Raheem Morris, head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, interviewed a number of applicants for the position of defensive coordinator on his new staff, but he eventually chose a well-known individual.
In place of Ryan Nielsen, who left the Falcons to join the Jacksonville Jaguars before Atlanta signed Morris on January 25, the team announced on Monday that Jimmy Lake, the associate head coach of the Los Angeles Rams, will take over as defensive coordinator.
When Morris was the cornerbacks coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Lake was his assistant, their professional relationship started in 2007.
For the following two years, they were apart, but in 2010–2011, Lake worked as Morris’ defensive backs coach while Morris was Tampa Bay’s head coach.
Following that, Morris joined the Washington Commanders as their defensive backs coach. He then spent six years in Atlanta, finishing as the team’s interim head coach for 11 games. After that, he spent three seasons working as the defensive coordinator in Los Angeles.
On the other hand, Lake went back to collegiate football to teach defensive backs and coordinate the defence pass game for Boise State University in 2012–2013.
He moved from coaching defensive backs at Boise State to defensive coordinator at the University of Washington, where he eventually became head coach.
Before being sacked on November 14, 2021, just than a week after being suspended for pushing a player out of the way of a scuffle, Lake had a 7-6 record in his two years as head coach. Washington covered his buyout, and he was not let go for good reason.
After taking a break from football in 2023, the 47-year-old Lake rejoined the Rams in the spring of 2023 as an assistant head coach, whereupon he was reunited with Morris, who was still the team’s defensive coordinator.
Morris was credited by Rams head coach Sean McVay for assisting in the development of his friendship with Lake, which eventually proved to be a significant factor in the Rams’ choice to hire him.
According to McVay, “I’ve known Jimmy for a while through Raheem Morris,” on March 10. “Excellent overall viewpoint; as a head coach, he will undoubtedly have areas of strength on the defensive end of the ball, but his leadership abilities in moving the ball from offence to defence and defence to offence will be quite beneficial.
