Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank addressed a rumor regarding Bill Belichick and the team’s apparent reason for deciding not to hire the legendary head coach.
The Falcons were the only team that interviewed Belichick for their head coaching position. In a move that surprised many, Atlanta passed on Belichick after two interviews and instead hired ex-Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their new head coach.
There were numerous reports suggesting that the Falcons passed on Belichick because of his insistence that he get plenty of power/control on front office decisions. But while speaking on “Super Bowl Live”, Blank emphasized that this wasn’t at all the case.
“I want to be clear really on behalf of Bill, just as a human being and as a storied coach in the history of our league. Been a coach 49 years in the NFL. Bill, during all of our discussions with him, it was never about power, control, needing people to work for him, etcetera. He was interested in coaching. He definitely wanted a collaborative relationship with personnel, scouting. He had done his reference checking on our department, had committed to me that he’d be happy to work with our people. In fact, did it in writing through a text message he sent to me at one point.
“Bill was really focused and is focused on being a great head coach, which is clearly what he has been. We looked at all the candidates that we interviewed, all the time together, and we felt for a variety of reasons that the best choice for us at this point in our lives, the life of the franchise going forward, is Raheem Morris.”
The 47-year-old Morris was on Atlanta’s coaching staff with Dan Quinn from 2015 to 2020. Morris coached Atlanta’s final 11 games in 2020 (a 4-7 record) following Blank’s decision to fire Quinn after an 0-5 start.
The Washington Commanders (Quinn), Carolina Panthers (Dave Canales), Los Angeles Chargers (Jim Harbaugh), Seattle Seahawks (Mike Macdonald), Tennessee Titans (Brian Callahan) and Las Vegas Raiders (retained interim HC Antonio Pierce) also passed on Belichick to hire younger options.
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The New England Patriots parted ways with Belichick last month and promoted Jerod Mayo to the head coach position.
