With new head coach Kevin Stefanski and new general manager Ian Cunningham finding their place in Atlanta, the duo has slowly gone about, making decisions for how to fill out the staff. The two haven’t chosen to clean house, announcing a mixture of new hires and staffers to be retained, and that didn’t stop with the latest announcements.
First, the Falcons announced that Tokunbo Abanikanda, who served as Atlanta’s director of college scouting for the past two years, will remain in Atlanta for 2026. In fact, he’ll do so with a promotion to the title of director of scouting. Abanikanda was hired by the Falcons in 2012, four years into former general manager Thomas Dimitroff‘s 13-year tenure in Atlanta. He was retained on the staff of Dimitroff’s successor, Terry Fontenot, and has now survived the turnover to a third general manager in Cunningham.
A new hire in the front office was also announced over a week ago, when Jacqueline Roberts was named the new manager of coaching operations for the Falcons. Roberts got her start with Cleveland two years ago as an intern working with team logistics. Last year, she was promoted to coordinator of coaching logistics for the Browns, and she’ll now follow Stefanski to Atlanta for a similar role.
On the coaching side, the Falcons also saw one staffer retained and one brought from Cleveland. Senior defensive assistant Dave Huxtable was the staffer to be retained in his role on retained defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich‘s unit. A collegiate coach of 40 years, including stints as a defensive coordinator at North Carolina, UCF, Pittsburgh, and NC State, Huxtable joined the Falcons back in 2023, under then-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen. He was retained under Nielsen’s successor, Jimmy Lake, and under Ulbrich, as well. Huxtable works with the defensive line, namely the pass rushers, and saw rookies James Pearce and Jalon Walker combine for 16.0 sacks in 2025.
The Cleveland import on the coaching staff is Michael Bearden, who was the recipient of the Browns’ Bill Willis Coaching Fellowship in 2025. Bearden spent two years as assistant wide receivers coach at Notre Dame before landing his first fellowship with the Bears in 2024. He’s now followed Stefanski to Atlanta to serve as a Falcons’ coaching fellow/offensive assistant.