Getty Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons huddles with Todd Gurley #21 and teammates.
Since Raheem Morris took over the head coaching spot for at least the remainder of the season, the Falcons have gone 4-2. Before that, the Falcons were 0-5 under ex-coach Dan Quinn.
Earlier this week, Jeff Schultz of The Athletic asked Morris what’s it’s been like taking over Quinn’s role. Well, Morris didn’t have much time to ponder moving up, but he wasn’t ignorant as to why it happened the way it did either.
“Usually, you get an offseason and you get a bunch of team meetings and a whole preparation thing where you plan it out and you’re ready to go”, Morris explained via The Falcons Wire. ‘Here’s the spill, here’s the philosophy, here’s what we are going to do moving forward.’ And for me, I had about 2 hours.”
You get a chance for your friend, Dan Quinn, to say goodbye to the team and turnover the reigns to myself and then you get to talk to them. And you got to be flat out honest with them and tell them the truth. The truth was we had failed that man miserably through the first five games. And that’s the cost of what happens and the cost of doing business. And we are going to move forward and I asked them guys to let me lead them.”
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Morris Still Faces Tough Test
The Falcons may be playing a better second half of the season, but they still face a tough schedule to end the year. And it starts this Sunday when they matchup against the Saints for the second time. A lot will come down to Morris who will be in charge of handling the re-match.
Morris has a winning mindset and he tries to push that onto his players too but at the end of the day, he knows exactly what he can and can’t control.
“I definitely have the 1-0 mentality. The only thing I can tell you about giving somebody an honest shot, just in life, is what they do for me on a daily basis, and all I’m given is the utmost support from the highest level of the organization to the lowest level of the organization. If somewhere in between you have a bunch of people trying to do a bunch of things to get the 1-0 mentality, that’s how you know how much support you’re getting.”
Could Morris Win The Job?
It’s tough to say where Morris is on Arthur Blank and Rich McKay’s candidate list, or if he is even on it, but they’re giving him a shot at it.
“If Raheem ends up 11-0, he’s certainly going to be a candidate,” Blank said via Falcons’ official website. “I think it’s to Raheem’s advantage, I know his aspirations long-term is to be a head coach again. He’s learned a lot since his Tampa Bay days, he’s learned a lot with us. I think with 11 games he’ll have a chance to show his own capabilities and I think he’s looking forward to doing that.”
As I said, Morris still has a tough test to pass and this weekend’s re-match and Atlanta’s performance against the defending Super Bowl champs will prove a lot.
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Raheem Morris Says Falcons ‘Miserably’ Failed Dan Quinn