ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons have hired Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their head coach after an exhaustive search that included six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not made an announcement.

The 47-year-old Morris is a familiar name in Atlanta, having served as the Falcons’ interim head coach for the final 11 games of the 2020 season after the firing of Dan Quinn. He previously coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three seasons.

Morris was hired by the Falcons after an exhaustive search in which 14 candidates were interviewed, with Belichick the most notable among them.

Earlier Thursday, the team conducted a second interview with Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, but decided in the end to go with a coach who worked in Atlanta from 2015-2020.

Morris becomes the first non-interim Black coach in Falcons history and joins general manager Terry Fontenot, who also is Black, in leading a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season since 2017.

After being passed over for the Falcons job after the 2020 season in favor of Arthur Smith, Morris moved to the Rams. He spent three seasons as that team’s defensive coordinator, a tenure that included a Super Bowl championship his first year.

Smith was fired by the Falcons shortly after their final regular-season game. He went 7-10 in each of his three seasons.

Morris was just 33 years old when he got his first head coaching job with the Buccaneers in 2009. He lasted three seasons, finishing with one winning season, no playoff appearances and a record of 17-31.

During his time in Atlanta, Morris worked on both sides of the line as a pass game coordinator, receivers coach and secondary coach under Quinn. He was promoted to defensive coordinator ahead of the 2020 season, moving up to interim head coach after Quinn was fired following an 0-5 start.

Morris guided the Falcons to a 4-7 mark the rest of the season, leaving his career record as a head coach at 21-38.

Under Morris this past season, the Rams defense ranked 20th in yards allowed (337.9 per game), 13th in passing yards (231.1), 12th in rushing yards (106.8) and 18th in scoring defense (22.3 points per game).

Morris is the fourth minority hire during this coaching cycle, joining Dave Canales in Carolina, Jerod Mayo in New England and Antonio Pierce in Las Vegas. The league’s minority coaches also include Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin, Houston’s DeMeco Ryans, Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles, Miami’s Mike McDaniel and the New York Jets’ Robert Saleh.

There are two openings left to be filled, in Seattle and Washington.

“This is a major milestone for the National Football League, which has been struggling to raise the percentage of head coaches of color, particularly Black head coaches,” said Richard Lapchick, founder of The Institute for Diversity and Ethics In Sport (TIDES). “The NFL has worked hard to put programs in place to make this happen and the rewards have finally come home.”

The Falcons seemed to be closing in on Belichick as their next coach after he flew into Atlanta on one of Blank’s private jets for a second interview last Friday.

But it wasn’t clear how he might mesh with Fontenot, who the Falcons decided to keep as GM after dumping Smith.

Blank insisted right from the start that Fontenot would retain control over personnel matters, with Fontenot and the new coach both reporting directly to team CEO Rich McKay. That would have been a big change for Belichick, who had total control over all football-related matters during his tenure in New England.

But, while speculation about Belichick swirled, the Falcons made it clear they were considering a large group of candidates that also included former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, who wound up taking an offer from the Los Angeles Chargers, and ex-Tennesssee Titans coach Mike Vrabel.

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