished 12th in 2023 despite losing star running back Nick Chubb in Week 2 to a season-ending injury.
"Bill has already had an immediate impact on our coaching staff," Stefanski said. "Just wealth of knowledge, and just the experience that he has that he can draw upon when it comes to putting a run game plan together, putting a protection plan together and then ultimately getting the most out of your players."