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znModeratorfrom https://www.lafbnetwork.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-raheem-morris/
As good as Brandon Staley’s defense was, it had an exploitable flaw. The signature lightboxes dared teams to run and for the most part, they didn’t dare to run on them. But a few teams did. Green Bay specifically. They ran the ball for 188 yards on that defense. The most yards all season. They forced the safeties to play closer to the line, which opened up windows for Aaron Rodgers to win downfield. This is basically how the 49ers beat Green Bay last season.
Of course, the tie that binds this is Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers upset the Rams in both meetings this season. Raheem Morris knows Shanahan, they go way back! He helped him build this offense in Atlanta. The 2019 Falcons held the 49ers to their third-lowest point total that season. With more and more Shanahan-ians calling plays in the league, having a guy that knows how to slow them down will be gold.
znModerator
January 22, 2021 at 3:31 pm in reply to: Rams scout Holmes now Lions GM, Rams get 2 3rd rnd compensatory picks #127116znModerator‘This is the guy:’ How analytics, intangibles sold the Detroit Lions on GM Brad Holmes
ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Mike Disner was watching videos the National Football League puts together of potential candidates, generic questions trying to introduce different personnel people around the league to front offices making general manager hires.
He popped in another video. The man he was watching, Brad Holmes, immediately stood out. Holmes had not been on the Detroit Lions’ list of candidates at the time, but Holmes caught the eye of the Lions’ Vice President of Football Administration.
He went to team president Rod Wood. Had him watch the video, too. Together, they decided they needed to talk with Holmes, the Los Angeles Rams’ director of college scouting.
“Then, when we did, he just really, literally, blew us all away,” Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp said. “We had some terrific other people that we could have gotten and probably said they were very good.
“Brad just struck us as head-and-shoulders above.”
In meeting with candidates, Hamp and Wood acknowledged they did value experience in one or both of the head coaching and general manager positions. But Wood also said part of what they were trying to do is also project what these candidates might become once they had experience.
That, Wood said, is where Holmes was the candidate that stood out the most. Wood said within minutes of Holmes’ first interview — he’s always been big on first impressions — he wrote down a note of what his first thought was.
Wood’s message was simple.
“This is the guy,” Wood said.
By the end of the first interview, it felt less like a Zoom session and more like a conversation between potential future colleagues. Holmes didn’t know what to expect going into the interview. This was his first cycle of interviews — and the only other team he met with was Atlanta. So he was still new at this.
Nerves were high at the start.
“The nerves quickly went away,” Holmes said. “It really was Mrs. Hamp. She had such an immediate, positive impact on me so early on that I got off that interview and I told my wife, ‘I wasn’t expecting that.’
“The reason why I say that is, it literally started off as a virtual Zoom process but by the end it felt like we were sitting by a fireplace or a campfire just getting to know each other. Sometimes you just get that feeling that when you know something is right, it just feels right. Well, Mrs. Hamp just had an incredible soul that I was able to connect with and just the whole process was A-1, first class, couldn’t be more excited.”
Holmes pitched himself. Pitched his vision and his plan. After each interview, Hamp, Wood, Disner and special assistant Chris Spielman graded each candidate on predetermined criteria: Culture building; being open, inclusive, supportive, engaging and an exceptional listener and communicator; being able to lead a diverse team, many of whom work on the road and outside of the building on a regular basis; someone with excellent self-awareness, acknowledging what they don’t know and building a team around them to cover their weaknesses; working with our head coach in a positive and productive relationship and most importantly the ability to balance the team needs of today and the team needs of the future.
Wood, Holmes said, “blew away the competition and stood out,” in those criteria. His ability to potentially take the Lions into the future when it comes to their now-shared vision for where they wanted the organization to head.
Holmes’ vision was, Hamp said, “everything we were looking for.” They liked how he communicated and his approach to building a team. They appreciated his approach to forward-thinking analytics and scouting.
That’s what they are expecting him to be able to do early to help reconfigure a Lions roster that finished in last place the last three seasons.
“The one thing that Brad brought from what the Rams do is the use of analytics to really hone in on the players that you can predict will fit your roster,” Wood said. “And make an impact on your team. Obviously there’s the scouting of the players, watching them in person and then watching them on tape.
“And then taking all this data that is out there and figuring out if somebody runs a 40 at X speed and has arm length of this and a 3-cone of that, they are likely to be a good player or they are likely not to be a good player and they’ve taken it to a whole new level.”
Wood said it was something the Lions had not heard before — “cutting-edge,” — and Hamp said “it is definitely different, pretty much, from what we’ve been doing here.”
Holmes said his approach won’t be complicated. It will be collaborative. He made sure to say “there will be no ego in this process. There will be no ego in the culture.” He said they will continue to evolve as the times go and that he’ll be utilizing technology as much as possible.
Holmes views tech “as an accelerator.”
“There’s so many different avenues and so many different areas in scouting and personnel where the use and acceleration of technology can be utilized in a very critical way,” Holmes said. “It can be even down to just making sure that everybody has connected that are even outside of the building that are on the road.
“Make sure that this technology is being utilized properly and efficiently and in the right way to make sure that’s all connected. It goes from the college side to the pro side, using analytics. The use of the evaluation process. How you communicate, that’s probably one of the biggest in the use of technology. But there’s a lot of different avenues.”
So one of his first tasks will be to modernize what the Lions are doing in scouting by basing much of it off of what Holmes used with the Rams under their general manager Les Snead. He plans to blend his staff with a mixture of pro and college experience.
Beyond the obvious — finding good players who fit well together — he’s also being brought in because of his focus on the intangibles. That means uncovering what isn’t necessarily seen from the raw talent but can be figured out through the numbers and technology Holmes favors using.
“Very important to me,” Holmes said. “I think the intangibles are the separators of success. And I think it’s very important from my background and my experience up to this point with the Rams, we always made an emphasis on investing in high-intangible football players.
“[Passion] is one intangible piece that I don’t have any room, don’t have any margin for error. Passion for football is extremely important. Probably the utmost importance when it comes to intangibles so that’s something that I actually explained to Rod and Sheila during the interview process. That’s something I won’t budge on, when it comes to passion for football.”
Holmes found it often with players on the Rams. Holmes has it in abundance in himself. And in part of bringing him to the Lions, it’s something the Lions ownership is hoping he’s able to identify and bring to Detroit as he tries to create the team’s first consistent winner in six decades.
znModeratorThere is no Greatest Show on Turf without @BigGame81!
During the 3 year historic stretch of the GSOT, Holt led the Rams with 3786 rec yards!
During those glory years (99-01) Holt led the Rams in the playoffs with 37 catches!
He MUST join his peers in the @ProFootballHOF! pic.twitter.com/9VF1QZxkzm
— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) January 22, 2021
January 22, 2021 at 11:18 am in reply to: Report: Rams hiring Joe DeCamillis as special teams coordinator #127112znModeratorJourdan Rodrigue, from https://theathletic.com/2337737/2021/01/21/rams-raheem-morris-defense-joe-decamillis/?source=emp_shared_article
under Bonamego, the Rams’ special teams unit ranked No. 30 this season in special teams DVOA and had veritable whack-a-mole consistency issues. They included Bonamego’s inclination toward rookie kicker Samuel Sloman, whom the team released in October, to the juggling of punt and kickoff returners, to issues with the coverage units even after they solidified their kicking with Matt Gay (who was identified and scouted by punter Johnny Hekker and long snapper Jake McQuaide).
McVay deferred last week when I asked directly about Bonamego’s future, remarking that the team was still in the evaluation process.
“When you look at what a unique year it’s been,” McVay said, “I mean, this has been so different than anything I’ve been a part of coaching wise, especially when you think about guys coming in the first year and some of the changes or the different things that (they) had to navigate through.”
DeCamillis, 55, first worked as an NFL special teams coordinator in 1988 with Denver, before moving on to the New York Giants, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Dallas and Chicago, followed by second stints in Denver and Jacksonville, where he spent the last four seasons. A source confirmed Thursday that Bonamego will shift into a senior advisory/assistant role.
Why not an outright release? It’s possible this has something to do with contract terms. Bonamego was hired last February, and assistant coaching deals often are for two-plus years. (If a coach is hired for a head coaching position, like Staley, the contract can be bought out.) Or, the Rams may feel it will be an advantage to have a veteran coach in a consulting role.
Like Morris, DeCamillis will face immediate personnel decisions.
The Rams must decide whether to bring back McQuaide, a pending free agent (which is likely), but they have their punter and kicker locked in. Another offseason key will be solidifying the kickoff and punt returner spots, whether that means developing Nsimba Webster (who had his share of inconsistent moments) or finding someone new in free agency or the draft. If the Rams turn to the draft, look for a return specialist who has top-end straight-line speed, a tool also missing from the Rams’ offense this season.
McVay said he would like to have that deep-threat element back in his offense, but because it’s so dependent on other factors — such as quarterback play/progression ability and pass protection — it’s not clear how often a player with such a skill set would be utilized. A logical option would be to add a No. 4 receiver with that kind of speed who, while his usage may vary within the offense, could prove his value in a return specialist role.
McVay also emphasized the return game in his comments about DeCamillis in the Rams’ press release, which also emphasized DeCamillis’ success in identifying kickoff and punt returners.
“Joe brings a track record of efficient special teams and player development,” McVay said in the statement. “What Joe has been able to do consistently with the punter and kicker positions speaks for itself, and his return teams have been excellent in gaining great field position and explosive runs.”
DeCamillis’ special teams units have ranked No. 24, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 18 in DVOA since 2017, when he began his most-recent tenure in Jacksonville.
znModeratorramsman34
Here’s how I watch a lot of the games: I focus on line play. Simply put, our zone scheme helps our OL perform better than their skill set, or lack thereof. The interior of our OL is (a) Not physically strong at the point of attack, and (b) not athletically gifted. That combination makes their combined/in-concert technique critical in the run game. Thankfully we have a couple shifty and instinctive runners in Hendo and Akers to offset deficiencies.
However, in pass pro the problems surface. None of our interior OL can anchor and stone or redirect quality inside rushers. That leaves JG no way to climb the pocket bc the pocket is gettin shoved down his throat. When your most athletic and strongest OL is a 41 year old big whit, ya might have some issues. A gap pressure coupled with DL who can set the edge create real problems for ANY QB, let alone a slow footed, pocket passer.
I personally think Goff can excel if the blocking and play calling are married up nicely. MCV has done what he thinks he can. I KNOW he thinks Goff is limited. And I KNOW he wants better interior OL players.
All the talk about a deep threat is fine. However, on a 7 step drop, it is critical that the rush be pushed out and around the pocket allowing the QB to “climb” and launch deeper throws. We simply did not have that last season or this season. Defenses compressed the field vertically forcing MCV to work horizontally. We all saw it, game after game. That was all he could call and hope to execute.
Goff may not be the long term answer. But, give him much better interior OL play and then judge him.
I will be shocked if the interior OL is not heavily addressed this off season, regardless of QB.
Even with a more mobile QB, creating a clean pocket is critical to creating more explosives in the passing game. Sure you can roll a guy out, run RPOs but that cuts your field in half or down to 2/3. Ya can’t live like that and expect to score a lot of points.
Next season will be a giant litmus test. IF JG has a clean pocket more often than not, will he be able to create deeper plays, secondary and tertiary reads that he can execute? If so, we will be better than fine. If not, expect more of the same slightly above average offensive play. And, not getting deep in the playoffs.
Ask AD about the importance of strong interior OL play. He knows what that does against the rush and for a QB.
znModeratorIf I have the LDE and RDE rolls reversed, I can blame it all on lack of coffee. And, well, age.
;>)
You do but it’s okay obviously! You do the defense from their own right to left. Quinn was the RDE, same spot as Wistrom. Long was the LDE, same spot as Carter.
I personally think they have several candidates for DT and LDE–Brockers, Ramsey, Joseph-Day, Gaines, Fox. If they kept Floyd I would put him at RDE.
znModeratorznModeratoraeneas1
the notion that a mobile qb would have often eluded the pressure that goff faced strikes me as a bit of wishful thinking, for example his 4 sacks @ green bay:
znModeratorGot tested Monday got the results Weds. I got the COVID. Pretty mild symptoms so far. I think seeing Staley and now Barry leave makes me feel worse than the virus has.
Best wishes ER, and keep us informed.
znModeratorRams Brothers@RamsBrothers
Do you realize we live in a world where the Rams make the playoffs 3 of 4 seasons, draft starters in later rounds, can properly manage the cap, and are mass-producing coaches like it’s a regular thing?Cameron DaSilva@camdasilva
Someone on IG Live told John Johnson to sign a 2-year, $20 million deal with the Rams.“You sleep, bruh. I know my worth.”
He’s getting more than that, I can guarantee it.
znModeratorDr. Anthony Fauci is unloading months of frustration and I’m so happy for him. Truth bombs… pic.twitter.com/G4dvsMutAU
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) January 21, 2021
znModeratorone question i do have is how his system fits the current players. it worries me a little. i hope he has the ability to adapt.
I think he switches up to a 4/3 in which case instead of needing an edge rusher, Rams need a true right DE. If they do go to the 4/3, they have plenty of candidates for both DT spots and right DE. Just need the pass-rushing right DE, Quinn’s old spot.
…
znModeratorA dozen years have taught Falcons’ Raheem Morris perception is everything
Dan Pompei Oct 13, 2020
https://theathletic.com/2001776/2020/10/13/falcons-raheem-morris-coach-perception-is-everything/
Raheem Morris was 32 years old.
He had dinner plans for the night of Jan. 16, 2009, with defensive back Ronde Barber.
The Bucs had just finished a 9-7 season, Jon Gruden’s seventh as their head coach. They had missed the playoffs and had not won a postseason game since Super Bowl XXXVII six years earlier.
Barber called Morris. No answer.
Texted. Nothing.
Called again. Voicemail.
At 9 p.m., Barber still had not heard anything.
Morris had been the Bucs’ defensive backs coach for the last two years. Before that, he spent one year as the defensive coordinator at Kansas State. The previous four years, he was a lower-level defensive assistant for the Bucs.
On Christmas 2008, the Bucs announced Morris was being named defensive coordinator. It was a thrilling promotion for him.
Then the Broncos called. They wanted to interview Morris to be their head coach.
Morris was stunned.
After the interview, the Broncos told him not to be surprised if they offered him the job.
Morris was waiting to hear from the Broncos on the afternoon of Jan. 16 when he headed to the barber shop for his weekly cut. While he was in the chair, his phone rang. But it wasn’t the Broncos. It was Bucs general manager Bruce Allen, asking to meet with him and team owners Joel, Ed and Bryan Glazer in their offices at the team facility.
Morris wasn’t even sure where the offices were. He figured they wanted to hear about his plans for the defense.
He was wrong.
They were firing Gruden, and they wanted him to be the head coach of the Bucs.
Barber ate alone that night.
Raheem Morris is 44 years old.
He is taking over as the interim head coach of the winless Atlanta Falcons, even though the defense he has led since the offseason has been mostly awful, allowing the second-most yards per game in the NFL.
Morris wasn’t promoted because of what he did on defense. The Falcons chose him in part because he has been a head coach before, because he has experience on offense and defense and because he connects with people so well, according to Falcons president Rich McKay.
Morris has not been the target of a head coaching search since January 2009.
A lot has happened in his life since.
Raheem Morris was 32 years old.
It was easy to see his promise.
Two weeks after Kyle Shanahan joined the Bucs in 2004, he called his father, Mike, then head coach of the Broncos. “Do whatever you can do to hire this Mike Tomlin guy,” he told him. “But if you can’t get him, you have to get his assistant, Raheem Morris. They both will be head coaches eventually.”
Tomlin found Morris different from almost everyone. “He was an unbelievably quick learner in just about all circumstances,” he says. “He had unbelievable retention skills and an ability to relate and instruct. The rate in which he learned was shocking.”
Whatever “it” was, Morris had it, and it was apparent to anyone around him.
They called him “Ra,” like the ancient Egyptian sun god.
Radiant energy flowed from him and through the Bucs organization, from punter to president, from equipment room to draft room.
“When you got in a room with him, you realized how magnetic he is,” Barber says. “The Glazers loved Ra. The players loved him. Everybody did.”
Morris related easily to his players, in part because they shared a generational bond. His background was similar to that of a number of the young men he was coaching.
Irvington, N.J., where Morris grew up, was famous mostly for violent crime and crack cocaine.
Until he was in third grade, Morris lived with his grandmother Lillian Morris, who overcame much as an African American woman and became a teacher and homeowner. Raheem learned from watching her, and he learned from watching his father, Kenny Vaughn.
For a time, Vaughn worked two full-time jobs and one part-time job, 20 hours a day, six days a week. He fixed buses, worked as a distributor at a pharmaceutical company and drove a delivery truck.
“I saw him as a zombie for about four or five years,” Raheem says.
Vaughn eventually went to night school so he could get one job that paid the bills. Then Morris and his mother moved in with him. “When you are the head of the household, you have to take care of your kids,” Vaughn says. “You have to take care of your family. Raheem didn’t ask me to come here. I had the pleasure of having him.”
As a freshman at Irvington High School, Morris was given a C in English. It was unacceptable to his father, who subsequently forbade his son from playing sports.
Morris got his grades in line and became a standout football and basketball player who earned a football scholarship to Hofstra.
“It was definitely the right decision by my dad to hold me out and not accept the low standard,” Morris says. “It changed the culture for our family.”
It set him on a path to become the head coach of the Bucs.
What he didn’t know is the Bucs were not his destination, just a means to get where he was supposed to be.
Raheem Morris is 44 years old.
It is easy to see his promise.
Morris had been the assistant head coach to Dan Quinn in Atlanta prior to Quinn’s dismissal, and Quinn leaned on him for quite a bit. “You need somebody behind you who can give you the real facts,” Quinn said before being fired. “‘I know you may not have seen this, but you need to know this.’ He’s always been able to deliver those messages to me. ‘You better have a conversation with so and so. You should consider this.’”
Quinn has known Morris for 24 years, since Quinn was an assistant coach at Hofstra and Morris was a safety. He always has appreciated Morris’ ability to know when something is off and then communicate directly about it.
When Morris was hired as Washington’s defensive backs coach after being fired by Tampa Bay, cornerback DeAngelo Hall was an entitled veteran, reputed to be difficult. Hall, in fact, was trying to leverage Washington into trading him.
“I was a little bit of a malcontent and an asshole without a doubt,” says Hall, who was recently hired as Washington’s radio analyst. “I’d be the first to admit it. If Ra could handle a dude like me, he could handle anybody.”
Morris challenged Hall to practice harder and be an example to teammates. Hall complained about head coach Mike Shanahan, expecting Morris to act as a go-between. Morris told him to take his problem to Shanahan and handle it like a man.
“It was his ability to be real and not sugarcoat it,” Hall says. “Having a coach kick it to me straight was the turning point for me.”
Morris always had a knack for connecting with players, and his time in Atlanta has enhanced it.
“What Dan taught me the most was finding a way to reach everybody through different means,” Morris says. “He lets the players form a standard. It is player-led. It’s their ideas. That makes them more accountable. He’s devoted to player development, using resources from other sports and walks of life. It’s not just Dan. I have to give credit to the organization, (former general manager) Thomas Dimitroff, (owner) Arthur Blank.”
Raheem Morris was 32 years old.
When he walked into the lobby of One Buc Place as a head coach for the first time, he passed a statue of Gruden celebrating a Super Bowl victory.
Following Gruden would not be easy.
It would not be easy because of what Gruden meant to the organization and the city, and it also would not be easy because of what Gruden meant to him.
Gruden gave Morris his first NFL job, mentored him and promoted him. Then he gave him his blessing to replace him.
“Take it and run with it,” he texted Morris.
He would try, but it was going to be a mud run.
Upper management was going to have a say in Morris’ coaching staff. Morris was told the Bucs were getting rid of assistants who were Gruden guys but retaining some of the others.
Morris was told, “We’ll get two older coordinators who can help you win. You can oversee it.”
In conjunction with general manager Mark Dominik and the Glazers, Morris hired Jeff Jagodzinski to be his offensive coordinator and Jim Bates to be his defensive coordinator.
By the third preseason game, it became apparent to Morris that Jagodzinski, the former head coach at Boston College, did not prepare players as Morris wanted. Before the fourth preseason game, Morris fired Jagodzinski and replaced him with quarterbacks coach Greg Olson.
Bates, who had been an NFL defensive coordinator for eight years, changed the defensive system for which the Bucs were known. But he didn’t have the players to make his two-gap defense work. Ten games into the season, Morris took over defensive coordinator duties and went back to a Tampa-2-style defense.
“I didn’t have enough knowledge of what Bates needed to get it done the right way,” Morris says. “I felt like I failed him. With Jagodzinski, I felt we failed each other with a lack of preparation. I take the bullet for both of those guys.”
Morris knows he should have insisted on hiring different coordinators. But the second-youngest head coach in modern NFL history had not yet earned the right to be bold with his superiors.
He also acknowledges that he should have pushed back when upper management wanted to purge veterans before his first season. Linebacker Derrick Brooks, running back Warrick Dunn, wide receiver Joey Galloway, quarterback Jeff Garcia and defensive lineman Kevin Carter were all pushed out.
Morris called each player and told him he would not be back. “It was the most hurtful thing I’ve ever done in my coaching career,” he says. “All those guys, though they may not have had five or 10 years left, I should have been able to get the most out of them for the following year at least. They were really good character guys and had played a long time. It would have been really helpful for the young guys to have them around.”
The Bucs’ philosophy in 2009 was to go young.
Or cheap.
“Probably one of my biggest mistakes as a head coach was going that young that early,” he says. “I didn’t value, or our program didn’t value, how experienced players could have helped to groom guys.”
In Morris’ first season, the Bucs didn’t win a game until their eighth try. They finished 3-13.
Morris frequently dined with Rays manager Joe Maddon. During an offseason meal at 717 South before Morris’ second season as head coach, Maddon wanted to know more about a football season.
Maddon: “What’s important in your sport?”
Morris: “You want to get to 10 wins quickly, to win the race to 10.”
Maddon: “I like that. You should tell your players that.”
Morris told his team, and the media, that the Bucs were in a “race to 10.” The Bucs ended up winning 10 games but finished third in the NFC South and out of the playoffs.
His performance that season was not unrecognized. He finished second to Bill Belichick in the voting for coach of the year. The Glazers extended his contract.
The next season, he had the youngest team in the NFL. He said his team was “youngry.” In addition to being youngry, the Bucs also were volatile, with many challenging personalities. Among them were Winslow, Freeman, defensive linemen Michael Bennett and Albert Haynesworth, wide receiver Mike Williams, running back LeGarrette Blount, safety Tanard Jackson and cornerback Aqib Talib.
Barber and other veterans had “quasi-interventions” with Morris about how to handle issues those players created. “For a young coach trying to deal with a bunch of, I’ll say impressive personalities, it wasn’t easy,” Barber says.
The Bucs were not equipped to handle adversity.
They began the 2011 season with a 3-1 record, but wiped out and skidded off-road in a loss to the Bears in London.
“The problem with us,” Morris said after the game, “is we’re too young.”
The Bucs finished 4-12 and gave up more points than any team in the league.
After Morris walked off the field following a 45-24 loss to the Falcons on New Year’s Day, his act as Bucs coach faded to black.
Raheem Morris is 44 years old.
He realizes how a football organization should work in a way no 32-year-old could.
Some of that can be traced to Mike Shanahan, who hired him in Washington in 2013.
At 35, Shanahan was named head coach of the Raiders, replacing Tom Flores. Two years later, he was fired. He then served as a position coach in Denver, later becoming the offensive coordinator for the Broncos and 49ers before getting another chance to be a head coach.
He understands Morris.
“I told him I wanted him to have a learning experience like I had after my first head coaching job,” Shanahan says.
Shanahan showed him how to take command of an organization, and how to change his focus from portrait to panorama.
He talked to him about building a staff and which qualities are most important in player evaluations. He went into detail about the differences between gathering information on pro personnel and college personnel. He showed him how to set up a draft. He emphasized the importance of being able to communicate precisely what he wanted in players at each position.
Shanahan’s actions, as well as his words, stuck with Morris. “His ability to lock in and watch something over and over and over and over until he got it was one of the biggest takeaways I took from him,” Morris says. “He kind of had that Kobe Bryant mentality of he’s not gonna leave the gym until he has an answer.”
Raheem Morris was 32 years old.
He already had a Ph.D. in defense. At Hofstra, he was coached by Joe Gardi, the defensive coordinator for the Jets and the “New York Sack Exchange” in the early 1980s.
Morris later became an assistant for Gardi. That’s when Jets coach Herm Edwards noticed him during a Hofstra practice in the Jets’ practice bubble. Edwards offered him a minority internship, and Morris learned how the NFL plays defense in Jets camp.
Edwards then recommended Morris to Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, who hired him. He learned every day from Kiffin, defensive line coach Rod Marinelli and secondary coach Tomlin, especially Tomlin.
In each of his first five seasons in the league, the Bucs finished in the top five in defense and were No. 1 twice.
Kiffin’s Tampa-2 defense became Morris’ foundation, but he built on it in unpredictable ways. For instance, on one coverage, he made defensive backs interchangeable so the quarterback couldn’t be sure which player had which responsibility.
“He likes to take his players, see what they are capable of, and make something new out of what has been around forever,” Barber says. “He’s not scared to take those chances and invent something because he thinks his players can do it.”
Raheem Morris is 44 years old.
Morris has something few head coaching candidates have — expertise on offense and defense.
When Washington drafted Robert Griffin III in 2012, Mike Shanahan held a series of meetings with his offensive coaches to explore ways to use him. He invited Morris to those meetings, too.
Shanahan encouraged the coaches to spend time with one another because having knowledge about the opposite phase gave all of them advantages. Among the other young coaches on the staff Morris was drawn to were Kyle Shanahan, Matt LaFleur and Sean McVay.
“We would sit around and argue football 24/7,” Morris says. “It gave me a better understanding of what we want to do and how to do it on offense. It was a great learning experience.”
Morris went to Atlanta in 2015 as the assistant head coach in charge of defensive backs. The following year, Quinn had to hire a wide receivers coach. Quinn and Kyle Shanahan, who was the offensive coordinator, asked Morris to help them vet candidates.
When Morris was walking through a mall, a thought came to him. “Right now, we don’t need a great receivers coach,” he thought. “We need a great communicator who Kyle Shanahan respects. We should just hire the best coach, regardless of position.”
He shared his thought with Quinn, never suggesting he take the position himself. After some deliberation, Quinn called Kyle Shanahan to see what he thought about Morris coaching wide receivers.
“Honestly, Dan,” Shanahan told him, “that’s an unbelievable idea. Raheem would be perfect.”
Morris was the new wide receivers coach — except he didn’t know anything about the position.
There was so much to learn.
How does a wide receiver win at the line of scrimmage?
Which routes go with which routes?
How does each play time up?
What is the quarterback’s progression on each play?
What’s most important versus man coverage?
What’s most important versus zone coverage?
Which traits are most important to the Falcons’ scheme?
He had question after question for outgoing wide receivers coach Terry Robiskie, then-quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur and offensive assistants Mike LaFleur and Mike McDaniel.
When Kyle Shanahan joined the Falcons in 2015, he taught the offense to quarterback Matt Ryan in detail. The meetings were videotaped. Morris studied the videotapes. Then he went back to Shanahan with questions.
“I’d be like, ‘Dude, where are you getting this stuff?’” Shanahan says. “He’d say, ‘I got your teaching tapes and watched them at night.’”
Tomlin believes Morris has separated himself because of his attitude about learning. “He has redeveloped himself as an offensive coach,” Tomlin says. “Over the course of his career he’s displayed the ability to learn in great detail the 22-man perspective on the game… Everybody can’t switch hit, and he does it very fluently.”
Once Morris started coaching Julio Jones and company, he coached them like they had never been coached, teaching them from the standpoint of how a defensive player or coach would try to contain them.
“He had a huge impact on what we did on that 2016 offense even though his No. 1 skill set was as a defensive coordinator,” Kyle Shanahan says.
When Kyle Shanahan left the Falcons to become the head coach of the 49ers after the 2016 season, he told his father the first coach he wanted to hire was Morris. He could have been his defensive coordinator, his assistant head coach or even his offensive coordinator.
Kyle Shanahan asked Quinn if he would let Morris go, but before he finished his question, he got his answer.
Don’t even think about it.
Raheem Morris was 32 years old.
Two of his players, Barber and punter Dirk Johnson, were older than he was.
He looked more like a player than a coach. He listened to the same music his players did and talked trash as if he were one of them.
Like many of them, he was single. After work, he often headed to 717 South. Salmon is his favorite, and restaurateur Michael Stewart made it like no one else. Some of his players usually were in the house, so they ate together and hung together.
People noticed. It was hard not to. Morris’ personality drew eyes like blinking neon. “He was the life of every party,” Barber says.
“The microscope was on all of us,” Morris says. “If you are caught having dinner with Josh Freeman or Cadillac (Williams), I didn’t see it as a bad thing, instead of me eating by myself. I don’t think I tried to escape the players. My idea of coaching was communication, feedback, being a part of them, getting them to play hard for me. I probably did that the wrong way.”
Raheem Morris is 44 years old.
He used to be able to hold his own on the court with his Bucs players. He could drive to the hoop, and at 5-foot-11, dunk with ease.
He’s slower up the court after tearing a patella in a pickup game during his time in Washington. His game is about the set shot now.
Of course, he has aged in other ways, too.
In early 2012, Morris was trying to get over losing his job. Nicole Marie Moulton was trying to get over losing her father.
They met, bonded and helped one another through difficult times.
Two years later, Nicole became Mrs. Morris. Now, there is Maliya, 4, and Jalen, 1. Morris also has a daughter, Amaya, 10, from a previous relationship.
“Once you have children, you’re grounded,” says Vaughn, Morris’ father. “He’s a family man. He loves it. He has responsibilities like I had when I had him. It’s not just about you anymore. He grew up.”
Morris is more than a coach to Barber. “Family” is what Barber calls him. Amaya is his goddaughter. The Barbers and Morrises vacation together almost every summer on a horse ranch in Montana.
“Maturity-wise, I’ve seen him grow tenfold,” Barber says. “He doesn’t have to be the loudest and the guy who stays up all night and spends the most money at the bar. He’s grown out of that phase of his life. … Being married with three kids, he’s grown up a lot as an individual, and it’s probably reflected in his coaching.”
Kyle Shanahan says if he were an NFL owner, he’d hire Morris because he knows he would be one of the best head coaches in the NFL.
“Dude needs another chance,” Hall says. “He was a young, first-time head coach with a bad organization, didn’t wanna spend money. He deserves another shot.”
At the NFL quarterback coaching summit in June, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh spoke of the difference between being ready for a job and being prepared. That resonated with Morris.
“When I became a head coach, I was ready, but I wasn’t prepared,” he says. “If you are prepared, you are strong enough to tell your owners, your general manager, why you need Derrick Brooks. Now I’m ready and prepared at the same time.”
Morris is a fully grown coach, a fully grown man, ripe to become what some saw in him 11 years ago.
His failures have served him well, gifting him with perseverance, perspective and patience.
“Who he was at 32,” Barber says, “is not who he is at 44.”
znModeratorMost games this season with 10 or fewer yards allowed in coverage:
🔒 Jalen Ramsey: 7
🔒 Jaire Alexander – 6
🔒 Kyler Fuller – 5 pic.twitter.com/HKCi7T4Alr— PFF (@PFF) January 20, 2021
znModerator“Let this eat at your soul, you hear me? Let’s work out, get better next year.”@YouTubeTV Mic'd up: @MichaelBrockers pic.twitter.com/Lgj5JKZEBY
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 20, 2021
znModeratorD’Marco Farr@DMarcoFarr1
3 days removed so now I can say good luck to the Packers. But…you got really lucky AD got hurt the week before. No guarantees in ball but I’m sure that’s a different game if he’s healthy.znModeratorJourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
I’ll add that, strictly in my opinion, McVay’s frustration with his offense (including in himself) that was apparent throughout the season seemed to lean toward bringing DC who he has known for years and who has been a HC. McVay seems to want to throw himself into the offense.The bond between Morris and McVay is really strong. Have been on two staffs together as they were developing into current lives as HC/interim HCs, and basically did their football version of growing up together. Morris has coached a lot of different systems on both sides of LOS.
𝕋𝕠𝕞 – 𝕃𝔸 ℝ𝕒𝕞𝕤@TL_LARams
McVay and Goff’s OC/Pass Game Coordinator/QB coach by year:
2017 – LaFleur (OC) and Olson (QB)
2018 – Waldron (PGC) and Taylor (QB)
2019 – Waldron (PGC and QB)
2020 – O’Connell (OC) and Waldron (PGC)As you can see, there is no consistency in the coaching set up from year to year. It’s no surprise McVay blocked O’Connell from interviewing with the Chargers
znModeratorI don’t know what kind of system he will bring with him to the Rams.
It looks like it’s a 4/3. Unless he adapts. But then, coordinators most always bring their own systems, they don’t switch up to fit the team.
So if they got to a 4/3, they go from having no outside edge rusher to having no right DE.
…
znModeratorSo if the Rams hire Morris, Atlanta likely receives comp, right?
No Atlanta let him go. So he wasn’t their employee to lose.
znModeratorAlbert Breer@AlbertBreer
Sources: The Rams blocked OC Kevin O’Connell from interviewing for the same job with the Chargers. They really value O’Connell, and the job he did for them this year.Lines of communication remain open, so things could change. But that’s where the Rams stand now.
Jourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
Brandon Staley wanted to interview Rams OC Kevin O’Connell for an OC job on his staff, but so far request has been denied by Rams, sources said (lateral move). Staley saw KOC as a guy who could help w/ Justin Herbert’s development and call plays; McVay does not want to lose him.znModeratorJourdan Rodrigue@JourdanRodrigue
I am told that former Falcons DC/interim head coach Raheem Morris is the top external candidate for the Rams DC job, and things could move quickly toward him this week – but the Rams have also been working through interview process with internal candidates as well.McVay and Morris have a ton of history and rapport together from a couple different staffs, FWIW. Falcons ran a 4-3 but everybody has to be multiple now or suffer, so don’t think we should see cement there. I’m more interested in what happens on back end and need LB answers too
Rams “base” (such an archaic term since everyone is in sub packages) anyway should always be: “Aaron Donald, then whatever gets Jalen Ramsey into the most action”…anybody got a good shorthand name for that?
znModeratorOriginally posted by Jack, moved by me
…
.
link https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2021/01/19/rams-raheem-morris-defensive-coordinator-target/
Rams targeting Raheem Morris as next defensive coordinator
Cameron DaSilva
January 19, 2021 1:36 pmA potential big hire for the #Rams, as Raheem Morris was the target in several other places. https://t.co/gvds9UVZOp
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 19, 2021
The Los Angeles Rams have identified their target to replace Brandon Staley as the team’s defensive coordinator. According to Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Rams are focusing on former Falcons interim head coach and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
Morris was Atlanta’s interim coach for the final 11 games of the season after Dan Quinn was fired, going 4-7 during that stretch. The Falcons’ defense got off to a terrible start by allowing at least 30 points in four of their first five games, but they turned things around a bit once Morris transitioned to interim coach.
Morris, 44, was head coach of the Buccaneers from 2009-2011, his first and only stint as a full-time head coach. Tampa Bay went 17-31 in that span and after Morris was fired, he joined Washington as the secondary coach from 2012-2014 – which is where he crossed paths with Sean McVay for a second time; they also worked on the same staff in Tampa Bay.
He also has experience on the offensive side of the ball, coaching Atlanta’s wide receivers from 2016-2019.
The Rams ranked first in scoring defense and yards allowed, so Morris will have some big shoes to fill if he does get the job.
znModerator“The mob was fed lies by the president and enabled by me.” pic.twitter.com/swanodNnMW
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) January 19, 2021
January 19, 2021 at 10:38 am in reply to: Why I think the Center is significantly better than the right. #127034znModeratorWell I had a response based on body parts. One group is xxxxxxxx, the other group is xxxxxxx.
But it wasn’t an appropriate response.
But basically I think you’re right.
znModeratorRampage2K-
Kornhieser said it best about the Green Bay game with this simple statement about the Goff/McVay issues when he said “Goff wasn’t the Rams problem, Rodgers was…”
znModeratorCam Akers playoff rushing:
🐏 Rushing Grade – 84.8 (1st)
🐏 Yards after contact – 154 (1st)
🐏 First down runs – 13 (1st) pic.twitter.com/madJnfTEWv— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) January 19, 2021
znModeratorDeadpool
Offense:
QB:
Lets just dive into it. If there is a serious talk of an open competition, then there is a serious issue here. Note, I said IF. I have a feeling this is a signal for Goff to get his stuff together and fast. Because there is no way there is an open competition with Goff, Wolford and Perkins. Or a rookie somehow. I think Goff is safe for a season, but unless something dramatic changes, he could be jettisoned after next year.
Wolford – I like his off schedule ability, but I don’t think he is a longterm solution. And I don’t think he is Taysom Hill type. He just isn’t that big.
Perkins – Who knows what they have with him.
RB:
Akers could be special. He’s for sure a very capable lead back. I loved the pick, and I still love this kid.
Henderson – I hope he can stay healthy and be a capable backup. change of pace back, hasn’t shown it yet, but there are glimpses
Jones – if Brown goes, I like this kid as a 3rd back.
WR –
Kupp and Woods are obviously back. They are good, they fit the system and aren’t going anywhere.
Jefferson – He slides into that 3rd WR role, unless Reynolds comes back. But I doubt that happens. He’ll be just fine with a season under his belt. Rookie WRs usually take 3 years to hit their stride. He’ll be one year closer next year. No concerns.
Tryston Jackson – just a guy, probably a cap casualty.
Webster – saves 850k with no dead money, he’s gone if I’m in charge lol.
TE:
Higbee – Someone needs to figure out how to utilize him better with that contract of his. He has shown the ability to make an impact.
Hopkins – He’s the #2 next year unless Everett comes back on the cheap. He was my #1 ranked TE so I am excited to see him with a full offseason under his belt.
Thats it. Everett and Mundt are FAs. I think Mundt could come back. But TEs are available cheap in the draft and in FA. I want a guy that can block. From the FB spot as well as in-line. Let Higbee and Hopkins do the catching.
OL:
Whitworth is coming back for one more year? I think so, he’ll be fine. He’s a heck of a leader, heck of a locker room guy and a heck of a community guy.
Havs – He is fine, he would cost 3m in dead cap and save 5 million in cap space if cut, he could be a restructure? maybe. I doubt he is going anywhere unless they think Evans is ready to be a fulltime RT.
Edwards – He is starting at OG somewhere, I really like him and think his arrow is pointing up.
Corbett – He’s cheap at 1.5m, and the Rams would save all of that if they cut him with no dead money. I think he is upgradable, but if they bring him back, it won’t ruin my off season.
Allen – I’d cut him and save 920k, and put that money to good use. He is just not an answer to any OL question.
Noteboom – I just don’t know what to do with him. If he stays, he’d probably be a super sub, because he can be a OG or OT. But then what? He’ll be a FA after next season like Whit. Do you resign him? If cut, he’d save 920k. I think he is a super sub next year.
Evans – He is another super sub that can play inside and out and isn’t going anywhere. I like his upside.
Anchrum – a 6′-2″ college OT that isn’t long enough to be a OT, so do they view him as an OC? Either way, he is cheap depth.
As already noted, I think Blythe is gone. He just isn’t big enough or tough enough.
Defense:
DL:
AD – Greatest DL of all time – thats it.
Brockers – He is solid, and costs 5m in dead money and only saves 4.6m. I am almost certain he comes back. And thats a good thing.
Robinson – this one is tricky. He saves virtually nothing to cut him, a restructure won’t work. So he is back. And hopefully being healthy, we see a real run stuffing difference maker in there.
Gaines – cheap depth
Joseph-Day – under rated, super cheap depth and a solid rotational guy. Exactly what a good team with minimal cap space needs. He is safe.
As earlier noted, Fox is a FA, but should be a cheap re-sign. If not, move on. I’d like to keep him for the record, but won’t lose sleep if he’s gone.
EDGE:
Hollins – a mid season pickup that has a chance to really compete next year.
Okoronkwo – cheap depth, needs to stay healthy. If cut he saves 920k. I’d hang onto him.
Lewis – Get healthy, he has as much upside as any edge rusher the Rams have. He’s not going anywhere.
Floyd, Rivers and Ebukam are FAs, I think Samson is gone, and I think the Rams will try like heck to keep Floyd. And I think Rivers would be a really nice, cheap, sneaky re-sign on a prove it deal. If they don’t re-sign Floyd it might be time for another veteran reclamation project.
ILB:
Kiser – I think he is too stiff and too injured to be counted on as a starter, but he’s cheap depth and will get a shot to compete for a starting spot.
Reeder – a real nice surprise this year, he is also super cheap and will compete for a starting spot or depth next year.
Young – Another cheap option that can compete for a spot or add depth. he’d save 920k if cut.
Howard – he is an exclusive rights FA, so all the Rams have to do is offer him a 1 year vet min contract and he is back. Otherwise he goes away with no dead cap or savings.
CB:
Ramsey – going nowhere
Long – cheap depth with a chance to move up the depth chart.
Thats it. Williams is a RFA, so I’d put a 1st round tender on him and retain him for another year or get a first round pick. That’ll cost about 4.5m ish Cannot let him go for nothing.
Hill is a FA and I think he becomes a cap casualty. I like him. But how do you justify the cost…
S:
Fuller – showed some real high level play, and looked like a rookie. Maybe hit the rookie wall at the end? He’s not going anywhere.
Burgess – Get healthy and see what they have. I think he could be a jack knife back there doing all sorts of stuff for Staley.
Scott – He’s cheap, good on STs and played well when called upon. He isn’t going anywhere.
Rapp -oh boy, he needs to stay healthy. I think he is crucial to have with Staley’s defense and playing 3 safeties. Esp when JJ goes away.
Hughes and Reed – depth guys and cheap, they will compete for roster spots.
Johnson – the big FA in the secondary. I think he is gone, and that sucks. He brings leadership to that group, is a solid player and I think will be missed greatly.
znModeratorJared Goff-Sean McVay relationship needs ‘marriage counseling’ heading into offseason
Nick Shook
The Rams clawed their way to the Divisional Round before bowing out in a two-score loss to the Packers on Saturday, setting up Los Angeles for an interesting offseason at the game’s most important position.
Jared Goff managed to return from thumb surgery in time to enter the game in an emergency situation and help the Rams earn a wild-card win over Seattle in which its defense was the biggest winner. But Goff wasn’t able to keep the Rams in an offensive showdown with the Packers, who ran away with a 32-18 win. Goff finished the season with an adequate body of work, posting a final passing line of 3,952 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, a completion percentage of 67 and a 90 passer rating.
Goff was as effective as he was inconsistent, showing a tendency to start games the Rams ended up winning on a hot streak, and also beginning other contests with struggles typical of his worst days in the NFL. The Rams simply haven’t known which Goff they’d get on a consistent basis, leaving the door open for McVay to take a hard look at his team’s future at all positions — including under center.
McVay told reporters Saturday that Goff is “the quarterback right now,” which wasn’t exactly the most resounding endorsement, and then Sunday he would not implicitly state Goff is the QB going forward in L.A. NFL Network’s Steve Wyche reported Monday there’s more than just inconsistent performance at play with the quarterback situation for the Rams.
“We know John Wolford came in and they were excited about him when Jared Goff got hurt and the way he performed, and then he got hurt,” Wyche said. “So I think a lot of people are wondering if they’re going to bring in a veteran type of quarterback to push Jared Goff this offseason. Or at least have that threat there as a backup to see if they can elevate Goff.
“The people I’ve spoken to said basically at this moment the relationship with Goff and McVay: not great. They need marriage counseling is what one person said to me. I think this is something that they’re going to be able to work through, but there’s got to be some healing and that’s not just with Jared Goff’s injured thumb.”
McVay’s vague responses in Saturday’s aftermath seemed to indicate there was an underlying uncertainty about Goff’s standing that extended beyond his inconsistent play. He did credit Goff for his effort in returning to help the Rams win a playoff game, but noted he needs to meet with Goff to develop a shared understanding heading into an important offseason.
“For me to fully answer that, I think those are conversations that you have between (you and) your players first,” McVay said Sunday, when asked what he needs to feel confident in Goff going into 2021, via the team’s official site. “To be able to have the right plan of attack, I think you’ve got to be able to take a step back, evaluate the entirety of it. What I will say that you certainly can’t take away, that I mentioned to you guys each the last couple of weeks, (is that) for him to come back from a thumb surgery, do what he did in Seattle, do what he did yesterday, it’s a real credit to him, his competitiveness, his resilience. I think there’s a lot of positives from that.”
Positives also emerged from the brief performance of backup John Wolford, who was called into action in Week 17 following Goff’s thumb injury and did enough to get the Rams to the postseason with a regular season-ending win. McVay was unusually optimistic and encouraging when it came to what he saw from his backup in the lead-up to Los Angeles’ wild-card meeting with Seattle, but was robbed of a full showing after an early neck injury ended his day.
Wolford’s existence could be enough to push Goff, one might think, but a third roster spot occupied by someone other than Blake Bortles could prove more effective in pushing the former No. 1 overall pick. After all, that type of draft selection brings with it expectations of a premier passer, not just an adequate one, and with a top-ranked defense essentially being wasted by an offense that didn’t match its performance, it’s time for McVay to search for ways to improve.
“I’d say, I think as you grow, as you continue to learn, that’s just where we’re at,” McVay said, when asked why he might feel a need for a quarterback competition in 2021. “I’m not saying anything other than we’re evaluating that right now. I think it’s important that you do that at every single spot and no position is excluded from that conversation.”
The Rams are now free to join their division rival Seahawks in Cabo, if they so desire, but they have to feel as if their season ended prematurely with such a stellar group on one side of the ball. McVay has plenty of time to work with general manager Les Snead on a plan of attack for 2021.
znModerator@packers busted about this new formation and used it 9X to stifle the @RamsNFL ; both run and pass. @Showtyme_33 @ajdillon7 . What new wrinkle will the #Packers breakout this week to send the @Buccaneers home ? #gopackgo #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/5TaN7MrXXP
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) January 18, 2021
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