Every year, teams around the NFL bring aboard Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellows for the summer, the Falcons very much included. In the past, they’ve given opportunities to familiar faces like ex-Falcons receiver Harry Douglas,
While not all of the coaches who participate do not end up leaping into the NFL, they do gain experience and contacts with NFL teams, as well as insights they can bring back to their existing coaching jobs. Some coaches do leapfrog into the league from the opportunity, however,
including longtime running backs coach Michael Pitre (who has now stuck around through three coaching staffs), former Falcons special teams coordinator Marquice Williams, and longtime Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, to name a handful.
The Falcons on Wednesday announced four Bill Walsh fellows and a newly created Ollie Wilson fellowship, named after the longtime Falcons, Oilers, and Chargers running backs coach who got his start through the Walsh program. While the Walsh fellows will be with the Falcons through the summer, the Wilson fellow will remain with the Falcons all year.
We’ll start with that last one. Offensive assistant Michael Bearden is Atlanta’s choice for the first Ollie Wilson fellow, and follows Kevin Stefanski to the Falcons after spending 2025 as Cleveland’s Bill Willis coaching fellow. Bearden, who primarily worked with the team’s quarterbacks in that role, may well be training for an assistant quarterbacks coach role in Atlanta in 2027 and beyond. Prior to his time with Cleveland, Bearden also worked with the Chicago Bears as a 2024 Bill Walsh coaching fellow and spent two seasons as the assistant wide receivers coach with Notre Dame, preceded by a stint with UCLA where he took on assistant special teams coordinator and analyst roles.
Here are the four Bill Walsh fellows for 2026:
Justin Tuggle is the second son of franchise legend Jessie Tuggle to join the Falcons organization, with Grady Jarrett spending most of his tremendous career in Atlanta. A linebacker like Jessie, Justin entered the NFL in 2013 as an undrafted free agent and spent 42 games with the Texans and one summer with the Browns before joining the CFL, where he played in the league championship Grey Cup. Tuggle will now look to continue his NFL legacy by entering the coaching ranks.
Anthony Walker Jr., meanwhile, played nine years in the NFL at linebacker and spent three seasons in Cleveland under Stefanski from 2021-2023, and just announced his retirement from the NFL in April. Obviously Stefanski remembers that shared time fondly, and while Walker is one of the least experienced coaches on this list, he’s easily the most experienced player in terms of years in the NFL. This should be an excellent foot in the door for him.
Sintim is a former second round pick in the NFL who spent three years with the Giants and won a Super Bowl with them, but a series of injuries cut his career short. Sintim has been a linebackers coach, outside linebackers coach, or co-special teams coordinator at six different college programs now, most recently with Colorado State, and will get valuable experience with an NFL team if he wants to make that leap down the line.
Blount has experience as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, strength and conditioning coach, and strength and conditioning intern with several college programs, including Pittsburgh and Texas Tech and would presumably be eyeing that same role in the NFL someday.
The Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship was established in 1987 and is intended to give talented coaching prospects an opportunity to observe, participate, and gain experience as an NFL coach during training camp, and ultimately to earn a full-time role on an NFL coaching staff. All 32 teams participate each year, and the program is open to people who previously played in the NFL or have held coaching positions at the high school, college, or professional level in the CFL, XFL, and so on. You can find more details on the program here.
Give these five coaches a warm welcome, if you would!
