Former Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Raheem Morris Lands With New Team

Former Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has landed with the San Francisco 49ers, where he will take over as defensive coordinator. Morris will replace Robert Saleh, who left this offseason after one season to take over as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

His new defense was ransacked by injuries in 2025, losing All-Pro pass rusher Nick Bosa and All-Pro linebacker to season-ending injuries. Despite that, the unit still finished a respectable 20th in total defense and 13th in scoring defense, allowing 21.8 points per game. Morris will serve as the fourth defensive coordinator for the 49ers in as many seasons, with San Francisco having gone from DeMeco Ryans to Steve Wilks to Nick Sorensen to Saleh.

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In his last stop as a defensive coordinator, Morris had another stop in the NFC West, and he spent three seasons with Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams. Morris won a Super Bowl in 2022 before moving to the Falcons as head coach in 2023.

The 49ers will be hoping that Morris can come in and elevate one of the NFL’s most talented defenses as they look to compete for a Super Bowl next season. They were close this season, finishing 12-5, but their year ended with a 41-6 blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Morris was a finalist for the head coach position in Arizona, but agreed to the defensive coordinator role in San Francisco soon after the Cardinals hired Mike LaFleur. He and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan have coached together on several occasions, including a two-year stint in Atlanta in 2015 and 2016.

The Falcons fired Morris after a second-straight 8-9 season that left the team outside of the playoffs. Despite having been eliminated from the postseason for more than a month and several injuries to prominent players, the locker room never wavered in its support of the head coach. The Falcons won their final four games of the season and finished in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC South.

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For that reason, Morris was still getting interviews for head coaching jobs despite a career record of 37-56 with the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has since been hired as head coach of the Falcons.