The Atlanta Falcons have reportedly found their next head coach, and it is not Bill Belichick.
After weeks of speculation about the former New England Patriots could make a trip down to Atlanta to continue his coaching career, the Falcons reportedly opted instead to bring back Raheem Morris to lead the franchise, per multiple outlets.
Morris worked in Atlanta from 2015-2020 on both sides of the ball, ultimately taking over as the interim head coach after the team fired Dan Quinn in October 2020. He interviewed for the job in 2021, but the Falcons opted for former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
Now that Smith is gone, the team has brought Morris back for a new opportunity to get the Falcons back into the playoffs.
While Morris has been a head coach before with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he’s recently had major football voices like Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay and Les Snead and Thomas Dimitroff advocating for him to get another chance to lead a franchise.
Morris’ work leading the Los Angeles Rams defense for the past couple of seasons helped that franchise win a Super Bowl in 2022, and now he’ll be tasked with helping the Falcons get back to contention status.
After news of his hire broke, Miami Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey called him “one of, if not the best coach in the NFL.” Former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman called it a “great hire” for the Falcons.
It’s not the splashy hire many expected with the Falcons job; it’s not Belichick or Jim Harbaugh, who joined the Los Angeles Chargers.
However, the new Falcons coach has plenty of folks in his corner as he embarks on a second opportunity to lead an NFL franchise.
