Raheem Morris was officially named the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday. Immediately, former players and people connected to the NFL were on social media applauding the hire. He is praised as being a "players coach" who will bring the organization together in a major way.
Former Atlanta Falcons General Manager Thomas Dimitroff agreed with this assessment when he joined The Steakhouse on Friday morning.
"I think Raheem is a fantastically smart and adept coach in many ways," Dimitroff said about the new Falcons head man. "He is one of the top-3 in developing players [and] he is in the top-3 or top-5 of also the disciplined defenses."
Morris joins the franchise after spending the last three seasons as the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, the same role he had with the Atlanta Falcons in 2020 before he was named interim head coach. Before being named Dan Quinn's defensive coordinator, he was the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator.
It's not often that you see coaches at any level flip between the offensive and defensive staff, and much less at the highest level of the sport. In order to do this, one would need a deep understanding of the sport and how it connects.
Clearly, the new Falcons' head coach brings that to the table.
"[Morris] brings to the table an unbelievable energy," Dimitroff finished. "I have not met a man in this business who is as quick and intuitively sharp as what Raheem is. He brings that great leadership ability to mold with the players and meld with the players and mix with the players that, I think, is not common in the NFL."