The Falcons coaching staff under new head coach Raheem Morris is filling out quite nicely.
Over the weekend, we learned that Atlanta would be retaining Marquice Williams from Arthur Smith’s staff, along with a couple of other position coaches. The special teams coordinator put together one of the top units in the league in 2022, but the third facet of the game took a step back for the Falcons in 2023.
The most notable hire was Raheem Morris’ former peer from Los Angeles, Zac Robinson. The former Rams passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach will be the Falcons offensive coordinator. He was the most coveted coordinator of this hiring cycle; it’s clear that his relationship with Raheem Morris played a major role in bringing him to Atlanta.
The only significant hire left to make was the defensive coordinator, and that happened on Monday evening. The team announced that Jimmy Lake will be the Falcons defensive coordinator under Morris.
The pair have coached together three different times before. Morris and Lake first coached together in Tampa Bay when the latter was the defensive backs coach under Morris, who was Buccaneers defensive coordinator. Following a season in Detroit as the Lions defensive backs coach, Lake returned to Tampa to be the Bucs defensive coordinator under Morris, who was now head coach.
Then for the next decade, Lake had several stops at the collegiate level, including at Boise State and Washington, where he coached players like Trent McDuffie, Taylor Rapp, and Zeke Turner.
After stepping away for a season, Lake returned to football on Sean McVay’s staff with the Rams. He was named an assistant head coach in Los Angeles and worked with Morris every day. Now, it’ll be the same in Atlanta.
It’s not yet clear who will call the plays for the Falcons’ defense, but I’d expect it to be Raheem Morris.
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