The Atlanta Falcons’ next head coach will be a familiar one.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Thursday that the Falcons are hiring Raheem Morris to be their next coach. Morris, who served as defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams for the past three seasons, replaces Arthur Smith, who was fired by Atlanta earlier this month.
The 47-year-old Morris already has significant history with the Falcons. He coached for them from 2015-20, including for their Super Bowl LI berth in 2017. Morris was Atlanta’s wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator before moving into their DC job for the 2020 campaign. Morris even served as Atlanta’s interim coach after Dan Quinn was fired in midseason 2020.
It is hard to compete with Morris’ resume as he was already a full-time head coach (for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-11) and boasts two Super Bowl rings (as the Rams’ DC in the 2021 season and as Tampa Bay’s defensive quality control coach way back in the 2002 campaign).
Of course, the Falcons were considering another candidate who could vastly outdo that resume — former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. But there were signs this week that Atlanta was cooling on Belichick, and now they have officially decided to move in a different direction.
