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In a rather surprising move, the Falcons announce they have agreed to terms with Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian to become their new offensive coordinator, replacing new 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.

As ESPN's Vaughn McClure notes, Sarkisian was recently promoted to offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide. Lane Kiffin, who was Alabama's offensive coordinator during the regular season, left the school to become Florida Atlantic's new head coach.

Sarkisian, who is the former coach of USC, called Alabama's offensive plays in the College Football Playoff championship game loss to Clemson.

Sarkisian was fired by USC in October 2015, after athletic director Pat Haden said he showed up to school in no condition to lead practice following an embarrassing public display earlier at a pep rally where he appeared to be intoxicated while giving a speech.

He later sought treatment for alcoholism and sued USC alleging the school breached his contract and discriminated against him on the basis of a disability.

Sarkisian was Washington's head coach from 2009-13. He went 12-6 at USC and 34-29 at Washington, which had won just 12 games during the previous five seasons before his arrival. He was also offensive coordinator at USC in 2007-08.

NFL.com's Marc Sessler notes that Sarkisian now faces the challenge of keeping one of the NFL's premier offenses operating at a Super Bowl level. Under Shanahan, MVP passer Matt Ryan led an attack that led the league in scoring and dominated defenses from wire-to-wire until falling just short in Super Bowl LI.

It's an enviable role in Atlanta, though, where the offense will bring back Ryan, star wideout Julio Jones and versatile running back Devonta Freeman, among others.

Given all that -- and the obvious desire to get back to the Super Bowl after Sunday;'s disappointing loss to the Patriots, Sarkisian will face pressure to succeed right away.

Sarkisian got the nod despite reports indicating that Chip Kelly was a candidate to watch in Atlanta. But that was contingent upon Kelly retaining the system Shanahan implemented. We'll be looking for word that Sarkisian will be doing that in coming days.