14 February 2024 , 05:00
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Arthur Blank, the owner of Atlanta Falcons, has revealed that he seriously thought about hiring Bill Belichick as head coach.
Despite this, he didn't give him the job. After Arthur Smith was let go, the Falcons interviewed legendary former New England Patriots head coach Belichick twice and he was a strong favourite for the role.
However they surprised everyone by choosing Raheem Morris, the defensive coordinator from Los Angeles Rams. Blank told Sports Illustrated why Belichick wasn't the right fit for the Falcons and why they chose Morris instead after missing the playoffs in the third year of Smith's time in charge of the team
He said: "We had 14 candidates. We always wanted him. All the issues and questions about Bill relative to power structure were completely unfounded and untrue and based on nothing."
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Belichick might take a break from football after not getting a head coach job, leaving New England after 21 seasons in Foxborough which featured a record-breaking six Super Bowl wins.
He is likely to be the first name on any list for a team on the lookout for a new head coach in 2025, and having spent time with him, Blank is under no illusions that Belichick will be back.
"I think Bill will coach again. I don't know. But the energy's there, the passion's there. We just felt for a variety of reasons when we weighed Raheem [Morris] vs. everybody, that he was just the best choice for us."
"You're talking to somebody who's a historian of the NFL, 49 years being a coach in the NFL, 24 years in one organization, six Super Bowl successes.
Arthur Blank has revealed why the Falcons hired Raheem Morris over Bill Belichick (Getty Images)You learn about all the things that they did, or he did, to have that kind of success and how the league has changed and players, what's not changed and what his requirements for success are going forward."
"I think he'll be a fine candidate for somebody else... it just wasn't the best fit for us."
New Falcons head coach Morris joined the team in 2015 as an assistant head coach and worked with the defensive backs.
In 2016, Morris switched to coaching wide receivers and then became the defensive coordinator in 2020. He was even the interim head coach after Dan Quinn was fired.