Assistant coaches under Sean McVay have continuously receive interest from teams for head coaching roles since he was hired by the Los Angeles Rams in 2017.
Ever since McVay arrived in Los Angeles, four of his assistant coaches have been hired as head coaches: Matt LaFleur, Brandon Staley, Zac Taylor, and Kevin O’Connell.
After getting a chance to see him work with the team in 2021, Andrew Whitworth feels defensive coordinator Raheem Morris should be next. Whitworth is lobbying for Morris to get another chance to be a head coach in the NFL.
Better be next!!!!!! https://t.co/rkIHMWXIQw
— Andrew Whitworth (@AndrewWhitworth) September 7, 2022
Morris is entering his second year as the defensive coordinator of the Rams, and with teams around the NFL clamoring to hire anyone that is associated with McVay, he could be given another opportunity to be a head coach soon. From 2009 to 2011, Morris spent three years as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
In those three seasons, Morris led the Buccaneers to a 17-31 record, though Tampa Bay went 10-6 with Josh Freeman as its starting quarterback in 2010 when Morris was only 34 years old. After failing to get another head coaching job following his time with the Buccaneers, Morris did serve as the interim head coach for the Atlanta Falcons in the final 11 games of the 2020 season, going 4-7 in those games.
When speaking about Morris, McVay expressed his confidence in Morris becoming a head coach again.
“He’s going to be a head coach again—no question about it,” McVay told Andscape. “He’s such a special leader, such a special coach. And when you think about the things that a great head coach does—has command over the game, command over a room, the ability to connect with a bunch of different people—Raheem does all of that. He just has great ability to lead, teach, motivate, inspire. He checks every single one of those boxes.”
With a few teams likely looking for new head coaches in 2023, Whitworth and McVay are doing their best to ensure Morris gets a much-deserved promotion after this season.
