Kyle Shanahan on Raheem Morris getting another coaching job: “It’s way past due”

The Falcons have hired Raheem Morris as the team’s new head coach, three years after he finished the 2020 season as interim head coach. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is happy about that.

“It’s way past due,” Shanahan told reporters on Friday. “Raheem’s one of the best coaches I’ve been with. I got to work with him earlier in my career in Tampa. When I was young I was trying to get my dad to hire him as a [defensive] coordinator. He ended up becoming a head coach so fast. Then, I got a chance to work with him in Washington. Then Atlanta, he actually was on defense. He got to come work with me on offense for a year. The fact that he was on defense his whole career and came to be our receiver coach, it was unbelievable how cool he was. How good he did. Always tried to get him here every single year. But Raheem’s been one of the best. He’s going to hell of an organization, a good situation with good people. I’m really happy for Atlanta that they got him and more than happy for Raheem.”

Morris became a head coach at 32, replacing Jon Gruden after he was surprisingly fired by the Buccaneers. Morris held the job three years, before getting extensive experience on both sides of the ball.

Now, he’s back in the NFC South, where two of the teams will have new head coaches and all of them will have new offensive coordinators. Morris has a chance to do in Atlanta what he wasn’t able to do in Tampa, 15 years after getting his first opportunity.