Falcons icon addresses hiring of Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick

Atlanta Falcons icon, one-time Most Valuable Player and current CBS Sports NFL analyst Matt Ryan recently spoke with Ryan Gaydos of Fox News Digital about Falcons owner Arthur Blank hiring former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris instead of Bill Belichick as Atlanta's next head coach.

"I think there was consideration to what Bill could bring to the organization," Ryan said. "But I’m not surprised that Raheem ended up back there. He was with us in Atlanta for six years. I always thought he was so good. He had coached all these different positions. He came in for us on the defensive side of the ball and switched to offense, came back to defense and became the interim head coach. So, I saw him in all of these different capacities. He was a guy that could coach anybody. He just knows how to get the best of the players."

Ryan was with the Falcons when Morris served as an assistant head coach, wide receivers coach/offensive pass game coordinator, defensive coordinator and interim head coach for the club during a stint that ran from 2015 through the 2020 season. Blank mentioned such experience while explaining why Morris was "just the best choice for us" more so than Belichick, a living legend. 

"He also understands the organization," Ryan added about Morris. "Knows the inner workings of the organization, which I think is helpful. He’s got a great relationship with Arthur Blank. I think he’s a good fit in Atlanta. I really believe that. I think that’s a good football team down there that needs to solidify the quarterback position, which I think they’ll do this offseason, and I’m rooting for them."

Morris ultimately hired former Rams pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson to be Atlanta's new offensive coordinator. Ryan said that Morris "is fired up about Zac" and believes Robinson is a younger version of San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. 

Shanahan has guided the Niners to a pair of Super Bowl trips since the start of the 2019 season and is widely regarded as one of the sport's top offensive minds. 

"He’s really close with Kyle," Ryan said about Morris. "He’s got a good understanding of what that process should look like. He feels confident in Zac."

Morris, Robinson and the rest of the staff will now hope to make Falcons fans quickly forget that Belichick may or may not have been one positive January chat with Blank away from accepting the Atlanta gig.