Why Falcons made wrong head coach hire with Raheem Morris

Raheem Morris’ hire to the Falcons may be the worst of the new head coaching hires.

The Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris was ultimately chosen by the Atlanta Falcons following weeks of interviews and conjecture that accompany every new head coaching search. Indeed, “settled” seems like the right word for the employment.

The Falcons reportedly held 14 interviews in the past few weeks in an attempt to replace Arthur Smith, who was sacked from his position as head coach just 24 hours after the team’s final

regular-season game. The Falcons interviewed a seemingly endless list of

candidates, including Jim Harbaugh of Michigan, Bill Belichick of the New

England Patriots, Bobby Slowik of the Texans, and a host of others who were

rumored to be the league’s top candidate for head coach. However, owner Arthur

Blank and general manager Terry Fontenot appeared to have left the

company with familiarity by the end of the reportedly “extensive” search.

Why was Raheem Morris good for the Falcons’ job now and not back in 2022?

Just four years ago when the Falcons fired now Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator (for now) Dan Quinn after

just five games into his sixth season, they replaced him for the rest of the season

with Raheem Morris, who was the then-defensive coordinator for Atlanta.

There were whispers that Morris might be named the Falcons’ permanent head coach after he won 4-2 in his first six

games in charge of the team. But after Morris and the Falcons dropped their

next five games, Blank wasted little time in completely overhauling the team from

the inside out, which included hiring a new head coach.

 

Morris was questioned back in 2020—possibly just as a courtesy to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule. However, the

Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, one of the most well-

known names among emerging coaches, was ultimately hired by the Falcons.

Unlike in 2020, when the Falcons at least attempted to go with someone who was up-and-coming in the league, who could have been one of the next best head coaches in the league, they instead went this time with a more or less retread option that barely had any sort of success in his last stint as a head coach.

 

Morris was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach from 2009 until 2011. In those three seasons, he went a dismal 17-31 (.356) with one winning season in his second year, going 10-6, although still missing the playoffs, according to Pro-Football-Reference. And as mentioned, his short stint as the interim with the Falcons in 2022 went well below .500, going 4-7.

Morris was one of the coordinators who was given first dibs when hiring a new head coach, as was the case with most NFL jobs. With a defense that rated in the top half of the league in scoring defense—allowing just 21.9 points per game—he assisted the Rams in winning a Super Bowl in 2021.

 

While the Rams’ 2022 campaign was different, they still had general difficulties in addition to defensive ones. Morris contributed to a considerably younger defense in 2023 that helped the Rams return to the postseason by finishing 20th in yards allowed (337.9 yards per game) and 18th in scoring defense (22.3 points per game). Apparently, the Falcons decided to make him their fifteenth head coach because of it.

There are no certainties in anything, especially in the NFL and head coaches. Morris very well could be the best coach the Falcons have ever had when it’s all said and done — which isn’t saying much. Historically speaking, head coaches who get second chances are a mixed bag. For every Belichick and Andy Reid, there’s a Jack Del Rio and Rex Ryan. But even looking at those as examples, none had the resume of Morris in their first stint.

Raheem Morris’ resume didn’t warrant another head coaching job

Around 45% of head coaches who are given another chance at the position usually end up winning their first season. Morris is devoid of that. As a matter of fact, very few coaches who had a losing record in their initial position were given another chance, and those coaches typically had much worse results.

 

The most well-known of these, and the exception to this rule, is perhaps Pete Carroll. In 1994, he played just one season with the New York Jets, finishing with a.375 victory percentage. However, he finished with a.565 percentage in three years at the Patriots, where he took a second job three years later.

There’s also Romeo Crennel from 2005-2008 with the Cleveland Browns, who also finished with a .375 winning percentage in his first job. He was much worse afterward with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning just over 20% of his games and was gone after two seasons.

 

Most recently are Josh McDaniels and Dennis Allen. Somehow after his awful

first showing with the Denver Broncos, where he finished winning under 40% of his games in two seasons, he was given

another shot with the Las Vegas Raiders years later. He again didn’t last a full two

seasons and finished with a .360 winning percentage.

There’s also Romeo Crennel from 2005-2008 with the Cleveland Browns, who also finished with a .375 winning percentage in his first job. He was much worse afterward with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning just over 20% of his games and was gone after two seasons.

 

Most recently are Josh McDaniels and Dennis Allen. Somehow after his awful

first showing with the Denver Broncos, where he finished winning under 40% of

his games in two seasons, he was given another shot with the Las Vegas Raiders

years later. He again didn’t last a full two seasons and finished with a .360 winning percentage.

 

Allen actually has a much worse winning percentage than any of them (.222),

including Morris, going back to his first head coaching job with the Raiders.

However, he is a bit of an outlier considering he was left to take over for Sean Payton in New Orleans when the

veteran coach stepped away to take time off. His winning percentage has

improved to .471 in two seasons but is most likely on a very short leash next season.

What, therefore, led the Falcons to conclude that Morris was the ideal fit? Morris is “the right fit for our team,

culture, and shared vision,” Fontenot stated during his press conference, according to Falcons Wire, although it

doesn’t explain why the former Rams defensive coordinator wasn’t any of those things in 2020. This is not to

suggest that Belichick was the best option; as of last week, many people

thought he would be the next head coach of the Falcons. Indeed, I would contend

that Belichick trailed Morris in terms of the least suitable candidates for the

position. At least his resume was superior, though.

The Falcons needed an offensive-minded head coach

It’s also concerning that the Falcons chose to go after a defensive-minded

coach in an offensive-driven league. Not that defensive coaches aren’t still

proving their worth as a head coach these days — the Texans’ DeMeco Ryans

comes to mind — it’s that with the Falcons needing to either develop

Desmond Ridder or a new quarterback that they will select in the draft, hiring

an offensive-minded coach seemed the better option. Morris now needs to hit a

home run with his offensive coordinator hire.

Raheem Morris was hired for his locker room presence

Overall, Blank and the Falcons’ decision seemed to come down to one

thing, and that was Morris’ locker room presence and ability to bring a team

together. That is completely opposite of what former head coach Arthur Smith

was able to accomplish, and completely lost the locker room at the end of his

tenure, which was one of the many reasons he probably lost his job.

Winning a locker room is one thing; winning games is another. Morris will have to prove he can do both.