The Atlanta Falcons have promoted Marquand Manuel to defensive coordinator and named Raheem Morris wide receivers/passing game coordinator/assistant head coach. The team has also promoted Doug Mallory to defensive backs coach while hiring Bryant Young as their defensive line coach.
Manuel is entering his third season with the Falcons, after spending the previous two seasons as the Falcons secondary coach/senior defensive assistant. This season he coached a young secondary that included seven first or second-year players. The secondary teamed up for eight interceptions, 62 pass deflections, seven forced fumbles, 437 total tackles, and three sacks.
During his first year with the Falcons, Manuel's squad only allowed 19 passing touchdowns, which was tied for the third lowest total in the League. His secondary also forced 15 interceptions in 2015, which ranked within the top 10 in the League and gave the defense a 1.27 touchdown to interception ratio, which was the seventh-best TD/Int ratio in the NFL.
Manuel joined the Falcons after spending three seasons as a member of the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff. He served as a defensive assistant for the last two years under Head Coach Dan Quinn, while Quinn was the defensive coordinator for the Seahawks, after spending the 2012 season as a special teams assistant. Manuel also worked with Quinn at the University of Florida, serving as a coaching intern in 2011 while Quinn was the Gators defensive coordinator.
Manuel began his coaching career after spending eight years in the NFL as a defensive back. He was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth-round (181st overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft out of Florida and played in 116 games with 58 starts during his career. Manuel totaled 332 tackles (259 solo), one sack, two interceptions, one touchdown, 16 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and 36 special teams tackles in his career while playing for the Bengals, Seahawks, Packers, Panthers, Broncos, and Lions.
Morris is entering his 15th year of NFL coaching experience while going into his third year with the Falcons. During Morris' first year in Atlanta, he was named the Assistant Head Coach/Passing Game Coordinator, where he helped out with the secondary and how to stop the passing attacks of the opposing teams. The defense also only allowed 19 passing touchdowns, which was tied for the third lowest total in the League, along with forcing 15 interceptions last season, which ranked within the top 10 in the League. These numbers gave the defense a 1.27 touchdown to interception ratio, which was the seventh-best TD/Int ratio in the NFL.
He was named the assistant head coach/wide receivers coach last offseason, and this season he coached one of the best receivers in the game in Julio Jones. Jones recorded 1,409 receiving yards, which was second in the NFL. His entire receiving group teamed up for 223 catches for 3,226 yards and 22 touchdowns. Taylor Gabriel recorded a career-high six receiving touchdowns and Mohamed Sanu tallied a career-high 59 receptions.
Morris joined the Falcons after spending three seasons as the defensive backs coach for the Washington Redskins. In 2012, he helped Washington's defense finish tied for fifth in the NFL with 31 takeaways. The Redskins scored four defensive touchdowns in 2012, including two from the secondary. Morris oversaw a unit that tied a league-high with 94 passes defensed and ranked fifth in the NFC with a 3.3 interception rate.
Prior to arriving in Washington, Morris spent three seasons as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2009-2011. He was the league's youngest head coach in 2009 and in 2010, his team finished with a 10-6 record. The Buccaneers made their best turnaround in franchise history in 2010 after going 3-13 in 2009.
Morris served in multiple capacities with the Buccaneers during two different stints with the team before he was promoted to head coach. He spent two seasons as the team's defensive backs coach from 2007-08, during which time the Buccaneers allowed only ranked second in the NFL allowing 170.5 passing yards per game. During that span, the Buccaneers ranked among the League leaders with 22 interceptions.
He spent one year as the defensive coordinator at Kansas State in 2006, where he helped seven Wildcats conference honors. Morris' unit featured two first-team All-Big 12 selections and one second-team honoree.
Morris made his NFL coaching debut with Tampa Bay as a defensive quality control coach in 2002, when the club won Super Bowl XXXVII. The Buccaneers defense allowed an NFL-low 12.3 points per game, the third-best scoring defense since 2000. He served as a defensive assistant with the Bucs in 2003 and as assistant defensive backs coach from 2004-05.
In 10 seasons in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers finished fifth in total defense five times, while leading the League in 2002 and 2005. He also helped the team finish as the top-rated pass defense three times (2002, 2004 & 2007).
Morris began his collegiate coaching career an assistant coach at Hofstra in 1998, where he was responsible for coaching the offensive scout team, developing scouting reports, and video breakdown. He moved on to Cornell University as defensive backs coach and special teams assistant for the 1999 season. Morris served as defensive backs coach at Hofstra from 2000 to 2001 before joining the Buccaneers. He also held a defensive minority internship position with the New York Jets in the fall of 2001. Morris played safety at Hofstra from 1994-97 and received his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education. He is an Irvington, N.J. native.
Mallory is entering his third season with the Atlanta Falcons, after spending last season as the Falcons defensive assistant/defensive backs coach and his first year with the Falcons as the defensive assistant/linebackers coach. This past season, he helped Manuel coach a young defensive back group that included three rookies. In 2015, he helped coach LB Paul Worrilow, who led the team in total tackles (95).
Mallory spent three years (2011-13) as the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Indiana University. He brings 25 years of collegiate coaching experience to Atlanta, including stops at Army, Western Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Oklahoma State, LSU, and New Mexico. Prior to landing at Indiana, Mallory spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at New Mexico after four years at LSU. While coaching the defensive backs in 2007, he helped the Tigers post the third-best passing efficiency defense in the nation en route to a BCS National title.
Mallory spent four years (2001-04) at Oklahoma State University as the Cowboys secondary coach. During his time at OSU, Mallory's units intercepted 54 passes. Prior to his four-year stop at OSU, Mallory served in the same capacity at the University of Maryland from 1997 to 2000. He coached at Indiana University from 1994-96, working as the defensive backs and special teams coach.
Prior to his second stint at Indiana, Mallory coached at Western Kentucky (1990-93) after serving as the offensive line coach at Army in 1989. He began his coaching career at Indiana as a graduate assistant after four years as a defensive back at Michigan.
Young brings five years of coaching experience to the Falcons. He worked under Quinn for two years (2011-12) during his three-year stay at the University of Florida (2011-13) as the defensive line coach. He previously worked at San Jose State in 2010 as the defensive line coach.
Young got his coaching start at the University of Notre Dame in 2009 as a graduate assistant. Before that, he spent 14 seasons as a defensive tackle/defensive end with the San Francisco 49ers – playing two years (2003-04) under Quinn, who was his position coach. He played in 208 games and recorded 510 tackles and 89.5 sacks during his career while being named to four Pro Bowls and one All-Pro team, as well as winning Super Bowl XXIX.
