Raheem Morris’ appointment as the next coach by the Atlanta Falcons incited heated feelings has former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.
Coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers took time to support the head coach of his previous company, even as he prepared his team to play the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Before being hired by the 49ers, Shanahan was the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons in 2015 and 2016. When questioned this week about Raheem Morris’s potential to become the team’s next coach, Shanahan gave a positive response.
Shaunahan remarked, “Oh, it’s way past due,” regarding Morris being given another opportunity as a coach.
Prior to overlapping with the Washington team and the Falcons, Morris and Shanahan were teammates on Jon Gruden’s staff with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the mid-2000s. The thing that most impressed Shanahan was Morris’s ability to switch to the offensive end of the court while working for Dan Quinn’s staff in Atlanta over ten years ago.
One of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with is Raheem, Shanahan remarked. “He was one of my coworkers in Tampa early in my career. I used to attempt to talk my dad into hiring him as a defensive coordinator when I was younger.
Shanahan went on, “He became a head coach so quickly.” “I later had the opportunity to collaborate with him in Washington. Then he was actually playing defence in Atlanta. He was able to join me for a year as an offensive coworker. It was amazing how amazing and talented he was to have spent his entire career on defence and then become our receiver coach.
In his early thirties, Morris did get his first opportunity to coach when he took over for the aforementioned Gruden with the Buccaneers from 2009 to 2011. A 17-31 record may have been a result of him being too inexperienced at the time, but there wasn’t much skill either. Since then, Morris has accumulated over fifteen years of experience, which includes turning around a 0–5 Falcons squad in 2020 and leading the team to a 4–7 record in his temporary role.
Although Shanahan was never able to bring Morris onto his staff while he was with the 49ers, he is thrilled about the opportunity Morris now has with the Falcons.
Every year, I made an effort to bring him to San Francisco. Raheem, though, is among the best. He’s going to have an incredible organization, a good situation with good people. I’m really happy for Atlanta that they got him, and more than happy for Raheem,” Shanahan said.
