FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Zac Robinson sat in the back of a classroom in Stillwater, Oklahoma, feverishly jotting things down in a notebook. The professor, though, might as well have been a million miles away from Oklahoma State University. Robinson's scrawls had nothing to do with what his teacher was saying.
"I'm not going to lie, I was not really paying attention to school," said Robinson, currently the offensive coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons. ... "I was writing out plays."
At the time, Robinson was Oklahoma State's quarterback -- and a good one. He was one of just six quarterbacks invited to the 2010 Senior Bowl and went on to get drafted in the seventh round by the New England Patriots.
Robinson didn't get much time learning under Tom Brady. The Patriots released him in September 2010, and he spent time with three other teams over the next three years before an elbow injury essentially ended his NFL playing career.
Twelve years later, the Falcons hope the skills Robinson began honing while hiding from his college professors will unlock a high-powered offense.
In 2025, Robinson will be going into his second season as Falcons offensive coordinator and playcaller. He'll have at his disposal an offense powered by second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr., up-and-coming wide receiver Drake London and Bijan Robinson, one of the best running backs in the NFL in just his third year in the league.
The organization is banking on Robinson, who grew up watching John Elway with his family as a Denver Broncos season-ticket holder, pushing the right buttons. Most of the moves the Falcons made in free agency addressed what was a porous defense in 2024. And Atlanta owner Arthur Blank said last week at the annual league meetings that the team will focus again on defense in the draft later this month.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris brought Robinson to Atlanta with him from the Los Angeles Rams. The two won Super Bowl LVI together on the same staff and had offices right across the hall from one another. Morris was the Rams defensive coordinator and Robinson an assistant quarterbacks coach and then quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
When Morris got the head coaching job with the Falcons, he thought back to all the arguments -- healthy ones -- he had over the years with Robinson, who learned under Rams head coach and offensive guru Sean McVay, as well as former Rams offensive coordinators Sean O'Connell, Liam Cohen and Mike LaFleur. O'Connell is now the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and Cohen was hired this offseason to be head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Robinson, too, has had buzz around the league as a potential future head-coaching candidate.
"I think it was just the process of getting to know [Robinson] that way and really learning the sharp mind that he is and the attention to detail and the preparation and how he prepared," Morris said. "I think all of those things kind of led to that obvious decision for me being able to move forward."
Robinson, 38, worked as a quarterbacks coach after his playing career finished and then as a quarterback evaluator for the analytics outlet Pro Football Focus. While doing those jobs, he studied the Rams offense under McVay -- and then ended up getting hired in Los Angeles as assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019, his first NFL coaching gig.
"I was really watching their tape, especially 2017 and 2018, the Super Bowl [loss] year," Robinson said. "I would watch them over and over as well as the 49ers with [Kyle] Shanahan. Those were kind of the two that you drew on and then you loved always watching when it was Patrick Mahomes. His first year, you see the designs that Andy Reid has with their offense and the creativity. But I always kept going back to the Rams and then oddly enough ended up getting an interview later on that after they went to the Super Bowl and ended up there."
Robinson was very high on Mahomes coming out of Texas Tech when some scouts had him pegged as a second-round pick. He was also bullish about Penix, who many doubted would be a first-round selection in 2024. Robinson compared him to the likes of Mahomes and Stafford last year. The Falcons ended up taking Penix at No. 8 overall.
After Penix learned most of the season behind veteran Kirk Cousins, he was thrust into the starting role moving forward in Week 16. Cousins' struggles -- a five-game stretch with one touchdown pass and nine interceptions -- necessitated it.
It was earlier than the Falcons wanted, but Penix showed flashes of brilliance. He threw a game-tying touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Pitts late in the fourth quarter on fourth and 13 against the Washington Commanders in Week 17. A week later, Penix went 21-of-38 for 312 yards and two touchdown passes (plus another running) and an interception against the Carolina Panthers.
"He sees the game so well and the conversation is so easy and fluid," Robinson said of Penix in December. "He just sees the game like a veteran quarterback, and he's obviously played a lot of football, which helps. But he just has that natural eye for the game, too, that [even] when he was 17 years old, he still saw the game the right way. And obviously he just has that natural football instinct, the things that you like about any quarterback."
When Cousins signed with Atlanta last year, he called O'Connell, his former coach in Minnesota, and asked him about Robinson. O'Connell told him that the things Robinson suggested in Los Angeles worked and he had a great football mind.
"I think it starts with, 'Are they a good football mind?'" Cousins said in November. "'Are they creative? Do they communicate well?' And I think Zac has all that in spades, and he's a great listener as well. He also does a good job being very direct. You want to know where you stand and there's not a lot of mystery there."
Robinson gained valuable experience calling plays for the Rams in the preseason under McVay, who is known for letting his coordinators and assistant coaches spread their wings. This past preseason, McVay allowed Rams assistant head coach and passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant to be the head coach in a game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
"We weren't playing very many guys, and so we got beat a lot in the preseason, which was tough, but it was a great learning experience and the biggest thing that Raheem and Sean would talk about was just make sure that it's a clean operation," Robinson said. ... "So those guys were always just super encouraging and just helped me out any way they could."
McVay said Robinson's "really steady, calm demeanor" was a sign he was ready to become an offensive coordinator.
"[The Falcons] have good football players, he's a smart coach," Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford said of Robinson, who was also his teammate with the Detroit Lions. "He knows how to use those guys and get those guys in positions to succeed. ... I'm a huge fan of Zac's and know he's a really good coach."
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney, entering his second season in Atlanta, said the best trait Robinson has been able to bring over is his ability to connect with his players and receive feedback.
"I would say his poise, his understanding and just being able to have a relationship with the guys and not just out there calling plays," Mooney said. "He's very adapted to what we like to do and some things that he likes to do. So, it feels like that we're all on the same page as far as what we want to do. Not like, 'Hey, this is my scheme. Go run the play.'"
Robinson, a proponent of 11 personnel (one tight end, three wide receivers) like McVay, used receivers London, Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud in different formations with London working out of the slot on a career-high 39.1% of snaps, per Next Gen Stats. London finished the season with a career-high in receptions (100), receiving yards (1,271) and touchdown catches (9). The receiving yards total was good enough for fourth in the league.
"I love being put anywhere on the field and just go make a play, really," London said. "And honestly, when we talk about creating mismatches and making mismatches, I think [Robinson did] a really good job at that."
Mooney had 64 catches for 992 yards and a career-high five touchdown catches. Robinson was third in the NFL in rushing yards (1,456) and tied for fifth in rushing touchdowns (14).
Things didn't start off so smoothly. The first game of the season was ugly offensively. The Falcons scored just 10 points and Robinson was criticized for having Cousins work primarily from the pistol formation, which Cousins had never done more than 10 times in a single game previously. Cousins was 16-of-26 for 155 passing yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
"It was a tough ride home, I'll tell you that," Robinson said. "Knowing what we left out on the field and just the feeling that [we] had after that game, knowing it could have been so much cleaner from my part, from everything that went into it. So, of course, you leave sick about any loss that you had, but that one especially was tough."
One week later, Cousins and the Falcons were able to come back and beat the Philadelphia Eagles on the road under the lights of Monday Night Football. The offense came to life after that. Cousins threw for a franchise-record 509 yards in Week 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Falcons started 6-3.
If not for Cousins' struggles beginning in Week 10 -- when the quarterback said he injured his right elbow and shoulder -- the Falcons were heading toward having one of the top offenses in the league.
That's what Penix expects in 2025. He said following the team's season-ending loss to the Panthers, which knocked the Falcons out of playoff contention at 8-9, that he believes Atlanta has the best offense in the league "player for player."
It'll be up to Robinson and his notebook -- not the same one he jotted plays down at Oklahoma State -- to get the most out of it with a young quarterback leading the way.
"I feel like our communication was great," Penix said of Robinson. "That's the biggest thing about offensive coordinator and the quarterback. You got to have that communication, that bond. Just to know that for me I got to let him know what I like and he lets me know what he feels is fit for the game plan. ... And just nobody having a big ego and just doing whatever it takes to help this team win football games. That's the biggest thing and I feel like he's great with that."
And that may be why the Falcons don't need to worry about the offense heading into the draft.
Additional reporting by Sarah Barshop.