One Man’s Opinion: Did Raheem Morris just become the Vikings top Head Coaching candidate?
Continuing our look at head coaching candidates that have been tied to the Minnesota Vikings we turn our attention to a newer candidate that splashed this week and may very well have jumped his way straight to the top of the charts for Vikings fans.
Yesterday we took a look at Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and his candidacy for the opening. It just so happened that yesterday was also the day that the Vikings sat down with Moore for his official interview.
But onto Morris…
Raheem Morris popped up on the radar just this week as the first in a second wave of candidates that the Vikings had requested interviews for and his interview is already scheduled (virtually no doubt) for this coming Friday.
Morris, who is still coaching in the playoffs with the rams and preparing for a game this weekend against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers brings a few unique attributes to the table that have helped him grow in popularity pretty quickly.
First off, he’s 45 years old. That’s not young but definitely not old as far as NFL coaches go, and that brings with it a unique level of experience. In a day and age where hiring the youngest possible NFL head coach is all the rage, I’d argue that is a dangerous trend to attempt to follow. For every Sean Mcvay hire that there is in the NFL, there’s a Lane Kiffen and an Eric Mangini and a Raheem Morris…wait what?
That’s right, this wouldn’t be Morris’ first crack at a head coaching job. At the age of 32, Morris was named the head coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs in 2009. He last three seasons and managed to win 17 total games with Josh Freeman at the helm included a 10-6 season in 2010. You could certainly see this as a negative attribute, having already failed once as a head coach. I’d argue that the fact that he had a unique experience to learn from that experience. All in all, it was a “failed” experiment, but the fact that he’s found a way to work his way back up through the coaching ranks to become another viable candidate shows some resiliency and experience that many of the other candidates don’t have.
The path back was interesting as well. That journey took him to three different teams (Washington, Atlanta and Los Angeles) and got him experience on both sides of the football. While traditionally thought of as a defensive coach, for five seasons with the Falcons Morris held roles on the offensive side of the ball working as the Pass Game Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach while also serving as Assistant Head Coach to Dan Quinn. That stint also included the noted run to the 2016 Super Bowl and saw Morris get another crack as head coach filling in as Interim in 2020. Following that, he popped over to Los Angeles and led the vaunted Rams defense for the past two seasons.
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So we’ve got positive experiences on both sides of the football, but his expertise might be on the side of the game that the Vikings need the most help with.
Coming off of Mike Zimmer as the head coach it’s easy to want an offensive mind to come into the fold and try their hand. But given the way that the 2021 Minnesota Vikings performed and the challenges faced with personnel on defense next season, there’s an argument to be made that if you’re bringing in extra help and expertise, it might be needed on the defensive side. Then bring in an edgy, up-and-coming coordinator to work with Kirk, Justin and Dalvin.
When it comes to that defensive prowess, he’s also received a glowing endorsement from one of the league’s best defensive players. After it was announced that the Vikings had requested an interview with him, Rams CB Jalen Ramsey took to Twitter to support his coach calling him “the best coach I’ve ever had.”
Needless to say, there’s a lot hinging on Friday’s interview. On paper, he makes the case for a very attractive candidate to be the next head coach of the Vikings. We’ll have to see if he can stick the landing with the Vikings brass.
Consider me intrigued.