Falcons Hire Raheem Morris Over Bill Belichick, Zac Robinson 'Strong Candidate' For OC Job

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be facing plenty of new head coaches in 2024. Raheem Morris is one of them, though this won’t be his first time running a team. According to multiple reports, the Atlanta Falcons are hiring Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their next head coach. 

This is Morris’s second head-coaching gig as he was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ head coach in 2009-11. He also served as the Falcons’ interim head coach to finish out the 2020 season.

Atlanta cast a wide net in its head coaching search. That included at least two interviews with former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, once considered the favorite but now possibly frozen out of this year’s head-coaching hiring cycle. With the Falcons’ job spoken for, the only two remaining head coach vacancies are the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders. Neither team has shown interest in interviewing Belichick.

According to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, Rams Passing Game Coordinator Zac Robinson is a strong contender to become the Falcons’ new offensive coordinator. Pittsburgh has reportedly requested to interview Robinson, though that hasn’t taken place yet.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted a similar thought.

Pittsburgh is set to face Atlanta in 2024, one of the Steelers’ nine road games. The exact week will be announced when the league releases its schedule during the summer.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has spoken highly of Morris over the years. Friends who coached together in Tampa Bay from 2002-05, Tomlin’s pushed for Morris to be reconsidered in head-coaching circles.

In a 2022 interview with The Pivot, Tomlin made the case for Morris and seemed frustrated that he hadn’t gotten another opportunity.

“I know that some of the guys being denied are in the top 32,” Tomlin said in June 2022. “Raheem Morris is the best coach that I know and have been around that don’t have a head job. I don’t have a problem saying it, and I have never had a problem saying it. I’ve been saying it. So, during those times when they are talking about me and are relating the Rooney Rule and the things that I’ve done and all of that, I’m thinking about those guys and whether or not they are going to get an opportunity to prove what I know about them.”

Now, Morris will get that second chance. The key will be fixing the Falcons’ quarterback situation, the team still searching for a franchise arm. Atlanta will pick eighth overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, putting the organization on the outside of selecting a blue-chip prospect though it’s possible the Falcons trade up or target a veteran option like Kirk Cousins. Atlanta finished 2023 with a 7-10 record, losing four of its last five games and finishing third in the NFC South. The Falcons haven’t made the playoffs since 2017.

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