Raheem Morris will take over the 0-5 Atlanta Falcons in the wake of Dan Quinn's dismissal.
The Falcons finalized a deal to make Morris their interim head coach, 国产外流网Network's Tom Pelissero reported, per a source informed of the situation.
The team later confirmed the move.
"Raheem is a strong leader and a talented coach that has adapted to a variety of roles since joining the Falcons in 2015," Falcons president and CEO Rich McKay said in a statement. "He has experience as a head coach and has worked on both sides of the ball. We felt that combined with his connection to the players and coaching staff, which will be an important factor as we move forward in 2020, he was the right person to give this responsibility to."
Atlanta also announced Monday the firing of special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica, who had been with the team since 2019. The Falcons added that linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich will replace Morris as defensive coordinator, running backs coach Bernie Parmalee will replace Kotwica as special teams coordinator and game management coordinator Will Harriger will replace Parmalee as running backs coach.
Morris spent three years as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-2011, compiling a 17-31 recorded. He sandwiched a 10-win 2010 season between a three-win year in his first leading the Bucs and a four-win campaign that lead to his dismissal.
The 44-year-old Morris joined the Falcons in 2015 as DBs coach after three years in Washington. He was moved to WRs coach in 2016, where he spent three seasons. The Falcons moved him back to the defensive side of the ball, where he helped improve the secondary late in 2019 and helped save Quinn's job for another offseason.
Morris took over as the full-time defensive coordinator in 2020.
Given his head coaching experience, Morris was the logical choice to take over after the Falcons fired Quinn following Sunday's Week 5 loss. After being credited with helping improve Atlanta's defense last year down the stretch, Morris was even considered a fringe head coaching candidate.
Morris is now charged with injecting life into a listless club that just fired its longtime coach and GM after a 23-15 home loss to Carolina. If Atlanta turns its season on a dime, expect Morris to be a candidate for a permanent head-coaching gig. The interim's task begins Sunday in Minnesota against the 1-4 Vikings.
