San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan took time during his pre-NFC Championship game press conference on Friday to rave about Atlanta Falcons’ new head coach Raheem Morris.
The two go way back after crossing paths at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2004, with the then-Washington Redskins in 2011, and once more in Atlanta in 2015.
“It’s way past due,” Shanahan said. “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 [defensive] coordinator. He ended up becoming a head coach so fast.”
Shanahan added that he had been trying to recruit Morris to the Niners for the last seven years.
“I got a chance to work with him in Washington,” Shanahan said. “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 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.”