The Atlanta Falcons and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta recently hosted the first girls flag football week at the Falcons’ practice facility in Flowery Branch. The event featured a free clinic where girls could develop their football skills, led by both former and current Falcons players.
“This was an amazing opportunity — actually a new opportunity for me — to learn so much about what’s going on,” said Jalon Walker. He added, “I heard earlier that you can get college scholarships from girls flag football now which is just amazing. So, having these girls come out here to show their talent, to come out and enjoy themselves? It’s great.”
A notable story from the clinic was that 11 girls from Valdosta High School traveled six hours to participate. Head coach Sandy Turner commented on the growth of interest: “We just have a microcosm of what’s going on for girls flag football,” Turner explained. “The first year, girls were hesitant. … But our numbers have constantly risen. More girls are interested, and actually we have started a middle school league, because it has taken off so much.”
To close out the week, the GACA All-Star games took place at the Falcons’ facility. Diana Flores, a two-time gold medalist with Mexico’s women’s flag team, spoke at the event. She told attendees: “I almost can’t believe where we are today when looking back and seeing where we came from,” Flores said. “Nobody talked about the sport. Nobody knew what it was. Nobody believed in the game. And now, thanks to organizations like (the Falcons), people who believed in maybe what even we couldn’t see or imagine years ago, it’s now a reality. It’s going beyond what we could have ever dreamed.”
In other organizational news, the Falcons made two staff additions last week: Jordan Reid joined as assistant quarterbacks coach while Shawn Heinlen became director of college scouting. Heinlen brings experience from his previous roles with teams such as the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles.
On player personnel decisions for 2025 and beyond, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich highlighted inside linebacker Kaden Elliss’s value ahead of free agency: “to replace Kaden would take more than one human being.” Ulbrich further described Elliss’s versatility: “He gave us this really unique flexibility,” Ulbrich explained. “I mean, to think a guy could play world-class line of scrimmage play, but at the same time, you could stack him behind the ball, and he could play world-class stack linebacker play.”
Offensive coaches Tommy Rees and Kevin Stefanski discussed evolving Atlanta’s run game by combining elements that have worked well in recent seasons with additional gap-style concepts rather than overhauling their approach entirely.
“I think that’s a really good place to start when you’re talking about run game,” Stefanski said. “I do believe you can’t be good at everything. I don’t believe you can be so diverse that you’re trying to live in every single world. I think you have to hang your hat on specific things.”
Tuesday marked the opening of this year’s franchise and transition tag window; tight end Kyle Pitts is among those eligible for such designations before March 3.
The next major event is the NFL Scouting Combine this week in Indianapolis; general manager Ian Cunningham and head coach Kevin Stefanski will represent Atlanta there.
The Atlanta Falcons are based in Atlanta, Georgia and compete in the NFC South division of the NFL since joining as an expansion team in 1965.Freddie the Falcon serves as their mascot.The franchise reached Super Bowls in 1998 and 2016.
