RAMS’ DC MORRIS FOCUSED ON LIONS OVER INTERVIEWS
Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris confirmed Thursday that he has received requests from the Chargers, the Atlanta Falcons, the Washington Commanders and the Carolina Panthers to interview for their open head coaching positions.
“Those are the ones that I know about,” Morris said.
Due to new league rules, candidates currently employed by NFL teams must wait until after the divisional round of the playoffs to interview with other organizations.
Morris said that rule change has impacted his approach to the process, especially as the Rams prepare to face the Detroit Lions on Sunday in the opening round of the postseason.
“It really doesn’t factor in,” Morris said. “I’m preparing for Detroit and getting ready for a really good opponent. If you take this for granted, you don’t get the opportunity to go to the playoffs a bunch.”
This is hardly Morris’ first time going through the coaching carousel. At 32, he was promoted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to head coach and spent three seasons in the role. He also served as interim head coach for the Falcons in 2020 before being hired by the Rams as defensive coordinator in 2021.
He interviewed twice for the Minnesota Vikings job during the Rams’ Super Bowl run two years ago and for the Indianapolis Colts last winter. In the course of those experiences, Morris’ approach has changed.
“To say I wasn’t thinking about when I got the offer then would not be telling the truth,” Morris said of 2009. “But the times that I have been in the playoffs, it’s been handled the same way. Because being in the playoffs and getting to this moment, we got so much respect for the NFL, the shield, everybody knows that’s first and foremost on your mind.”
His work this season has been among the most impressive of Morris’ career.
The Rams entered the
season with future Hall of Famer Aaron Donald and a bunch of question marks on defense. Even some of the experienced players within the group, like safety Jordan Fuller, were returning from seasons that had been limited by injuries.
But the group quickly coalesced, holding the Seahawks to 12 total yards in the second half of the season opener and shutting opponents out in five halves this year, all games the Rams won. Defensive tackle Kobie Turner has blossomed into a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate, while veterans like Fuller, Ernest Jones and Ahkello Witherspoon have improved their standing across the league.
“Ra, he’s special in the way he’s able to see the game. He doesn’t coach any of us the same,” Fuller said in October. “If he does need to tell you to get better at something, you won’t come away from the conversation feeling attacked at all.”
As those four interviews loom later this month, Morris understands that most of what he has to show in those meetings is his authentic self. Other than that, let the résumé and film do the talking, starting Sunday in Detroit.
“I think as you go through this profession, the people that request you for these moments, they respect winning more than they respect anything,” Morris said. “So it’s really just I’m going to do what I do best in order to put out my best information for those guys when I get to that point. And I’m not at that point yet. I’m still focusing on Detroit.”