Falcons Ex Raheem Morris Named Top 5 Coach; Atlanta Mistake?
The Atlanta Falcons had a decision to make.
After the franchise fired head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff following an 0-5 start in 2020, they handed the reigns to defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
The Falcons went 4-7 under Morris, with five of the losses coming by five points or fewer. The only two-possession losses were road games against the NFC South champion New Orleans Saints and eventual Super Bowl winner Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
However, Atlanta lost six of its final seven games, including the last five, to close out Morris' run as interim coach. Along the way, he received several words of praise from opposing head coaches about the job he'd done, including the Bucs' Bruce Arians dubbing him "a hell of a football coach."
Keeping his team focused throughout a difficult campaign under challenging circumstances, Morris was rewarded with interviews for two head coaching vacancies ... the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Falcons.
The Jaguars opted for Urban Meyer, who went 2-11 in a tumultuous season that saw him lose his job before its conclusion, while the Falcons hired Arthur Smith, who by all accounts elevated the team to a 7-10 record in his first year.
Still, Smith is a bit of an unknown entering his second year. Morris, who had a three-year run as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early 2010s, is highly regarded around the league, to the extent that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin ranked him in his top-5 coaches league-wide.
“I think he was significant in terms of getting (the Rams) over the top this year,” Tomlin said. “His presence is always felt. Wherever he’s been, whatever side of the ball he works on, he’s always getting after it.”
This isn't the first time Tomlin has heaped praise on Morris in the last few months.
“I’ve been in the National Football League for over 20 years,” Tomlin said on the “Pivot Podcast” in June. “I know the coaches, and I know some of the guys being denied are in the top 32. Raheem Morris is the best coach I know and have ever been around that don’t have a head job.”
A 15-year head coaching veteran, Tomlin has never had a losing season. When he talks, people listen, especially when the topic is other coaches.
With Morris poised to get another shot at a head coaching job in the near future and Smith likely to see at least two more seasons in Atlanta to show what he can do, the final verdict on the Falcons' decision will eventually play itself out.
In the meantime, the Falcons can only sit and watch as the situation unfolds, hoping it doesn't result in another "what could've been" moment.
