Raheem Morris hired by Redskins to coach secondary

Raheem Morris has agreed to become the defensive backs coach of the Washington Redskins and he will not be tied to the organization if a chance to become a coordinator presents itself in the future.

Morris, who interviewed to be the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, joins the Redskins less than two weeks after he was fired as the coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The agreement he struck with Washington coach Mike Shanahan gives him flexibility to leave for a coordinator position in the future. While that would be a promotion, teams do not have to grant assistants the chance to interview for a job with another team unless it is for a head-coaching position.
 

"Mike has my best interest at heart, there's no question,'' Morris said, according to Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times. "And that was part of the selling point, it makes me want to be part of an organization with a man like that who can look you in the face and tell you he's got your best interest at heart and you can believe in those things he's telling you. In this profession, that's rare and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to learn from him.''

Redskins general manager Bruce Allen was in Tampa and was one of the ones who lured him away from Kansas State. Morris has also been on the staff with Washington offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan before, so there is so familiarity.
"They were the first ones to approach me,'' Morris said. "They talked about giving me time to give them an answer but I didn't want to screw up a good thing with a great organization. They were patient, they waited and gave me time to go through the process. But I've been a head coach and I know how tough it is when you feel like you're getting the run around and I wanted to be fair to everybody in Washington.''

Morris had one year remaining on his contract with the Bucs. He said he did not consider sitting out a season and collecting a check.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune