The only things on the San Francisco 49ers’ and Kyle Shanahan’s minds right now are defeating the Detroit Lions in tomorrow’s NFC Championship and making it to the Super Bowl.
However, the 49ers coach, who is regarded as one of the league’s best offensive minds, has had to come up with strategies to attack one of his team’s main rivals’ defenses since 2021 and twice this season.
Raheem Morris has been the leader of the Los Angeles Rams defense for the last three seasons, despite significant injuries and personnel changes. The 47-year-old Morris was the coordinator of the Rams’ 2021 Super Bowl-winning defense, which prevented the 49ers from making it to the championship game.
Raheem Morris has been the leader of the Los Angeles Rams defense for the last three seasons, despite significant injuries and personnel changes. The 47-year-old Morris was the coordinator of the Rams’ 2021 Super Bowl-winning defense, which prevented the 49ers from making it to the championship game.
Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers placed third in their division in 2021 despite having a 10-7 record, and they unexpectedly advanced to the Wildcard Round. Despite losing to Shanahan’s 49ers twice in that season, the Rams finished with a 12-5 record and won the NFC West.
In an NFC Championship game between rivals in 2021, Shanahan guided San Francisco to an extraordinary playoff run. There, he would face the Rams once more, needing a third victory over his division rival to advance to the Super Bowl.
Rather, the run game was entirely shut down by Raheem Morris and the Rams’ formidable defense, which forced Jimmy Garoppolo to outshine them through the air. The 49ers managed just 282 total yards, including just 50 rushing yards, by the end of their 20-17 defeat. On third down, Shanahan’s offense was limited to 3-of-9 passing, and Garoppolo made a crucial interception.
When asked about Raheem Morris, the Rams DC who was hired to be the head coach of the Falcons, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan raved about him.
Morris has been regarded as one of the NFL’s most intelligent assistants and leaders ever since his first head coaching stint ended in 2011.
For a number of years, he has been seen as a rising star because he possesses the uncommon leadership qualities and flexible style required to succeed as an NFL head coach. The Rams DC was contacted by five different organizations for interviews, and while he was being shown around, one NFC team took the unexpected decision to lock him down so no one else would.
Arthur Blank surprised the NFL world by naming Raheem Morris the next head coach in Atlanta, where he previously served as the DC under Dann Quinn before joining the Rams, even though it appeared like the Falcons were going to lock down former Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
It is with great relief that Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers can say good-bye to Morris as the Rams DC.
The general manager of the Rams, Les Snead, attempted to convince head-coaching hopefuls of Morris’ excellence with a long monologue. Here are some quotes from him:
Few coaches in the world have experienced both of those rooms on both sides of the ball. Because of his exceptional collaboration skills, he will provide any organization with a competitive advantage that most teams cannot match.
“He’ll be able to hire an amazing staff, I’m sure of it. Almost every coach in the NFL who is qualified and good will want to work for Raheem, and I’m pretty sure there will be a lot of charges of tampering because almost every player will text Raheem asking to play for him. I’ll leave that up to the NFL.
Although Morris was a rival of Shanahan’s in more recent years, the two coaches collaborated during their careers at Tampa, Washington, and Atlanta.
Kyle Shanahan was asked about his thoughts on the Falcons hiring Raheem Morris as their next head coach while the 49ers were getting ready for tomorrow’s game against the Detroit Lions.
Shanahan gave him a hearty recommendation and acknowledged that over the previous few years, he had attempted to get him hired by the 49ers.
Well, it’s much overdue. One of the best coaches I’ve ever worked with is Raheem. He and I were able to collaborate earlier in my career in Tampa. I used to try to convince my dad to give him a job as a D-Coordinator when I was younger. He quickly rose to the position of head coach.
Later, I was able to collaborate with him in Washington. Then he was actually playing defense in Atlanta. He was able to join me for a year as an offensive coworker.
It was incredible how cool he was to have been our receiver coach despite spending his entire career on defense. How well he performed. yearly attempts were made to bring him here. Raheem, though, has been among the best. He’s going to have a great organization with wonderful people. I’m overjoyed for Raheem and truly thrilled for Atlanta that they got him.
