Is Raheem Morris the next Mike Shanahan? That was the question posed to the former Buccaneers coach Monday.
Morris has joined Shanahan's Redskins staff, but he remains an intriguing head-coaching candidate, despite Tampa Bay's 10-game losing streak that cost him his job after the 2011 season.
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It recalls Shanahan's early stint as coach of the Raiders, who fired him in 1989 after a 1-3 start in his second season. Instead of burying his head in the sand, Shanahan kept grinding and wound up with a second opportunity, with the Broncos in 1995. Two Super Bowl titles later, the rest is history.
A history Morris would like to follow.
"I lasted longer than him -- (Shanahan) lasted about three weeks in Oakland," Morris joked during an interview with WDAE-AM in Tampa, via ProFootballTalk.com. "When you get your opportunity, make sure you're ready and go out there and do it."
Morris told the station he's too young to take a year off after being fired by the Bucs. He takes full responsibility for the team's slide, walking away from the job with no regrets.
"I wouldn't change anything about it," Morris said. "You put yourself in a position of power, you put yourself out there, and you want to go out there and want to be great, and we had the opportunity and almost pulled it off. I take no ill will, no negative feelings toward those guys, toward the Bucs' organization at all. ...
"Whatever happened during the season, you put directly on me. ... I wasn't able to get it done this year, and I'll take all the heat for that."
