Two of the head coaches hired in the NFL this offseason came from the Atlanta Falcons' all-star staff from 2016, a group that included Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel.
Raheem Morris was part of that staff, working as an offensive assistant for the first and last time in an NFL coaching career that began in 2002. Now he's getting a second shot at being a head coach, returning to the Falcons to replace Arthur Smith.
Morris reminisced at the 2024 combine in Indianapolis about his experience on that 2016 Atlanta staff, which featured new Washington head coach Dan Quinn in that role along with assistants McDaniel, Kyle Shanahan and Matt LaFleur.
Asked specifically about McDaniel, Morris shared the same sentiments we've heard about him since he became Dolphins head coach: very smart, very unique personality.
WHAT RAHEEM MORRIS SAID ABOUT MIKE McDANIEL AT THE COMBINE
"Mike, I've known for a very long time. I've known Mike from being whatever — I don't even know if you can call them quality control coaches anymore because nobody wants to have that title — an offensive assistant that had a real big background in the run game where I really learned and they had a really big background with a pass game and sitting down with him, you just recognized the brilliance in the young guy at the time.
"And then you watched him grow and he was really weird like he is with you guys (in the media) and I knew he was a different dude. And if you sat there long enough to listen to him get across his point, you were gonna learn something from him.
"And then he was one of those guys that got close to me from a friend standpoint. And I got a chance to meet his family and know all those people and what they do, and for him to get a chance to go out there and display his genius over the last couple of years, if you let him tell it, has been fun to watch what he's doing in Miami and even watch him grow as a leader of a football team and to have the presence that has been able to go with in his style and his version has been fun to watch as well."
Morris, who previously had been head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-11, ended up staying with the Falcons through 2020 before joining the Los Angeles Rams.
McDaniel and Morris worked together for four seasons — 2012-13 in Washington and 2015-16 in Atlanta — before McDaniel joined Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers in 2017 and eventually was hired by the Dolphins.
The Dolphins and Falcons are not scheduled to face each other this season, but will meet in Atlanta in 2025.
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