The Atlanta Falcons seemed to be incredibly interested in Bill Belichick’s services before they ended up hiring Raheem Morris as their next head coach.
On Friday, Falcons owner Arthur Blank attempted to clear the air on the whole situation.
In the process leading up to the Falcons’ decision in which they decided to hire Morris, the ex-Rams defensive coordinator, the Falcons interviewed the legendary ex-Patriots head coach multiple times.
There’s were plenty of rumblings that Belichick would want control of any team he would coach heading into the 2024 season, but Blank attempted to shoot those theories down, maintaining that the Falcons job was never offered to the legendary coach, and that full control of player personnel wasn’t asked for.
“I do want to make it 1,000 percent clear, want to go to 2,000 percent or 100,000, whatever percent you want to use: Bill Belichick never asked for, in our discussion, full control of the personnel or the building or anything of that nature,” Blank told reporters Friday.
“He was very inclusive, very collaborative. He met [Falcons general manager] Terry Fontenot, checked out our people doing his own references, sent me a private text, which I eventually shared with Terry that he’d be happy working with him.”
The Falcons eventually opted to go with Morris, the Rams DC from 2021-23, who previously coached in Atlanta, first serving as assistant head coach from 2015-19 and eventually taking over as interim head coach after Dan Quinn was fired following an 0-5 start to the season.
Under Morris, the Falcons went 4-7 to end their season.
“The three years he had in LA where he worked with a different coaching environment, a different kind of setup which [Rams head coach] Sean McVay operates different than a lot of other coaches do,” Blank said of why the Falcons hired Morris after interviewing 14 candidates.
“And their coaching scheme and setup and how they promote from within and just move coaches around in a much more lateral way was a learning experience for him.”
As for now, Belichick remains without a team after his long run in New England.