The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Morris: We need to impose ourwill
Teamhas to find a way to ‘ end games,’ says interimcoach.
Newly minted Falcons interimcoach RaheemMorris knows what his team’s mission is moving forward.
“At the end of the day, we have to find a way to put our foot on people’s throats and endgames,” MorrissaidTuesday. “That’s what has got to happen.”
Morris, whoplayedforDan Quinn in college at Hofstra andfollowedhiminto the college and then pro coaching ranks, took over for Quinn, who was fired Sunday.
Morris is charged with trying to get the Falcons turned around.
The Falcons ( 0- 5) are set to face the Vikings ( 1- 4) at 1 p. m. Sunday atU. S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
“Our job as coaches is to identify problems,” Morris said. “Players’ jobs are to fix them. Rightnow, we’re inthe business of identifying problems. It’s starts this week.”
Morris, 44, was named head coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at age 32. He coached for three seasons after Tampa Bay fired Jon Gruden. He went 3- 13, 10- 6 and 4- 12. He was fired after three seasons.
He went to Washington ( 2012- 14) and then to Atlanta ( 2015- present) and has workedwithMike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan, SeanMcVay, MattLafleurandQuinn. Morris has coached on offense and defense. He was the Falcons’ wide receivers coach from2016- 18andstudiedKyle Shanahan’s coaching tapes before taking the position to get a better understanding of the offense.
Lastseason, hemovedover to the defense after the team went 1- 7 in the first half. He helped the team win six of the final eight to finish at 7- 9 andwasnamedthe defensive coordinator for 2020.
Morris did not sugarcoat the Falcons’ situation. It sounded pretty dire.
“Right now, we’ve got a lot of people in disarray both on the personnel side, on the coaching side, and everybody is trying to figure out what to do and how we are
‘ Right now, we’ve got a lot of people in disarray both on the personnel side, on the coaching side, and everybody is trying to figure out what to do and how we are going to do it next.’
Raheem Morris
Falcons interim coach
going to do it next,” Morris said. “My No. 1 job right now is to get all of this tied to together and find out how to win this next game.
“That’swhatwe are going to try to do, find a way to go out and get the next game won. We are going to focus our energy on that.”
Morris did not answer the question when asked if there would be any lineup changes. The official depth chart released by the team didn’t reflect any changes.
Morris, whenhewasWashingtondefensivebackscoach, used to preach about having a gunfighter’s mentality.
“Whenyougooutandplay this game that we play, you give everything that you’ve got,” Morris said. “You put your all into it every single weekwhen you go out there. ... However you look at it, you’re going to lose some games. There are going to be some things that don’t go yourway. When you’re a really good gunfighter, you get shot.
“When you go out there and you shoot your gun, and you do the best job that you can do every single time, there are times that you’re not going to win.”
Morris’ head coaching experience in Tampa Bay was a plus.
“He has the right kind of enthusiasm to lead the players I think in a positiveway,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. “He’s been an offensive coordinator and he’sworked with our receivers, understands that side of the ball well. He’s been a defensive coordinator.
“I think he’ll bring whatever new ideas and task the players in maybe ways they haven’t been tasked, maybe moving somefolks around.”
Morris was widely credited with the defense’s turnaround over the second half of last season.
“Raheem was in the middle of a lot of that in terms of the defensive side of the ball,” Blanksaid.“Therewere quite a few changes made that he was a catalyst for. So, we’ll see if he’s able to do that again this year.”
Blank met with Morris at length Monday.
“He’s ready to go,” Blank said. “I know we made the right choice with Raheem. We’ll see where it takes us. The players will definitely be supportive of him. That I do know.”