Falcons Changed The Culture — With Rah
January 23rd, 2017
Culture-changer
At the NFL Scouting Combine last February, Joe hit Falcons head coach Dan Quinn with questions about his right-hand man, his official assistant head coach, Atlanta’s co-culture-changer-in-chief, former Bucs head coach Raheem Morris.
Quinn had just announced Raheem would move from assistant head coach/secondary coach to assistant head coach/wide receivers coach. And Joe wanted information on this nearly unprecedented move of a career defensive coach jumping to the offensive side of the ball.
Quinn talked about Raheem’s razor sharp football mind and how he was the right guy to transition to the job given his intricate knowledge of passing offense and ability to relate to all players.
As this season progressed, Quinn talked in a conference call with Joe and local Bucs media about how it was valuable to have Raheem’s defensive mind in offensive meetings.
Combine that with Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff recently taking a shot at the Mike Smith/Dirk Koetter Falcons of 2014, saying the Falcons needed to transform from “soft souls” into a bunch of tough guys. And what remains is the irony; the head coach run out of town by Tampa Bay because his team had the wrong culture now resides at the forefront of the Falcons’ Super Bowl squad.
Man, the Bucs franchise writes all kinds of Hollywood-style scripts. You just can’t make this stuff up. What next? Greg Schiano taking over as Saints defensive coordinator and finally fixing it before Drew Brees breaks down?
Joe hopes the next Bucs happy ending is all about Dirk Koetter and his team knocking off the Falcons in the playoffs next season.
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:07 am
Oh jeez Joe LOL
Love the article. But I need some Pepto after being forced to think about Schiano & The Saints.
What a nightmare that would be.
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:08 am
Cant stand the Falcons and Rah has to be in top 3 of worst HC hires in buc history behind richard williamson and lovie or they could all be 1a,b,c sucks for him that he had an HC chance and now it may be more difficult for him to get back there, go bucs, hope dirty birds get blown out by the evil empire and carry that stink over to the new mercedes car stadium, ps how does atalnat afford all these new places, is it all due to that the US bought the others for the olympics?
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:10 am
Raheem was in way over his head when he was head coach, and it showed on and off the field.
I don’t blame him for it though. I blame the team for promoting a young DB coach with no experience as a head coach or even as an NFL coordinator to the top position in the franchise.
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:10 am
They’re the best in the NFC; “Yeah, I said it.”
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:28 am
Rah was in over his head when he was HC of the Bucs, but at the same time the Glazers didn’t give him much to work with either. I think Rah at this point is ready to be a quality HC.
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:30 am
watching yesterday is was noticeable how much better their roster was than us. They are young too.
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:33 am
Rah’s first year was good. Had the team buying in. How much different would year two be if they spent like they did after hey fired him?
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:34 am
And let’s not forget another former Buc Rich McKay is Super Bowl bound once again too.
And then there’s Blount….and Clayborn…and Goldson….
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:35 am
@qqq and @genco…I agree…I think rah is ready for round 2….
cant wait til next year…our turn will be next….GO BUCS!!!!
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:38 am
Yungry.
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:56 am
Bucs DIDN’T give R Morris any players in FA only a punter if I remember correctly. I am not sure if J Freeman would have the problem he had if Rah had stayed. GS was one of MANY BAD coaches Bucs hired if not the worst!
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:00 am
The bucs took some good steps this year in getting better mostly because of coaching and a few free agents.
But they have a long way to go before they get to the Falcons level and the falcons are only going to get better.
If the bucs and falcons played ten times with the teams they have now the dirty birds win 8 or 9 times. Imo tampa is still about 6 players away from really being truly feared or even competing at playoff football.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:13 am
@Mike … “Watching yesterday is was noticeable how much better their roster was than us. They are young too.” Was thinking the exact same thing Mike as I watched both the Falcons & the Patriots. And looking at next season’s schedule, we get to play the Falcons twice and Pats once. Whoopee. Tough schedule again this year, but if we add the right pieces we’ll be competitive.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:38 am
Count me in the minority, because I liked Rah as our head coach. At first I thought he was a nitwit but he won me over quickly. If Rah would have been given the financial support his unsuccessful successors were given, I think he’d still be at the helm. More time and more support and he would have been in the playoffs much sooner. I’m really happy for him now because he’s worked hard to get where he’s at and hopefully he will be a head coach very soon. I absolutely love the guy, but I also think Chucky was a great coach and never should have been fired, wings clipped but not fired.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:39 am
@ defense rules / Mike
I’m just going to bring up the Panthers that were dropping 30-40 on everyone in 2015. Not much change to that roster outside of Norman; and they actually got Kelvin Benjamin back so you’d think their offense would have kept rolling or been even better; but it wasn’t close.
Falcons likely lose Kyle Shanahan to the 49ers job; and the entire league will have spent time figuring out how to counter the success they had on offense.
But Falcons scare me more than anyone else in the division because their talent pool is pretty young on defense and their O-line should be good for Matt Ryan’s final chapter. Brees / Saints seem like a blow up & start over job in a year or 2 even though they have a lot of young weapons on offense and a couple defensive pieces. Cam Newton has basically had the 1 amazing year and been more like an average starter with running ability all his other years
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:42 am
A Falcon win over the Pats will leave only Carolina super bowl less in the division. That game last night the refs were clearly in NE’s pocket. The fumble that was, then was’nt. Multiple pass interference by Pats ignored by refs. The fix was in before the game stsrted.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:42 am
Rah over achieved with the roster that he had to work with in Tampa. The lockout didn’t help that young team out much either.
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:43 am
And to further stir the pot with revisionist history, if the Bucs remained healthy early in the season, they would have been in the playoffs, beat the Falcons twice and beat them again yesterday lol. The Bucs are better team and will prove it next season. I’m going to march in DC with a VJ on my head to protest the Falcons illegitimate victory. Jk
January 23rd, 2017 at 11:50 am
What if?! These are entirely different circumstances surrounding ex-coaches, ex-players, and ex-GMs. We can’t keep looking at these guys in an apples to apples comparison.
Congrats to Rah, McCay, and the numerous ex-Bucs who will be playing in 2 weeks!
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:10 pm
Rah won 10 games with a bunch of UDFA. The Glazers were never spending money when Rah was HC. The following season after they fired Rah and hired Schiano, they went on a spending spree, and they have been spending ever since. Congratulations to Rah, Bryan Cox, Rich McKay and Adrian Clayborn. Now they need to take out Tom Brady and the Patriots. I predict Atlanta wins 31-24.
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:21 pm
@road warrior
I disagree. Bucs do not have a long way to go to get to the falcons level. With both teams fully healthy in week 1, the bucs did work on them. We have lost at some point or another this season over 12 starters or contributors to the team. The falcons are the most healthy playoff team I have seen in a long long time.
If they played with the same team they have now, sure they would win for the most part because we lost pieces and valuable contributors(jaq, vjax, asj, doug, etc.). But if we got most of them back and filled the holes that are missing since that week 1 game (ex vjax with desean Jackson for example) then I would bet on us. don’t forget we won 3 of the last 4 games against them.
Also, they are losing shanahan, the main cog to their success this year. Six players?!?!?! If jaq and sweezy come back and martin gets his stuff together, I would say we need 2 receivers, a safety, and an OL to be contenders. Six would really vault us into making a post season run. You’re underestimating this roster. Injuries killed us.
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:38 pm
we’re not that far off….but this offseason will either help us take 3 steps forward or 3 steps back….
kyle leaving for san fran is a huge blessing because atl has been looking like a power house during the playoffs….they’re young, fast and hungry….they have all the weapons and play solid/very good defense….after the season they will have to learn a new offense that may take some time to get down pact…
we’re closer than people think but I would say we are about 6 players away….cant count on sweezy or martin….bring in 2 olineman, 1 wr, 1 rb, 1 dt, 1lb…draft some players for depth….
our time is next year….we will be in the superbowl with the right additions….GO BUCS!!!!
January 23rd, 2017 at 12:40 pm
Guys every team has a few “x players” and coach’s in the late playoffs. Means nothing when a new season starts. Wait until atl loses kyle shannahan.or how ever you spell it. They better win it this year cause next year will be same old Falcons.
January 23rd, 2017 at 1:21 pm
saying the Falcons needed to transform from “soft souls” into a bunch of tough guys.
——————
I’m guessing this is why GMC likes mike smith so much?!
So ATL fires all our current coaches and hires our former GM and HC and they kick our ass and go to the SB. Lol. TAMPA >>>>>>Bay
January 23rd, 2017 at 1:34 pm
Rah was working with junk and made it work.
Thee end.
January 23rd, 2017 at 1:40 pm
LakeLandBuc ….34-31 Pats.
Yeah I know I hate’m too.
January 23rd, 2017 at 1:44 pm
So freaking Kyle Shanahan can get the Falcons to the bowl but Dirk couldn’t?? Hmmm. And Rah still won 10 games in a season nobody has done it since. By the way have you seen next years schedule not exactly cupcakes on it. Packers, Patriots, etc. 6 playoff teams from this year.
January 23rd, 2017 at 1:48 pm
Raheem was setup to fail by glazers almost as bad as the PATHETIC bad character Lovie Smith setup coordinators to fail year in and year our over the course of his head coaching career. The best part is the pathetic mr smith can look up at Raheem on the bucs all time win list for the rest of his pathetic existence.
January 23rd, 2017 at 1:56 pm
The Glazers thought Rah was going to be the next Mike Tomlin. But Rah wan’t quite ready yet, imo. Impressive thathe is changing sides of the ball. I bet he makes a darn good HC someday.
January 23rd, 2017 at 2:41 pm
The lockout and Dominik not adding any talent killed Raheem’s chances here
With that said I’ll be rooting on the Patriots in the big game
January 23rd, 2017 at 2:46 pm
Joe,
You likely know that the difference between being the number 2 person in an organization is quite different from being the number 1. Rah likely has the luxury of being “one of the guys” at a number 2 position, as long as Quinn brings the “big stick” when someone gets out of line. I think that is the perfect spot for Rah….as a number 2 man. But I don’t think he wants to, or know that he has to be the personality, to be the hard “A”, when it hits the fan.
January 23rd, 2017 at 2:48 pm
Brett…some guys just don’t have the personality to be a number 1…some are just too nice, or don’t want to lower the boom on someone. Rah might be that kind of guy.
January 23rd, 2017 at 2:50 pm
813bucboi … Agree that we’re closer than (some) people think, but not sure 6 players will do it. You hit all the right positions (WR, RB, LB, DT, plus 2 OLine), except I’d add 1 Safety, 1 DE (in addition to the DT) and 1 TE as starters plus some quality depth. That’d be 9 new starters on offense & defense, and obviously we can’t get them all through FA or all through the draft. Seriously doubt that we could even pull that off in 1 yr. That’s one of the key reasons I think it’ll take us another year of making smart personnel moves to be competitive with teams like the Falcons & Patriots. And yes Buddy, next year’s schedule is a bear.
January 23rd, 2017 at 2:52 pm
Buddy I know it’s easy to be Mr. Negative but look at the talent vs when Dirk was there heck vs last year! Alex Mack, Sanu, Freeman, Coleman, Gabriel and that is not to mention about 13 new players on defense. So saying Dirk did not get them there is a bit of a stretch.
January 23rd, 2017 at 2:57 pm
Your grandmother walks like a bulldog.
January 23rd, 2017 at 3:11 pm
Well now we know why the Falcons are McCoy’s favorite team. The softest coach in Bucs history is there
January 23rd, 2017 at 3:17 pm
I still wonder what would have happened if the Bucs had gone with their first impression: Gruden with Raheem as defensive coordinator.
January 23rd, 2017 at 3:32 pm
I just stop by to say Howard Jones and Jac Smith has a whole year in Mike Smiths defense. Oh how some fans forget so quickly how much havoc they caused for our division rivals. Drafting a rookie who has to learn the system can’t be better then these two guys. Jones was reported to be fast as our receivers so line him up on the opposing teams TE. He’s a hybrid and if it’s up to YALL he will get ran out of town. I know availability is the best ability but they both had unfortunate injuries. Channing Ward and Davonte Lambert can be made into DTs. I think once we get healthy on the and Dline we’ll be okay. Draft the best player in a key position we need for the team. Target vets in FA like last year and we going up hill. I can’t wait to see how this play out.
January 23rd, 2017 at 3:39 pm
Ndog- I hear what you’re saying but take a look at Dirks track record in Atlanta & Jax as the OC. After having a grewat first year at both places then the bottom falls out. Not all his fault I know but he did call the plays….
January 23rd, 2017 at 4:07 pm
If Schiano ever made it to the Saints, you can bet that Glennon would be right there with him.
January 23rd, 2017 at 4:24 pm
The Falcons offense will shine without Kyle Shanahan, they have always scored points and they always will. Dan Quinn was hired to fix the defense, and he have done that through the draft. He have drafted a lot of good players on the defensive side of the ball.And Dan Quinn has built an excellent coaching staff beginning with Rah. I give credit when credit is due, and the Falcons Front Office deserves a lot of credit for building this Super Bowl team.
January 23rd, 2017 at 4:49 pm
I totally agree with BigMacAttack, no other coach Tampa has had in recent memory did as much, with so little.
He took us to 10 and 6, the best record we have had in a long while.
We never gave him chit as far as players go, and then fired his O Line Coach over a personality conflict.
IMHO, we set him up to fail.
It is said we promoted him because we were afraid he would become the next Mike Tomlin.
Well guess what, he is in the Super Bowl, while Mike Tomlin is forced to watch.
January 23rd, 2017 at 5:09 pm
@Dusthty Rhothdes, you get hit in the head with a chair by Dick Murdoch or Dick Slater? Raheem is the only coach in almost a decade to have a Bucs squad with Double Digit wins at the end of a season….just saying.
January 23rd, 2017 at 5:10 pm
This move really peeved me. I thing Raheem Morris was a good, borderline great coach that was so far over his head that it wasn’t even fair. If the Glazers hadn’t been in so much debt with Man United they wouldn’t have run such a shoe string operation. They would have retained Gruden and named Morris the Defensive Coordinator, and spent some money in free agency. Instead they fired Gruden because he didn’t agree with the salary purge… I mean cutting our higher paid … well I guess what I meant to say was rebuilding with a total youth movement.
January 23rd, 2017 at 5:36 pm
Happy for Raheem Morris. Screw the Falcons but good for him.
January 23rd, 2017 at 7:25 pm
Remember too that Coach Rah was paired up with Spandau-ballet loving ex-GM Mark Dominik.
January 23rd, 2017 at 8:55 pm
Raheem Morris thought that when the Glazer Boy(s) called him into the office, he would get Monte Kiffin’s job. He was ready and eager to do it. Wrong! He was told to either take the HC job or hit the road. Gawd only knows what would have replaced him?????!! I supported him the cos I knew he got the screws put to him. Congratulations and kudos to him!! Mebbe there really is something to all this noize about karma. I’m fascinated by his coaching the Chicks’ wideouts. Hope good ole karma will help beat the very (yawn) boring New England Beli-cheats. I’ll skip the Stupor Bowl. Looking for the Bucs to be in the playoffs next year!
January 23rd, 2017 at 10:41 pm
All those beatings from his uncles prepared him.
January 24th, 2017 at 12:22 am
Raheen was the worst hire this team could have made directly after Gruden. The man is a great assistant coach, but a horrible head coach.
January 24th, 2017 at 10:45 am
@Eric (the other one)
I’m going to need you to change your user name.
Thanks!
January 24th, 2017 at 1:04 pm
Don’t forget our OC being exposed for not calling his own plays and leaving and the DC also leaving and Morris taking over the defense mid season