San Francisco 49ers: Kyle Shanahan Gives Shocking Answer When Asked About Rival DC Getting Head Coaching Job

The San Francisco 49ers and Kyle Shanahan are solely focused on beating the Detroit Lions in tomorrow’s NFC Championship and advancing to the Super Bowl right now.

But since 2021 and twice this season, the 49ers coach — known as one of the brightest offensive minds in the NFL — had to scheme up ways to attack one of his team’s biggest rivals defense.

The Los Angeles Rams defense — even with major injuries and personnel changes — has been led by Raheem Morris for the last three seasons. The 47-year-old Morris spearheaded the Rams’ Super Bowl-winning defense as its coordinator in the 2021 season and were the reason the 49ers didn’t advance to the big game that year.

Prior to joining Sean McVay with the Rams, he served as the DC under Dan Quinn with the Falcons. He also has 59 games under his belt as an NFL head coach, when he was thrown into a tough situation taking over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after they fired Jon Gruden as one of the youngest coaches in NFL history.

After finishing with a (10-7) record in 2021, Kyle Shanahan and the Sans Francisco 49ers finished third in the division, but snuck into the Wildcard Round. The Rams won the NFC West with a (12-5) record, despite falling to Shanahan’s 49ers twice that year.

Shanahan led San Francisco to an unprecedented run in the playoffs where he would meet the Rams once again, needing a third win over his division rival to reach the Super Bowl in a clash between rivals in the 2021 NFC Championship game.

Instead, Raheem Morris and the Rams stifling defense shut down the run game completely, forcing Jimmy Garoppolo to beat them through the air. The 49ers finished the 20-17 loss with just 282 total yards, including just 50 rushing yards. Shanahan’s offense was held to 3-of-9 on third down, and Garoppolo threw a critical interception.

San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Raves About Raheem Morris When Asked About The Rams DC Getting the Falcons HC Job

Since his first head coaching stint ended in 2011, Morris has consistently been viewed as one of the brightest assistants and leaders in the NFL.

He’s been viewed as a rising star for several years and possesses the rare leadership abilities and adaptive approach needed to thrive as a NFL head coach. Five organizations requested interviews with the Rams DC and as he was making the rounds, one NFC team made the surprising mood of locking him down so nobody else would.

While it felt like the Falcons were going to lock down former Patriots coach Bill Belichick — Arthur Blank shocked the NFL world — and named Raheem Morris the next head coach in Atlanta, the same place where he served as the DC under Dann Quinn before joining the Rams.

Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers can take a sigh of relief, as they will no longer have to face Morris as the Rams DC anymore.

Les Snead, the GM of the Rams, went on a lengthy monologue to try to tell teams seeking a head coach how great Morris would be. Here’s some of what he said:

There’s not many coaches on the planet who’s been in both of those rooms on those two sides of the ball. He’s gonna give any organization an edge and just how collaborative he is, it’s going to be an edge that most teams aren’t going to be able to compete with.”

“I know this, he’ll be able to hire an unbelievable staff. Every coach, who’s any good, who’s qualified, they’re going to want to work for Raheem, and I’m pretty sure there’ll be a lot of tampering charges because just about every player in the NFL is going to text him and want to come play for him. I’ll let the NFL handle that.”

Shanahan may have had to face Morris as a rival in  recent years, but the two coaches worked together on multiple stops in their careers, including Tampa, Washington and Atlanta.

While the San Francisco 49ers prepare for the Detroit Lions tomorrow, Kyle Shanahan was asked about his thoughts on the Falcons hiring Raheem Morris as their next head coach.

Shanahan gave a ringing endorsement and even admitted he’s tried to get him on the 49ers staff over the last few years.

“Oh, it’s way past due. Raheem’s one of the best coaches I’ve been with. I got to work with him earlier in my career in Tampa. When I was young I was trying to get my dad to hire him as a D-Coordinator. He ended up becoming a head coach so fast.

Then I got a chance to work with him in Washington. Then Atlanta, he actually was on defense. He got to come work with me on offense for a year. The fact that he was on defense his whole career and can came to be our receiver coach, it was unbelievable how cool he was. How good he did. Always tried to get him here every single year. But Raheem’s been one of the best. He’s going to hell of an organization, a good situation with good people. I’m really happy for Atlanta that they got him and more than happy for Raheem.”