Falcons officially name Ben Steele TE Coach

The Atlanta Falcons have officially promoted offensive assistant Ben Steele to their tight end coach position.

The move was expected as Ben Steele has been an offensive assistant with the Falcons last season, and worked closely with then tight end coach Mike Mularkey. Mularkey announced his decision to retire from coaching earlier this offseason, so Steele was the logical choice to move in and coach the tight end position.

”Ben has had a positive impact on tight ends he has worked with including our own and this move is well earned,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said via AtlantaFalcons.com.

Steele is a seven-year NFL veteran, who joined the Falcons in 2019 as an offensive assistant after spending the previous five seasons serving as the tight ends coach under Dirk Koetter with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This past season, Falcons’ tight end Austin Hooper set career highs in receptions (75), receiving yards (787) and receiving touchdowns (six) this season.

Buccaneers’ tight ends O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate both thrived under Steele, and I can’t imagine it’s a coincidence that Austin Hooper has a career-year the same season that Steele joined the Falcons. Most recently, Steele served as head coach of the West team for the East-West Shrine Bowl, and he’ll be prominently involved in coaching up Jaeden Graham and any rookie tight ends the team might choose to add.