Raheem Morris is heading back to the NFC West.
Three years after leaving the Rams to become head coach of the Falcons, Morris will be joining the 49ers as the team’s new defensive coordinator, via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Morris served as the Rams’ defensive coordinator from 2021 through 2023. In his first season, the Rams won the Super Bowl.
Before 2021, Morris worked for the Falcons as an assistant coach from 2015 through 2020. He worked in Washington from 2012 through 2014. Before that, Morris spent three years as head coach of the Buccaneers.
Morris will be the fifth 49ers defensive coordinator in five seasons. DeMeco Ryans had the job from 2021 through 2022, before becoming head coach of the Texans. Steve Wilks coordinated the defense in 2023, and Nick Sorensen had the job in 2024.
Robert Saleh returned for 2025; he parlayed his work into a head-coaching job with the Titans — five years after leaving that same job to become head coach of the Jets.
Morris will essentially be working for free; anything he makes will be credited to the head-coaching salary the Falcons owe him, through the expiration of the deal Atlanta terminated after two years.
