The Falcons have completed two interviews with only two head coaching candidates. Bill Belichick, who remains most people’s frontrunner for the vacancy, met in person last Friday, and old friend Raheem Morris met in person with the club on Tuesday, according to the team site.
It would be pretty ironic if three years ago the Falcons passed over Morris in favor of Arthur Smith only to hire the former Falcons interim as their next head coach.
Honestly, that’s why I see it as a long shot. I find it incredibly unlikely that Arthur Blank and Rich McKay would eat crow and admit they were wrong the first time around.
Some believe he’s the backup plan to Belichick, like D. Orlando Ledbetter suggested a couple of weeks ago.
Back on Jan. 11, we reported that Belichick was the target for the #Falcons and Morris was the fallback move. Only two people have had second interviews with the #Falcons. https://t.co/Tb2M9HCPA0
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) January 24, 2024
“Belichick reportedly is assembling a staff and could be a candidate in Washington. Former Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris is a potential fallback candidate if the Falcons can’t land Belichick,” the Falcons beat writer said.
On the one hand, it doesn’t make sense because Blank would basically be admitting the last three years were a total waste of time. On the other hand, Morris could actually be the backup plan to Belichick.
Just recently, Bill Simmons threw his two cents into the whole McKay-Belichick dilemma, stating that Blank wants the architect of The Patriot Way but all the front office folks don’t want him.
“I’m telling you from so many different people — basically Arthur Blank wants to hire Bill Belichick, and all the front office people in Atlanta don’t want to hire Belichick because it’s like any big company — sport franchises are like microcosms of all big companies,” Simmons said on his podcast, via the New York Post.
Simmons would go on to put out a scenario that the Falcons front office, who are seemingly led by McKay, would suggest another candidate… Raheem Morris.
“The people that run the franchise, they just want to keep their jobs, they’re in job preservation mode, so they’re like ‘Maybe we hire Raheem Morris.’ Yeah, you hire Raheem Morris, he’s young, you’ll have your job for five more years,” Simmons added.
Morris spent three seasons as the Buccaneers head coach from 2009-11, winning 10 games in his first full season. He’s most recently helped the Rams to a Super Bowl as their defensive coordinator, but he does have experience on both sides of the ball.
Raheem Morris is an intriguing candidate for those reasons. Perhaps the most attractive facet of his candidacy is how coaches love coaching with him and players love playing for him. Morris should be able to build out a good looking staff and attract prospective free agents. That should appeal to Falcons fans.
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Photographer: Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire
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