Rams Hire Raheem Morris as new DC

[So Ram]

Sean has earned the trust to hire whoever he sees fit. He's 2 for 2 so far with Wade and Staley. I'm excited for whoever it is. Morris makes sense with his familiarity and experience in the league.

Without Wade Phillips Mcvay does not get The Rams JOB.

 

[den-the-coach]

Hopefully they announce this soon, seems to be taking longer unless they are just working it out.

 

[TheBunk]

The problem is if everything goes as well as we hope, Morris will be gone to HC for another team at the end of next season. I'm certain it's a calculated move on his part but there's a good chance we're in this position again in 55 weeks.

 

[dieterbrock]

Morris doesnt get a HC job unless the defense performs well next season.
If the D remains dominant, we can be in this position every year as far as I'm concerned

 

[Neil039]

I heard Goff maybe looking for work. He’s seen his fair share of blitz packages and defensive alignments. Wonder if he’s interested???

The teams strength flipped in two years to the defense side of the game. I’d love for the players and fans for a few years of continuity. Morris appears to have respect around the league. Bigger issue would be transitioning to another scheme, 3rd in 3 years.

 

[den-the-coach]

The problem is if everything goes as well as we hope, Morris will be gone to HC for another team at the end of next season. I'm certain it's a calculated move on his part but there's a good chance we're in this position again in 55 weeks.

Not going to happen, IMHO, Morris has a career record of 21-38 and usually coaches with records like that do not get a second chance. He actually did a very good job as Interim Head Coach because the Falcons should have won more games under him, but with that record history shows us teams are leery like Dennis Allen with the Saints and his career record.

Head Coaches with closer to .500 records get second chances, but with records that are so one sided, it's tough to excite a fan base, however, Bill Belichick received a 2nd chance going 36-44 with the Cleveland Browns so anything is possible, but I would be shocked if the Rams lost Morris moving forward.

 

[fearsomefour]

Funny thing was when the Rams hired Son of Bum, the concern was that he'd switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4

And that was justified at that time.
It’s always justified.

 

[ReekofRams]

In today’s NFL there is no true 3-4 or 4-3 defense. Throughout the game if you run a so called 3-4 defense you’ll spend a fair amount of time playing a 4-3 scheme. And if you run a so called 4-3 defense you spend a big percentage of time in the game in the 3-4 scheme. So Morris will be qualified to coach any style of defense the Rams need and should play.

 

[iamme33]

am i the only one that worries about there might be hard feeling from our position coaches that have been passed over twice now. sure would like to be a fly on the wall of some of those coaches offices.

 

[Dodgersrf]

am i the only one that worries about there might be hard feeling from our position coaches that have been passed over twice now. sure would like to be a fly on the wall of some of those coaches offices.

My original thought as well.
However. Much of our defensive staff have worked with Morris as well. Already having a relationship with the rest of the staff should soften the blow.

 

[Angry Ram]

In today’s NFL there is no true 3-4 or 4-3 defense. Throughout the game if you run a so called 3-4 defense you’ll spend a fair amount of time playing a 4-3 scheme. And if you run a so called 4-3 defense you spend a big percentage of time in the game in the 3-4 scheme. So Morris will be qualified to coach any style of defense the Rams need and should play.

Yeah, there's a lot of nickel and dime looks than base packages these days.

And hell, players that traditionally play one position get moved around just like offensive players. I.E., Jalen Ramsey playing "star" or a safety being a pseudo linebacker.

 

[Merlin]

The problem is if everything goes as well as we hope, Morris will be gone to HC for another team at the end of next season. I'm certain it's a calculated move on his part but there's a good chance we're in this position again in 55 weeks.

I think what people overlook with Staley getting that job so quick is how good he was. If they had finished let's say 10th in the league he's probably still our DC. But he was doing shit that had folks talking around the league all season. Here's a quote from a PFF article they wrote about him after the season:

"From Steven Ruiz of USA Today and Robert Mays of The Ringer to myself for PFF.com, analysts all over the country have spilled ink on Brandon Staley’s defense and how the defensive coordinator lived a little outside the box this season.

His two-high structure, even when it spun down to single-high, allowed him to create more than two layers to his zone defenses. His use of star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, moving him inside to the “star” position and then taking that position out of the run fit made a lot of noise in the media and coaching circles. His use of the “tite front” in a zone-running league helped minimize runs even while playing with deeper safeties.

Those are all great ideas, some that Fangio was already toying with and some that other coaches have had success with, as well. However, the difference was that in a league that prefers to run a single-high Cover 3 defense that may have run its course, Staley put together a unique defense that one could argue will spread throughout the league.

With the rise of the single-high defenses in the NFL that came as the Pete Carroll coaching tree spread out, there was a return to the wide zone-running scheme on offense, with Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay becoming head coaches after spending some time with Mike Shanahan in Washington.

Suddenly, every owner in the league wanted a coach to come in and run that offense. With the second safety nestled in the box to stop the run, the boot action off play action — the centerpiece of that offense — proved to be tough to handle. With only a deep safety, intermediate crossing routes couldn’t always be picked up, and sometimes, when they were, the ball was thrown deep to the receiver running the post route.

This is why a return to two-high, where a crossing route can be picked up without leaving the middle of the field open to that post, is probably imminent in the NFL. Staley brought this idea and meshed it with a 3-4 front world, where each lineman could control between one and two gaps and regain lost space even without having a low safety in the box. The Rams played with a two-high look on roughly 45% of snaps in 2020, more than any other defense in the NFL."

 

[Merlin]

Speaking of PFF articles... In this one which covers cutting edge FBS schemes they discuss FBS three-safety defenses (which relates to the old Tampa 2 and which I find to be an interesting coincidence with us hiring an old Tampa 2 guy).

What I am wondering here is whether we might see the Rams continue to be cutting edge at the NFL level this season on defense by introducing some of those concepts. Basically what is going on is the old Tampa 2, whose weakness has always been a light box in the run game, has been getting a facelift with a third safety added who reads high to low and provides run support on the way in so to speak. Anyway it's a good read like most PFF articles (which are a lot better than their rankings for the most part).

The fact that we have a SS type in Rapp makes this intriguing too. He could perform that role quite easily I imagine. I have a feeling we might see some of this stuff as McVay tends to be a guy on the cutting edge of schematic trends.

 

[Merlin]

Lastly I'll add that IMO safeties replacing ILBs is coming. It's an inevitable trend for a couple reasons...

1. Continued refinement of passing games and rules to favor them.
2. Difficulty in finding ILBs who move the needle.

Every year in the draft there's a guy or three who have the mix of abilities who project to potentially being an ILB who can cover or fill downhill vs the run. But after them it's JAG city with a ton of two down types and oversized safeties who will probably still suck at run support compared to a classic ILB. There just aren't enough of those guys to go around so that reinforces the schematic side which, IMO, will also trend that way.

 

[Gandalf]

Hopefully this isn't us chasing the new 3rd round comp pick formula. Because I think morris will be a head coach soon.

If he is capable of being a head coach soon, then he should be qualified to be our DC.
Do you think they picked him over other more qualified coaches because he is a minority? I seriously doubt it.

 

[Ram_Rally]

If he is capable of being a head coach soon, then he should be qualified to be our DC.
Do you think they picked him over other more qualified coaches because he is a minority? I seriously doubt it.

No but it doesn't hurt.

 

[CGI_Ram]

 

[BatteringRambo]

I think they picked him because he was simply qualified and McVay and him go way back. That's continuity reuinted. I e. Arians and Todd Bowles.

 

[ottoman89]

Surprised we haven't heard any more about this today.

 

[SteezyEndo]

Well someone edited him on our coaching roster as D coord in wikipedia...I dunno.