The Falcons have found their next head coach in Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
The signing is a bit surprising considering Atlanta had been the only team linked to future Hall of Famer Bill Belichick. After several meetings with Belichick over the weekend, the Falcons interviewed Morris earlier in the week and reportedly made a decision Thursday. Morris was one of at least a dozen candidates the team interviewed as part of the search for a new head coach.
Morris has 21 years of NFL coaching experience and most recently spent the last three seasons with the Rams. He served as head coach of the Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011 and also has history with the Falcons.
Morris was on Atlanta’s staff for six seasons from 2015 to 2020, serving in a variety of roles from assistant head coach to defensive coordinator and even an interim head coach role in 2020.
For more on Morris, his history with the Falcons and his coaching experience in the NFL, The Jugo Mobile has you covered below.
Who is Raheem Morris?
Morris, 47, is from Newark, New Jersey. He played college football as a safety at Hofstra and began his coaching career immediately after his playing days ended.
Morris has been coaching at the college and NFL level since 1998. He accepted his first NFL job with the Buccaneers in 2002 after spending three seasons as a defensive backs coach at Cornell and Hofstra.
Morris won a Super Bowl in his first season as Tampa Bay’s defensive quality control coach. He was eventually promoted to defensive assistant and assistant defensive backs coach before assuming the defensive coordinator role at Kansas State in 2006.
After one year at Kansas State, Morris returned to the NFL and joined the Buccaneers as defensive backs coach. In 2009, Tampa Bay promoted Morris to his first head coaching position.
Morris spent three seasons as the Buccaneers’ head coach, compiling a 17-31 record with just one winning season (10-6) in 2010. He was fired after going 4-12 in 2011.
Morris was immediately drafted by Washington and served as the team’s secondary coach from 2012 to 2014.
In 2015 he joined the Falcons staff, where he has spent the last six seasons.
Raheem Morris’ history with the Falcons
Morris served in a variety of roles during his six seasons in Atlanta from 2015-2020.
He was assistant head coach from 2015 to 2019, while assuming responsibilities as defensive passing game coordinator, wide receivers coach and offensive passing game coordinator during that period.
In 2020, Morris was promoted to interim head coach after Dan Quinn was fired following an 0-5 start. The Falcons went 4-7 under Morris, finishing last in the NFC South with a 4-12 record.
Following his stint as interim head coach, Morris was hired to be the Rams’ defensive coordinator under head coach Sean McVay.
Morris spent three seasons with the Rams in that role, earning his second Super Bowl ring in 2021.
Following the Rams’ excellent 2023 season, the Falcons hired Morris as their next head coach.
Raheem Morris’ head coaching record
You can find Morris’ record of four separate stints as head coach below.
| Equipment | Age | Year | Record |
| buccaneers | 33 | 2009 | 3-13 |
| buccaneers | 3. 4 | 2010 | 10-6 |
| buccaneers | 35 | 2011 | 4-12 |
| Falcons (interim) | 44 | 2020 | 4-7 |
| Total | 21-38 |
