Broncos to interview Morris for head coach

Raheem Morris may not be the Bucs defensive coordinator next season after all.

The Denver Broncos have asked permission to interview Morris for their head coaching job.

The Broncos fired coach Mike Shanahan on Tuesday after 14 seasons. Morris will interview with Broncos owner Pat Bowlen on Monday in Denver. The Broncos reportedly will have an informal interview with Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo Saturday in New York.

Morris, 32, was named the Bucs defensive coordinator for 2009 on Christmas Day, succeeding Monte Kiffin, who is joining his son Lane at Tennessee.

But Morris is considered a rising star in the coaching ranks and is a protege of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.

The Bucs cannot block Morris or any assistant coach from interviewing for a head coaching job.

Kiffin had nothing but praise for Morris upon leaving the Bucs.

"Raheem is a very enthusiastic person, a very likeable person and will be good with the press,'' Kiffin said. "But that's not why he got the job. There are coaches like that but they can't really coordinate. But Raheem, he's ready. He deserves it, he's ready and he can do it. I know good coaches when I see them.

"I saw Pete Carroll at age 25 as a (graduate assistant) at the University of Arkansas. He was there about three weeks and Lou Holtz was the head coach. He asked, "How is that young guy doing, that G.A. for you?' I said, "Get to know him because he won't be here very long.' You can tell sometimes. I saw that with Mike Tomlin.''

Morris joined the Bucs in 2002 as a defensive quality control assistant. He was a defensive coordinator at Kansas State in 2006 but returned to coach the Bucs defensive backs in 2007.

 

Comments

[Sir Pritam the Great of England]

Uh-oh, SpaghettiO

[Jeff]

He's gonna get it.

[GrudenHater]

Good luck to Raheem. I hope Denver is taking him seriously and not just using him for the Rooney Rule.

[Timjk54]

Maybe the midget can coach BOTH sides of the ball next year .. who knows , maybe he is actually a DEFENSIVE guru !! God knows it ain't the other side ..

[Cirtos]

Im the only Bronco fan south of the Mason-Dixon line and I can tell you that this guy isnt qualified to handle the pressures of being the head coach in Denver. Please keep him in Tampa.

[Rob]

Whether he gets the Denver job or not, you must remember that under the Rooney Rule, teams must interview a certain number of minority coaches for a head coaching job.

[Jason]

Cirtos, who are you to say if a guy isnt qualified to become a head coach? It's obvious you have no clue what you're talking about and I bet you haven't even seen Morris in action

[Doctus]

If Raheem Morris gets hired by the Broncos, should the Bucs interview Marinelli?

[John]

Yeah, Denver is talking to a 32 year old who's never been more than a position coach about their head coaching job because he's "qualified".... Uh-huh. The Rooney Rule is Affirmative Action for the NFL with the same inevitable result - justified suspicion of any decision to hire or even interview a black person. But the charade goes on...

[Cindy]

Good Luck, Mr. Morris!!! You may get it and then defeat the Bucs. It would serve the naysayers, Romney Rule phobes, and the cheap Glazers right. Without you and Monte Kiffen, Gruden will be even more lost. Maybe someday we'll get a decent coach again. Until then, the Glazers need to pay for the stadium.

[brianj]

How about Raheem Morris, Head Coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[John P]

Can't we put Gruden on a plane and ship him to Denver instead?

Morris is a future head coach, but not yet. He'll need to be a coordinator for a year, at least, before he's a serious candidate.

[Joe Simmons (Slow Joe)]

Rooney Rule. No question.

Still, Morris should take advantage of it. Every interview, every contact, any networking he does at all will help his coaching career. If he interviews well, even if he doesn't get the job someone will remember.

[Erick]

I don't think I want Marinelli back. With his taste for ex-Buc cast offs can he really evaluate talent? And lord knows we need some new talent, especially on the D-Line.

[ORLBUCFAN]

AMEN, John P and Slow Joe. Mike Tomlin had a little more NFL coaching experience when the Steelers hired him. However, the future is bright for Raheem & I wish him the very best. 2009 could turn out to be very interesting if Raheem stays & Jay Gruden becomes TE coach. Also hope Doug Williams stays here, too. We could use some good Buc Luck for a change. ;-)

[Robert]

I wish Morris good luck, but if he doesn't get the job I think it shows that even though you cant replace a guy like kiffin, we got somebody capable of doing a great job calling the defensive plays for us!

[Anthony Peranio]

Not gonna get the job. Just being interviewed because of that joke AKA the rooney rule. totally makes a mockery of the coaching hiring process.

[Jay]

Mike Tomlin was the DB's coach before being hired as the head coach in Pittsburg, so I don't see how this would be a stretch.

Yeah, it's a Rooney Rule interview, but at least we're talking about him instead of bringing another old white guy cast off in for another cycle of failure. I'd much rather be talking about Raheem Morris for head coach than Dennis Erickson or Jimmy Johnson coming back. This isn't college football, where you can get away with institutionalized racism.

[Vincent]

Before it's inception 80% of the players were minority, and almost none of the coaches, ergo, the "Rooney rule" was introduced. For the uninformed, the "Rooney rule" does NOT require that a team hire a minority, only that they be interviewed! With pay roles of over $150,000,000 per season, trust that race has little influence in the final decision, only the potential for wins and losses!

[John P]

Jay, Tomlin had one year as D Coordinator in Minnesota the year before being hired to coach the Steelers. It's rare that a position coach climbs to head coach before handling a coordinator role first.

[realismcounts]

I would like to see Raheem go. It's time for a new non-Kiffin defensive approach. Monte was great, but nothing - even great defensive schemes - don't last forever. Let's get us some physical headknocker approach.

[Kurt]

So, I wonder, if 80% of the players are black, why arent' more white people playing? Shouldn't there be a higher percentage than 20% of white players? I wonder why that's not a problem to minorities? Could it be that there is and has been a minority laden job field which makes millionaires out of most of its employees and no minorities are relishing how fair the system is? It's called discrimination of another color. I'm just sayin...

[brianj]

Kurt, that's just stupid and anti-historical; I'm guessing that doesn't matter to you too much.

[B. Lebowski]

At this point the guys who got head coaching jobs from the Dungy/Kiffin tree have had mixed results; Tomlin, Edwards, Marinelli.

Morris should have his shot with the Bucs but he's not a 100% lock. We got lit up several times this year and especially at the end by some lame teams. I know the Tampa two depends on good QB pressure, but so does every other defense. In fact it's generally all about the guys in the trench on both sides.

It does appear that guys like to play for Morris. If it gets Phillips back that will be a good thing.

[D Block]

Hey fellow Buc fans we all know this is about the Rooney Rule. But to say he is not qualified is a bit of a stretch to me, Atl & Bal are both in the playoffs. Former position coaches with no coordinator experience. I personally would like for him to stay, the system is not broke we just need more youth (speed & strength) on the field.

[D Block]

I think he will do a good job here, Monte was still the coordinator all 16 games. The front 4 was either old, or banged up towards the end of the yr which lead to our meltdown. Morris has been in charge of our secondary the best part of our D the youngest part of our D. Tanard Jackson, Phillips, Sabby, Talib, & Mack. We need Raheem, i hope he stays. Maybe there is a BLIZZARD & he realizes that Denver weather SUCKS!!!!!

[D Block]

CONGRATULATIONS to Raheem reguardless!!

[IMISS_No47]

Cowher in 2010!