The Falcons head coach took many lessons away from his time with the Rams and Sean McVay.
Terrin Waack
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. One of the many lessons Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris took away from his time with the Los Angeles Rams was the impact their "We, Not Me" philosophy had on the team's success. That selfless and collaborative mindset permeated across all departments at the facility, he thought. And it started with Rams head coach Sean McVay.
Monday night's prime-time game between the Falcons and Rams in Atlanta has given Morris the opportunity to reflect on that lesson and his time in Los Angeles before McVay comes to town.
"Obviously, (I have) respect for Sean and all the stuff that he's done out there," Morris said. "And it's hard to say Sean. I think it's so well-rounded. You're talking about Les (Snead). You're talking about Tony (Pastoors). You're talking about ownership. You're talking about Reggie Scott. You're talking about all-hands-on-deck mentality with when it comes to all those things."
Sneed, the general manager. Pastoors, the chief operating officer. Stanley Kroenke is the owner. Scott is the senior vice president of sports medicine and performance.
They have all been with the Rams for at least 14 seasons, with Snead setting that minimum.
McVay took over coaching responsibilities in 2017. The Rams have compiled eight winning seasons, including this year, since then. Before that, Rams hadn't done so since 2003.
Morris served as the defensive coordinator in Los Angeles from 2021-23. The Rams finished as follows in those seasons: 12-5, 5-12 and 10-7. They won the Super Bowl, missed the playoffs and lost in the wild-card round.
"Being able to go there and win a championship myself with those guys was absolutely extra special because I got a chance to see the inner workings of all the people that are involved," Morris said. " They've won it all. They fell off, and they found a way to build it back through the draft, through free agency, through whatever any means necessary.
"Staying ahead of the curve, finding people that are high capacity to keep everything going in the right path I think that's the biggest part of building anything that you do when it comes to football team. We are, without a doubt, mimicking and mocking that."
Morris is in his second season with the Falcons. General manager Terry Fontenot is in his fifth.
The Falcons went 8-9 last year, their best record since 2017, without a playoffs appearance. Atlanta is currently 6-9 and eliminated from the playoffs.
Someone who can speak to working for both McVay and Morris is Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. He got his start in the NFL with the Rams as an assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019 before getting promoted to passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach in 2022-23. He came to Atlanta with Morris in 2024.
Robinson also thought the Rams' culture was what made that program so special. He can tell that's what Morris aspires for the Falcons.
"He was already a really, really good coach, and then obviously when you're around Sean and the guys in that building, you're just going to pick up anything that you can," Robinson said. "There are definitely a lot of parallels, but most of it is just the urgency and the way you coach guys and just the overall enjoyment for football is at a very high level here and it's the same thing with the Rams."
Not enough to hear it from someone on the coaching staff? Then take it from a player, too.
Falcons outside linebacker Leonard Floyd spent the 2020-22 seasons with the Rams. He had stops with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers before coming to Atlanta this year. He has played for five different teams since entering the NFL in 2016 as a first-round draft pick.
"I believe we definitely got the same mindset that we had when I was out there in LA on defense, which is guys coming in, working hard," Floyd said. "We can have fun. But when a whistle blows, everybody works hard. I believe we do a good job of that."
The last two weeks have perhaps shown this more than any other instance this year. The Falcons' playoff hopes ended with their Week 14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. However, Atlanta has won back-to-back games after the fact. Coaches and players alike have expressed wanting to close out the season on a positive note for each other.
That's basically the "We, Not Me" philosophy unfolding in real time.
Except, Morris has come up with his own wording for the same mantra.
"You steal what you steal from the Rams, and you move on," Morris said. "You form your own identity, and you form your own stuff within your own building. But it takes time to do those things with everybody.
"All hands on deck."
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