Atlanta Raheem Morris announced his arrival as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, announcing that he was home, twelve years after his first head coaching opportunity with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had ended.
Ever since his final day in Tampa in January 2012, he has been gearing up for this. Morris is now managing an NFL club once more, this time in the same division and a state to the north.
Morris, club president Greg Beadles, and general manager Terry Fontenot gave a speech on Monday, their first since selecting their new head coach. This is what we discovered.
Despite the cheery and content expressions Morris and Fontenot put on Monday, the truth remains the same: Unless Atlanta finds a solution for its quarterback situation, the team’s previous six seasons—all of which finished below.500—will not significantly alter.
Morris stated the Falcons will look in free agency, investigate trades, and take the draft into consideration while Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke are still under contract for the upcoming campaign.
Heinicke and Ridder were not named. Morris and Fontenot have discussed the quarterback situation “very limited” thus far.
“When you get those guys that are elite processors, when you get those guys that are decision makers,” Morris stated. “You get excited to go out there and find those things when you find those guys who can just cut it loose, play ball, and also play with those great fundamental techniques that we talked about — the base, the balance, the short hits in the pocket, some of those things.”
Furthermore, it’s not always simple to see.”
In the league, it’s the hottest term. Morris and Fontenot collaborated via FaceTime while Morris was wrapping up in Los Angeles, and they will now work together in person.
Both expressed their intention to function in such manner; the only distinction is that they would now answer to Blank rather than CEO Rich McKay.
“In my interview process, I said, ‘Hey, I don’t need to be the smartest person in the building,'” Morris stated. “My goal is to hire. I desire to own. It desires to be involved. I’d like to work with every intelligent individual you’ve brought together.”
Morris hoped to establish a connection similar to that with a general manager after observing how the Rams functioned under general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay.
Morris said that he believed he had all the answers when, at the age of 32, he was hired by the Buccaneers. That was unsuccessful. Over the past 12 years, he has so learned how to rely on others. He visited a number of businesses, including the Los Angeles Rams, Falcons, and Washington Commanders, and observed their workflows.
Morris claimed that he also learnt about the maturity of the industry. For example, at one point in his career in Tampa Bay, he ended up taking over defensive playcalling. He stated on Monday that Jimmy Lake, the new defensive coordinator, will be in charge of calling plays.
“Me being able to be on both sides of the ball so I can really be involved in how we handle situations, how we go about our game management,” Morris stated. “All those type of things just so you can be the entirety of the head coach and control the football team the way you want to control it.”
It was also very evident that Fontenot had a significant influence over the hiring decision. According to a news statement dated January 8, the Falcons first said that Fontenot would have “input” in the process, with Blank and McKay leading the hunt.
Subsequently, McKay declared that Fontenot would have “a central role” in selecting Smith’s replacement. Fontenot said on Monday that he oversaw the applicants’ interviews.
“I had the authority to oversee that procedure,” Fontenot declared. “We know Arthur made the ultimate decision, but it was an excellent process, and we’re excited about the result.”
McKay, Beadles, deputy general manager Kyle Smith, and former Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace, who serves as director of player personnel, were among the others engaged.
Not much information was provided by Fontenot and Beadles on the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach. However, Atlanta gave him two in-person interviews. Belichick, said to Beadles, was “obviously a very serious candidate for us.”
Beadles and Fontenot refused to respond when asked if Belichick’s desired degree of authority and control was a problem for Atlanta. Belichick was unemployed this cycle.
“At the end of the day, it was just what’s the best fit for us in the current situation where we are, the current time that we are,” Beadles stated. “Our group was unanimous to Arthur in our recommendation that that was Raheem.”
