On Thursday, one of the most sought-after head coaching positions in the NFL was filled, but it wasn’t Bill Belichick. Raheem Morris has been recruited by the Falcons to take Arthur Smith’s spot on the sidelines, despite all the rumours that Belichick is interested in moving to Atlanta.
Morris, who served as Atlanta’s wide receivers coach, assistant head coach, and defensive coordinator for a portion of the 2020 season, was chosen by the Falcons. However, a lot of people anticipated that Belichick would be the one to take Smith’s place at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. As a result, the NFL’s current leader in coaching victories, who left the New England Patriots earlier this month, will now be searching for his next position.
For the previous three seasons, Morris served as the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. Morris has a number of other positions in between, including head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011, where he posted a 17-31 record while serving in a variety of capacities for six seasons. In 2020, he took over as the Falcons’ interim head coach after Dan Quinn was dismissed, and he won four of his eleven games in that role.
The Rams never finished higher than 15th in scoring defence or 17th in points allowed while Morris was in charge. However, Los Angeles returned to the postseason this year and won the Super Bowl at the end of Morris’ first season leading the defence, with a big contribution from the Rams’ defence. Los Angeles finished the regular season with seven wins out of eight games and only gave up more than 350 total yards twice.
The Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Chargers were thought to be Belichick’s preferred landing locations, but both spots are already occupied, so it’s unclear what the former coach will do next. The only other NFL teams without a new head coach announced this cycle are the Washington Commanders and the Seattle Seahawks.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, since Belichick left the Patriots, the Falcons are the only team with which he has communicated. As a result, there is a rising chance that the 71-year-old’s quest for the all-time victories record may have to wait until 2025. Belichick needs 15 more wins to tie the record of 347 career victories held by the late Don Shula between the regular season and the postseason.
