Raheem Morris enters his second season as the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. He was hired by the team on Feb. 1, 2021.
Morris reunited with Rams Head Coach Sean McVay for the third time in their coaching careers after working together with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008 and the Washington Football Team from 2012-2014.
Morris joined the Rams after serving as defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons before being promoted to interim head coach from Week 6 through the conclusion of the 2020 season.
During the 2021 season that culminated with a Super Bowl championship, the Rams averaged 1.5 turnovers a game and recorded 25 during the regular season. Through 17 games, Morris' unit allowed only two teams to score more than seven points in the first quarter. Under Morris' leadership, the Rams' defense featured three players (Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd and Von Miller) that ranked in the top 20 in sacks. Additionally, Morris' defensive unit ranked third in sacks with 50 and fifth in tackles for loss with 85 during the regular season.
Additionally, the Rams defense ranked sixth in the NFL in opponents rushing yards per game (103.2), sixth in opponents rush yards (1,754), and fifth in yards per rush (3.96). Morris' unit held opponents to a 51.8% red zone efficiency rate, which ranked eighth-best in the NFL.
Morris also led a secondary that ranked fifth-best in opponents passer rating (83.8) and third in interceptions (19). The secondary finished second in the NFL with 17 opponent passing touchdowns allowed and a 0.89 opponent pass touchdown to interception ratio rate.
In 2020, after an 0-6 start, the Falcons named Morris as their interim head coach after entering the season as the defensive coordinator. In the final 11 games of the season, Morris helped the franchise win four games.
Under the guidance of Morris, the Falcons defense finished the 2020 season tied for sixth in the league in red zone defense (82.1 percent) and sixth in rush defense (104.8 yards per game).
Morris began the 2019 season focused on the receiving corps but turned his attention to the secondary after the bye week following a tumultuous start. Over the final eight games, the team went 6-2 and the defense went from having the lowest amount of takeaways in the first half of the season (four) to finishing with the second-most in the NFL (16) after Week 9. The defense also catapulted from the bottom of the league rankings to the top-10 in sacks (32nd to 10th), scoring efficiency (32nd to ninth), and red zone efficiency (31st to 6th) over the final eight weeks of the season.
In 2018, Morris' coaching played a part in helping the offense average 290.8 passing yards per game, which was the fourth-best average in the league. The passing attack continued to improve from 2017 to 2018, with the offense averaging 50 more pass yards
per game and totaling 15 more passing touchdowns in the year span. Under Morris' guidance, first-round draft pick Calvin Ridley led all rookies in receiving yards (821) and touchdowns (10). He also helped Mohamed Sanu reach a career-high in receiving yards as well. Sanu's 838 receiving yards was the first time in his career topping 800-plus receiving yards.
He also played a role in another great year from six-time Pro Bowler, Julio Jones. Jones recorded 1,677 receiving yards, which was the second-highest total in his career and hauled in 113 passes, which was the third time in his career that he's posted 100-plus receptions in a season.
During Morris' second year as the wide receivers coach in 2017, his group hauled in 214 receptions for 2,848 yards and 13 touchdowns. Morris' coaching played a hand in Sanu achieving a career-high for receptions, a mark he set the previous year under Morris' tenure. Sanu finished the year with 67 receptions for 703 yards and tied a career-high with five touchdown receptions. Morris also played a crucial role in another impressive year from Jones, who was selected to go to his fourth straight Pro Bowl after hauling in 88 receptions for 1,444 yards and three touchdowns.
After spending his first season with the team as assistant head coach/defensive passing game coordinator, Morris transitioned to the offensive side of the ball in 2016 and was named the assistant head coach/wide receivers coach. In his first season coaching the wide receivers, Morris worked with one of the best receivers in the game in Jones. Jones recorded 1,409 receiving yards, which was second in the NFL that season. His entire receiving group teamed up for 223 catches for 3,226 yards and 22 touchdowns. The unit included Taylor Gabriel, who recorded a career-high six receiving touchdowns and Mohamed Sanu who tallied a then career-high 59 receptions.
During Morris' first year in Atlanta, he was named the assistant head coach/defensive passing game coordinator to help out with the secondary and their efforts to slow down the passing attack of the opposing teams. The defense only allowed 19 passing touchdowns, which was tied for the third-lowest total in the NFL that season. The defense also forced 15 interceptions that year, which ranked within the top 10 in the league. These numbers gave the defense a 1.27 touchdown to interception ratio, which was the seventh-best touchdown-to-interception ratio in the NFL in 2015.
Morris joined the Falcons after spending three seasons as the defensive backs coach for the Washington Football Team. In 2012, he helped Washington's defense finish tied for fifth in the NFL with 31 takeaways and oversaw a unit that tied a league-high with 94 passes defensed and ranked fifth in the NFC with a 3.3 interception rate.
Prior to arriving in Washington, Morris spent three seasons as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-2011. He was the league's youngest head coach in 2009 and in 2010, his team finished with a 10-6 record. The Buccaneers made their best turnaround in franchise history in 2010 after going 3-13 in 2009.
Morris served in multiple capacities with the Buccaneers during two different stints with the team before he was promoted to head coach. He spent two seasons as the team's defensive backs coach from 2007-08, when the Buccaneers ranked second in the NFL allowing 170.5 passing yards per game. During that span, the Buccaneers ranked among the league leaders with 22 interceptions.
He spent one year as the defensive coordinator at Kansas State in 2006, where he helped seven Wildcats conference honors. Morris' unit featured two first-team All-Big 12 selections and one second-team honoree.
Morris made his NFL coaching debut with Tampa Bay as a defensive quality control coach in 2002, when the club won Super Bowl XXXVII. The Buccaneers defense allowed an NFL- low 12.3 points per game, the third-best scoring defense since 2000. He served as a defensive assistant with the Bucs in 2003 and as assistant defensive backs coach from 2004-05.
In 10 seasons in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers finished fifth in total defense five times, while leading the league in 2002 and 2005. He also helped the team finish as the top-rated pass defense three times (2002, 2004 & 2007).
Morris began his collegiate coaching career an assistant coach at Hofstra in 1998, where he was responsible for coaching the offensive scout team, developing scouting reports, and video breakdown. He moved on to Cornell University as defensive backs coach and special teams assistant for the 1999 season. Morris served as defensive backs coach at Hofstra from 2000 to 2001 before joining the Buccaneers. He also held a defensive minority internship position with the New York Jets in the fall of 2001. Morris played safety at Hofstra from 1994-97 and received his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. He is an Irvington, N.J. native.
