Head Coach
NFL Experience: 7
Years with Buccaneers: 7
Raheem Morris was named the eighth head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 17, 2009.Morris is currently in his second stint with Tampa Bay, spending the past two seasons as the Buccaneers defensive backs coach after also serving on the Buccaneers defensive coaching staff from 2002-2005. In between stints in Tampa Bay, he spent 2006 as Kansas State’s defensive coordinator. Morris has quickly risen through the Buccaneers coaching ranks during his time with the team, serving as defensive quality control coach in 2002, defensive assistant in 2003 and assistant defensive backs coach from 2004-2005 before taking over as defensive backs coach in 2007. During his first stint with the club, Morris worked closely with former Bucs defensive backs coach and current Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in the development of one of the NFL’s top secondaries.
Morris has helped shape one of the NFL’s best defenses over the past decade. Since 1996, the Buccaneers defense has produced 36 Pro Bowlers, the most in the NFL, and finished as the NFL’s top-ranked defense two times (2002 and 2005). The past 13 seasons have also seen the Buccaneers defense rank in the Top 10 on 11 occasions and in the Top 5 eight times.
In Morris’ final season as the defensive backs coach in 2008, Tampa Bay’s defense finished the year ranked fourth in the NFL against the pass. It marked the fifth time in six seasons with Morris on the staff that the Buccaneers defense ranked in the Top 5 in pass defense. The leader of Morris’ defensive backs, CB Ronde Barber, was selected to his fifth career Pro Bowl in 2008 while surpassing the 100-tackle plateau for the fifth time in his career, ranking fifth on the team with 100 tackles. Barber also tied for the team lead with four interceptions while ranking first with 16 passes defensed on the season. Starting opposite of Barber for the second consecutive season was Phillip Buchanon. The former first-round pick flourished in his two seasons with Morris having set career highs in tackles and passes defensed in 2007, only to surpass those totals with a career-high 69 tackles and 12 passes defensed in 2008. His two interceptions this past season ranked tied for fourth on the team. In his first season with Morris, rookie CB Aqib Talib tied for the team lead with four interceptions while also tying for the lead among all NFL rookies in that category despite only starting two games.
Without much fanfare, Morris has developed arguably the best trio of safeties in the NFL. Starters Tanard Jackson and Jermaine Phillips have performed at a Pro Bowl level the past two seasons while second-year S Sabby Piscitelli was prominently featured in the rotation this past season after missing much of 2007 because of injury. Phillips, who missed five contests in 2008 because of injury, was again the most physical presence on the Buccaneers defense while posting 86 tackles to rank fifth on the team and three interceptions to rank third. Jackson built on his impressive 2007 rookie campaign to reaffirm his status as one of the cornerstones of the Buccaneers future. His career-high 102 tackles ranked fourth on the team and he is the only defender in Buccaneers history to start the first 32 games to begin his career. Jackson was the only Buccaneers defender to record a statistic in every defensive category in 2008 and also ranked third on the team with 18 special teams tackles. Piscitelli saw significant action in his second season, playing in 15 games with five starts and totaling 59 tackles and two interceptions.
After Tampa Bay fell to 19th in the NFL in pass defense in 2006, Morris led a resurgence in his return in 2007 as he guided the Buccaneers pass defense to the league’s top ranking en route to the NFC South division title. The Buccaneers secondary helped limit opposing quarterbacks to a 76.2 rating in 2007 to rank eighth in the NFL after ranking 29th in 2006. Under his direction, five different players in the secondary intercepted a pass in 2007 and Phillips had a Pro Bowl-caliber season, leading the team with a career-high four interceptions and ranking tied for third with 120 tackles. Jackson made a seamless transition to safety from cornerback and had one of the most impressive rookie campaigns in team history as he became the first rookie on defense to start on opening day for the Buccaneers since 1996. Jackson was also the first Buccaneers rookie on defense since 1996 (Regan Upshaw) to start all 16 games. For the fifth time in his career, and third time under Morris, Barber recorded a statistic in every defensive category in 2007. After taking over as a full time starter in Week 4, Buchanon ranked second on the team with three interceptions while recording a then career-high 63 tackles in his first season with Morris.
In his lone season with Kansas State in 2006, Morris coordinated a defense that displayed improvement in several statistical categories from the previous season, including total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. Morris oversaw a Wildcat defense that included seven players who received conference recognition, including two first-team All-Big 12 honorees and one second-team selection.
During his six seasons in Tampa Bay, the Bucs have finished ranked in the Top 5 in the NFL in total defense every year except 2008 (ranked ninth), including No. 1 rankings in 2002 and 2005. Additionally, the defense finished as the top-ranked pass defense on three occasions (2002, 2004 and 2007) and never ranked lower than sixth with Morris on the staff.
In 2002, his first season as a coach in the NFL, Morris helped guide the Buccaneers top-ranked defense as they captured the franchise’s first world title in Super Bowl XXXVII.
Morris joined Tampa Bay after spending the 2000 and 2001 seasons as defensive backs coach at Hofstra University. He also spent time in the fall of 2001 with the New York Jets serving a defensive minority internship.
Morris began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Hofstra in 1998, where he was responsible for coaching the offensive scout team, developing scouting reports and handling video breakdown and computer input and analysis. He then landed at Cornell University as defensive backs coach and special teams assistant for the 1999 season.
Morris has focused his community efforts on education and promoting the importance of academics amongst Bay area youth. He spoke at a rally at Middleton High School in Tampa to encourage students to study and prepare for the FCAT in March 2009. Along with CB Ronde Barber, he participated in the grand opening of the First Tee Learning Center at Tampa’s Rogers Park Golf Course in March 2009. In May 2009, Morris was a guest speaker and presented awards to Hillsborough County teachers at the annual SERVE awards, which pay tribute to public school teachers for excellence in the classroom. In addition, he hosted a group of students from Madison Middle School for a private tour of One Buccaneer Place as a reward for positive behavior and improved performance in the classroom in May 2009.
Morris served as a celebrity guest at the Alstott Celebrity Outdoor Weekend in April 2009 to benefit the Children’s Cancer Center, and was a celebrity guest at the fourth Annual Dick Vitale Gala to benefit the V Foundation for cancer research in May 2009. He also participated in the Barrett Ruud-Pewter Report Charity Golf Tournament in May 2009 to benefit the American Heart Association, and the ninth Annual Derrick Brooks Celebrity Golf Classic in June 2009 to benefit Derrick Brooks Charities. This past June, he served as the keynote speaker at the Lauren’s First and Goal Football Camp at the University of South Florida, which raised funds for Pediatric Brain Tumor research. Morris filmed a PSA in 2009 for Project Pressure, a campaign that aims to reduce high blood pressure throughout the community by increasing Blood Pressure awareness and Cardiovascular Risk awareness.
Morris played collegiately as a safety at Hofstra from 1994-1997, and received his bachelor of science degree in physical education. Morris, who hails from Irvington, New Jersey, was presented the Key to the City in his hometown during “Raheem Morris Day” on June 5, 2009.
MORRIS AT A GLANCE
- 1994-97…Hofstra, player
- 1998…Hofstra, Graduate Assistant
- 1999…Cornell, Defensive Backs Coach/Special Teams Assistant
- 2000-01…Hofstra, Defensive Backs Coach
- 2001…New York Jets, Defensive Minority Internship
- 2002…Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Defensive Quality Control Coach
- 2003…Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Defensive Assistant
- 2004-05…Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Assistant Defensive Backs Coach
- 2006…Kansas State, Defensive Coordinator
- 2007-08…Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Defensive Backs Coach
- 2009...Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Head Coach
