Raheem Morris has the benefit of taking over one of the league’s best defenses from 2020, as the Rams finished leading the league in both points allowed and yards allowed.
In his introductory press conference on Thursday, Morris said he’s planning on blending a mixture of former coordinators Wade Phillips and Brandon Staley into his scheme for 2021. But he also feels like Los Angeles has set itself up well just from the basics, with a unit led by now three-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey.
“This is a fundamentally developed team, and they did a great job of developing this team fundamentally,” Morris said. “Some they went out and bought, like a Jalen Ramsey. And he’s a fundamentally sound, absolute just dog, competitor. He’s an absolute dog, a guy that you want to go out there with toughness and to be able to play. And then you’ve got guys like Aaron Donald that they’ve been able to draft, and acquired throughout the draft and have done some things that way and just developed into these great players. And after you get a few great players, you get people around them that you found are just better than what they thought, and they become better versions of themselves — and so do the coaches.
“It’s no secret that the Rams coaching staff has just been rated the way it has been because of the things they’ve been able to do here, and it starts with our leader, Sean McVay.”
Based on the way things have gone in the last few coaching cycles, if Morris keeps up Los Angeles’ defensive performances, he may have a shot at a full-time head coaching job in 2022.