Update: Confirmed by Grant Paulsen, Raheem Morris was interviewed to coach DBs. (I called it!)
WTOP Redskins beat reporter, George Wallace, tweeted late last night:
Source: #Redskins brass dining with former Bucs coach Raheem Morris...He and Kyle were on assistants in Tampa together
There's a lot of scenarios here that instantly jump to mind, but let me quickly recap Raheem Morris' professional coaching career. In 2002, he was Bucs' defensive quality control, 2003 defensive assistant, 2004-5 assistant defensive backs, 2006 Kansas State University defensive coordinator (70th ranked D that year), 2007-2008 Bucs defensive backs coach, and 2009-2011 the Bucs' head coach.
So, obviously Morris has quite the defensive track record. With a ton of coaching jobs available across the NFL and college, it's very believable the Redskins could lose someone. Here are some candidates:
- Redskins DB Coach Bob Slowik - Slowik has been a defensive coordinator for the Bears, Browns and Broncos, and Packers totaling 9 years. He was an Assistant Head Coach in Green Bay for four of those years. Surely Slowik would want a promotion elsewhere, right? Slowik is 57 years old.
- Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett - I don't see Haslett leaving, but he has been a Head Coach before and there are a lot of open jobs. Haslett is 47-61 as a Head Coach.
- Steve Jackson - The Redskins safety coach has been with the Redskins the last 7 years and with the Bills three years before that. The safety position has been a weak spot for the Redskins. Certainly, injuries and the personnel given to Jackson are a major part of the problem, but I'm just throwing out options. Adding Raheem here with his experience would be an upgrade. This is clearly the less likely scenario.
- It was just dinner and this is all a waste of time.
Update: Kyle Shanahan and Raheem Morris have more than a coaching record. There's also this gem that Kyle Shanahan was arrested for public intoxication at the 2005 combine in Indy. Specifically, "Shanahan was being 'loud, belligerent and causing a scene' after being escorted from the Have a Nice Day Cafe at 2:07 a.m." To Kyle's defense, coaches and media drink all weekend in Indy. It's a laid back attitude and very much a work hard/play hard atmosphere. One of the Rams' scouts got arrested for urinating in public last year...and the arresting cop was female. So great. It was the talk of the day on media row all morning. Heavy drinking and covering football make for my favorite weekend.
Have at it.