Raheem Morris “better,” not “bitter,” as a new African American head coach

At the NFL Combine, new Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was asked about being one of the three African American head coaches hired over the past cycle. The topic is a hot one, yet Morris said while he could have been bitter over not achieving his post sooner, he chose to view that time in waiting as a chance to “be better.”

“To call myself a trailblazer, I’ve never looked at myself that way,” Morris said. “There’s so many people in front of me and so many people who will come behind me. I’m just apart of it.”

“Just work extremely hard,” Morris said when asked how young coaches can reach his position. “Learn from your mistakes. Continuously grow throughout the process with whatever you’re doing.”

Morris said the Falcons have a “Falcon-ethos” regarding players they want to draft, especially when it comes to leadership, a quality that is very important to him.

“A big part of that is bringing the right guys into our program for leadership,” Morris said. “That’s a big part of who we are. We want to have innovative people around us. Bringing in those guys is non-negotiable for us.