IRVINGTON, NJ — Many coaches and players dream of participating in the Super Bowl.
Irvington’s Raheem Morris is on the verge of coaching in the Super Bowl for the third time, with a third team.
Morris, a 1994 Irvington High School graduate, is the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, who are one game from the Super Bowl. The Rams upset the Super Bowl defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and legendary quarterback Tom Brady, 30-27, on a field goal on the last play of the game in the divisional round on Sunday, Jan. 23. The Rams will host their NFC West rival, the San Francisco 49ers, in the NFC championship game on Sunday, Jan. 30.
The Super Bowl is on Sunday, Feb. 13, at SoFi Stadium, the home of the Rams.
Morris was named the defensive quality control coach with the Buccaneers for the 2002 season. In Morris’ first season, the Buccaneers beat the Raiders in the Super Bowl. Interestingly, Irvington High School graduate and linebacker Alshermond Singleton was also on that Buccaneers team.
Morris spent three more seasons in Tampa Bay before going to Kansas State University, where he was the defensive coordinator for one season. Morris returned to Tampa Bay to become the defensive coordinator but was immediately promoted to head coach.
Morris spent three seasons as the Buccaneers’ head coach. He then was the defensive backs coach for the then–Washington Redskins for three seasons before joining the Atlanta Falcons as an assistant head coach/wide receivers coach from 2015 to 2019. In Morris’ second season, the Falcons went to the Super Bowl, losing to Brady and the Patriots, who rallied from a 28-3 deficit and won 34-28. Morris was named the Falcons interim head coach in the middle of the 2020 season before joining the Rams the following season.
Following his graduation from IHS, Morris attended Hofstra University, where he later became a graduate assistant in 1998. Morris then became the defensive backs coach at Cornell University for one season in 1999, before returning to Hofstra the following year in the same coaching role for two seasons. He then joined the Buccaneers in 2002.