Even after a dominant win over the New Orleans Saints, nobody is going to argue that the Atlanta Falcons shouldn't fire Raheem Morris. His second tenure with the team has been marred by wild inconsistencies and more disappointment.
The second-year head coach has struggled to manage his team, injuries, and in-game decisions. If you are Arthur Blank, this should be an easy decision at the season's end, especially with the 4-7 Falcons first-round pick in possession of the 9-2 Los Angeles Rams.
However, it should come with one caveat: the next coach has to keep Jeff Ulbrich around after he has proven to be a top-tier defensive coordinator.
Jeff Ulbrich needs to be retained by the Falcons by any means necessary
When you help lead a top pass rush in the city of Atlanta, you deserve to have a statue built outside the stadium.
Ulbrich has managed to turn one of the worst pass rush units into one of the best in one offseason. He completely retooled the unit by signing Leonard Floyd, drafting Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr., and developing the young interior defensive linemen like Brandon Dorlus and Zach Harrison.
When you look behind the guys upfront, you find a veteran linebacker in Kaden Elliss who is playing better than ever, and a breakout star in Divine Deablo who flies around the field.
In the backend, A.J. Terrell Jr. continues to be elite, Mike Hughes is playing solid, Dee Alford has revived his career, Billy Bowman Jr. was excellent before injury, and the two safeties, Jessie Bates III and Xavier Watts, have improved as the season has progressed.
In other words, the glue of the unit, Ulbrich, has been fabulous. If you are Blank and his brass, you have to target a young, bright mind to be the next head coach and tell him he has to bring back the defensive coordinator.
This gives one side of the ball some continuity, while the offense tries to adjust to a new scheme. It isn't too often you see a coordinator stick around through a regime change. But this is one of those situations where it would be appropriate, especially when you consider the offense is the problem.
If you let him walk, you risk losing all this sack production because much of it has had to do with the exotic blitz scheme he has cooked up. Without a doubt, if he weren't the defensive coordinator right now, they wouldn't have near the sack production they currently haveāeven with the same players.
Hopefully, a new coach would be willing to keep Ulbrich around for the future because the Dirty Birds need him on the sideline.