FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – The Atlanta Falcons announced Monday that they have hired former Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton to fill a key assistant role.
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Sutton, a former head coach at Army, is expected to help with in-game strategy, clock management, time-out usage and replay review for the Falcons. With coach Dan Quinn assuming the defensive coordinator role for the Falcons, he has sought to hire someone who can handle some of the in-game and clock management responsibilities.
"Calling the defense, spending the extra time to get that right, and making sure our style and identity come across in the right way are exciting challenges," Quinn said. "Adding someone with Bob's knowledge and experience to assist with clock and game-management strategies will help us be the best version of the Falcons that we can be in 2019."
That role was initially given to former Falcons assistant offensive line coach Kyle Flood, but he recently accepted a job to become the offensive line coach at Alabama.
Sutton's coaching career began in 1972 when he was a graduate assistant at the University of Michigan. In the decades since, Sutton has been defensive coordinator at three different colleges, an offensive coordinator at Western Michigan and the head coach at Army.
Sutton broke into the NFL in 2000 as linebackers coach for the New York Jets. He was the Jets' defensive coordinator from 2006-08 and was named the Jets' assistant head coach for the 2012 season. In 2013, Sutton began his six-year run as Chiefs defensive coordinator. In that time, the Chiefs' defense ranked third in scoring, allowing 20.3 points per game, and forced 165 turnovers.
