Raheem Morris excited to coach potential ‘gold jacket guys’...

Raheem Morris excited to coach 'potential gold jacket guys' Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

Brandon Staley was a relative unknown before Sean McVay hired him as his defensive coordinator last offseason. He took over a defense that was led by the legendary Wade Phillips, turning it into the No. 1 unit in the NFL before bolting to join the Chargers as their head coach last month.

He’s since been replaced by Raheem Morris, who was the Falcons’ defensive coordinator and interim head coach last season. Morris has ties to McVay as the two worked together in both Tampa Bay and Washington, coming together on the same coaching staff once again for 2021.

Morris hasn’t been afforded a traditional introductory press conference like coaches have been given in years past, strictly due to the pandemic, but he did chat with J.B. Long about his initial plans for the defense as he takes over for Staley in Los Angeles.

“Staley did a great job last year, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “You’ve got to give his coaching staff a lot of credit, as well. ‘E’ [Ejiro Evero], Aubrey [Pleasant], Joe Barry, [Chris] Shula, [Eric] Henderson. Those guys did a great job of stepping up and I am thankful that a lot of those guys will remain there. I will use as much of the things they had success in last year as possible and will implement some of the things I think can help. Every year in football, you’ve got to go back and watch the cut-ups and watch what you can do better. You’ve got to watch how you control, how you can scheme better. How can you make more players more effective? How can you make Aaron [Donald] more effective? How can you make Jalen [Ramsey] more effective? Those are the things we’ll do to emphasize and those are the things we’ll do to move forward in order to keep this thing going and get these guys to win a championship. At the end of the day, we are going to have a championship from our rings and we are going to be playing this weekend.”

The most exciting part about taking over the Rams defense is getting the opportunity to coach two potential future Hall of Famers in Donald and Ramsey. Morris worked with the likes of Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp and Ronde Barber in Tampa Bay, and now he’ll be leading a defense that features two stars in Los Angeles.

Staley took full advantage of having Donald and Ramsey on the same defense. Donald was unstoppable as a pass rusher, and Ramsey locked down every receiver he went up against. Morris is thrilled to have those guys on his defense, but he also wants to give credit to the players around them.

“When you walk into a room with two potential gold jacket guys, it’s always intriguing. And it’s a lot of fun to see those types of guys,” Morris said. “But when you see the guys that are around those guys, it really makes it intriguing for me as a coach because the guys that play around those guys really become as important as anybody. I’ve been fortunate to be part of some No. 1 defenses and coach in the National Football League when we coached Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks and Ronde Barber and the likes of those guys when we were in Tampa and being around those guys, you know that the people that those guys are around, the people that potentially got those gold jackets and put those things on, what they do for the other players makes it so exciting. What they do for the coaching staff makes it so exciting. What they do for the fanbase, the team, everything about it – and when you got those types of players, you can win championships, and we’re all in this game to try to win championships.”

Morris didn’t reveal any specifics about what he’ll do scheme-wise for the Rams, and understandably so. He’s not going to tip his hand seven months before the season begins, but the expectation is that he’ll keep the base structure of Staley’s scheme in place and add his own wrinkles.

When it comes to the way the Rams played last season, it’s hard to feel the need to change much after they finished No. 1 in scoring defense and total defense. Morris still has work to do, but it’s not as if he’s taking over a unit in need of a facelift.