Falcons hire Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as head coach.
ATLANTA (AP) After a thorough search that included six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris was hired by the Atlanta Falcons as their head coach, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Due to the lack of an announcement from the team, the speaker only agreed to remain anonymous.
Having been the Falcons’ interim head coach for the final 11 games of the 2020 season following Dan Quinn’s sacking, 47-year-old Morris is well-known in Atlanta. He spent three seasons as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coach in the past.
Following a thorough search that included interviews with 14 candidates—Belichick being the most notable—the Falcons chose Morris.
The organization interviewed offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik of the Houston Texans again earlier on Thursday, but ultimately chose to hire a coach who was employed in Atlanta from 2015 to 2020.
Along with general manager Terry Fontenot, another black person, Morris becomes the first non-interim black coach in Falcons history and takes charge of a team that hasn’t had a winning season since 2017.
Shortly after the Falcons’ last game of the regular season, Smith was let go. In each of his three seasons, he finished 7–10.
When Morris was hired by the Buccaneers as head coach for the first time in 2009, he was only 33 years old. He played for three seasons, ending with a 17-31 record, one winning season, and no postseason trips.
Morris previously served as Quinn’s pass game coordinator, receivers coach, and secondary coach in Atlanta, working on both sides of the line. Prior to the 2020 campaign, he was elevated to defensive coordinator, then, after Quinn was sacked after a 0–5 start, to interim head coach.
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