Atlanta Falcons hire Bob Sutton as senior assistant to Dan Quinn

The Atlanta Falcons have added Bob Sutton to their coaching staff as a senior assistant, the team announced Monday morning.

Sutton joins the Falcons after spending the last six seasons as the Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator. With head coach Dan Quinn taking over defensive play-calling responsibilities, Sutton will assist with several important tasks including in-game strategy, clock management, time-out usage and replay review.

“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,” said Quinn. “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.”

With more than 40 years of coaching experience under his belt, including 20 at the NFL level, Sutton has a well-rounded, versatile football skill set. While the majority of his experience comes on defense, he has coached both sides of the ball during his career.

Since joining the Chiefs in 2013, the club’s defense ranked third in scoring (20.3 points per game) and total points allowed while scoring 24 defensive touchdowns. Sutton’s defense also forced 165 takeaways which rank among the NFL leaders over that time.

Prior to joining the Chiefs, Sutton spent 13 seasons with the New York Jets serving in a variety of roles which included linebackers coach, defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Prior to joining the Jets, Sutton was the defensive coordinator at the United States Military Academy from 1983-90 before being named head coach in 1991. His nine-year run as head coach placed him second in coaching tenure at West Point, trailing only the legendary Earl “Red” Blaik, who guided the Cadets for 18 seasons.

During his time at Army, the team topped Navy five straight years (1992-96) and won the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy in 1996. That same year, Sutton was named the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year Award. Before arriving in West Point, Sutton spent one season coaching the running backs at North Carolina State after serving at Western Michigan, Illinois and Syracuse in a variety of roles. He began his long coaching journey at Michigan as a graduate assistant under legendary Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler.