Raheem Morris: 'Nothing Special'
Raheem Morris: 'Nothing Special'
Should the Seahawks hire Raheem Morris? Seaside Joe 1787
If you were evaluating Sean McVay as a head coach candidate in 2017, you probably would have said there was nothing special about him other than the fact that he became an offensive coordinator when he was only 28.
McVay had been Washington’s coordinator for three seasons and the offense got better with each year (Kirk Cousins gave him a signed jersey when he left that said, ‘I owe you my career’ which is 100% true) but as far as the coordinators that we tend to “FREAK OUT ABOUT” every hiring cycle—like Ben Johnson or Mike Macdonald or anyone attached to Kyle Shanahan—that wasn’t what Sean McVay was in 2017.
Not that it was McVay’s fault, but Washington had only gone 0-1 in the playoffs during his tenure (a blowout loss at that), so it’s nothing compared to Johnson’s Lions making the NFC Championship game this weekend or Macdonald’s Ravens dominating and humiliating anyone in their path.
(Except for McVay’s Rams, actually)
When people talk about “the next McVay”, they tend to focus on two things: Age and generational playcalling talent.
One, you should never hire a coach simply because “he’s so young!”. Like, what if practice is scheduled during his nap time:
Two, McVay may be a play calling wunderkind, but it didn’t necessarily show up where people tend to want to see results which is in the box score. Washington only had a borderline top-10 offense and they couldn’t run the ball effectively.
If you were hiring a head coach to get the most out of running back Todd Gurley in 2017, there’s no way that the first name to come to mind would’ve been Sean McVay. Maybe in the interview McVay laid out all the reasons that he was going to turn Gurley into an All-Pro, I’m just saying that the Washington teams he had with Matt Jones and Robert Kelley did nothing to suggest that in his first season with the Rams, a running back would be the Offensive Player of the Year.
Well, Todd Gurley was by far the most productive running back from 2017-2018 and a head coaching hire who had never had a top-5 offense before finished first and second in scoring in his first two seasons on the job.
The Lesson: Sean McVay didn’t get a head coaching job at 30 because he had the number one offense or because the Rams wanted to make history. No, McVay is where he is because he exudes the qualities of a head coach, so much so that even as a 26-year-old tight ends coach he was capable of standing up to Mike Shanahan when he felt it was necessary.
(It is at this time that Seaside Joe feels compelled to add that Sean McVay’s grandfather John was a college and NFL head coach who spent 20 years in the 49ers front office, which also had something to do with his rapid ascension.)
Furthermore, Kyle Shanahan’s first eight seasons as an offensive coordinator ranged from “fine” to “poor” prior to the Falcons leading the NFL in scoring in 2016. If we judged Shanahan on only those eight seasons instead of his last season, nobody would call him a “guru”.
Prior to Mike McDaniel becoming the head coach of the Dolphins in 2022—improving the 22nd ranked offense to 11th in his first season and 2nd in 2023—his resume was “I do what Kyle Shanahan tells me to do”.
Before the Bengals hired Zac Taylor, a coach who took them to the Super Bowl in his third season, Taylor had never called an offense other than one season at the University of Cincinnati and a short interim audition with the Dolphins in 2015.
John Harbaugh had only ever coordinated special teams before becoming head coach of the Ravens. And Dan Campbell was hired by the Lions almost exclusively based on things like “heart” and “passion” because as a tight ends coach over the previous 10 years, what else do you go off of?
Harbaugh, Shanahan, Campbell…these are three of the last four standing. The other, Andy Reid, had only been a quarterbacks coach prior to being hired by the Eagles and that QB (Brett Favre) had already won MVP twice before he was promoted.
You can’t claim that any of these four head coaches were hired because of their success as an offensive or defensive coordinator, with the exception of Shanahan based on about 10% of his entire career on the job. One season.
When the Seattle Seahawks hire their next head coach, don’t be surprised if that person also has a resume that’s “nothing special”.
It’s not an insult. Maybe it’s the best compliment a head coach could get right now: “Even without having Ben Johnson’s offense or Mike Macdonald’s defense, this is the person who walks, talks, and acts like a head coach already.”
And perhaps the most special “nothing special” of them all is Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.