The Washington Redskins announced today that they have retained defensive backs coach Raheem Morris, who coached the team's secondary from 2012-13.
Morris, 37, will return for his third season in Washington as the team's defensive backs coach.
In 2013, Morris was charged with the development of cornerback David Amerson, the team's top pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Amerson started at cornerback in Week 1, becoming the first Redskins rookie to start the season at cornerback since Fred Smoot, 12 years prior in 2001.
Amerson registered his first career interception in the second quarter at oakland in Week 4, picking off raiders quarterback Matt Flynn and returning it 45 yards for the first touchdown of his career.
That interception return for a touchdown was the longest be a Redskins rookie since cornerback Champ Bailey scored on a 49-yard interception return at Arizona on Oct. 17, 1999.
The touchdown was Amerson's first at any level since scoring on a 55-yard pick-six vs. Boston College as a member of the NC State Wolfpack on Nov. 24, 2012.
He also became the first Redskins rookie since linebacker Ryan Kerrigan to score on an interception return for a touchdown (Week 1, 2011).
Veteran cornerback DeAngelo Hall also had a stellar year under Morris' tutelage, becoming the first player in Redskins history to score three defensive touchdowns in a season.
Hall also tallied the 40th interception of his career in Week 3 with a pick-six off Matthew Stafford. He joined Ed Reed, Charles Woodson and Asante Samuel as the only active players to reach the 40 interception milestone.
It was also the 20th interception for Hall as a member of the Washington Redskins, making him teh 12th players in franchise history to tally 20 picks.
In 2012, Morris' unit helped the defense finish fourth in the NFC and tied for fifth in the NFL with 31 takeaways, surpassing their total of 21 from 2011.
The Redskins defense scored four defensive touchdowns for the first time since 1999, including two from the secondary.
Morris oversaw a unit that tied a league-high in passes defensed (94) and ranked fifth in the NFC in interception rate (3.3 percent).
From 2009-11, Morris was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after having been hired as the league's youngest head coach in 2009.
In 2010, his team finished with a 10-6 record one season removed from finishing 3-13, marking the best single-season turnaround in the NFL in 2010 and the largest turnaround in Buccaneers' history.
Prior to his tenure as head coach, Morris served in multiple capacities with the Buccaneers during two different stints with the team.
He spent two seasons as the team's defensive backs coach from 2007-08, during which time the Buccaneers allowed only 170.5 passing yards per game, the lowest total in the NFC and the second-lowest total in the league.
In those two seasons, the Buccaneers totaled 22 interceptions, tied for the most in the NFC.
Morris spent one year as the defensive coordinator at Kansas State University in 2006. Morris helped garner conference recognition for seven players on his defensive unit, including two first-team All-Big 12 honorees and one second-team selection.
Morris' NFL coaching debut came in 2002, when he served as the defensive quality control coach for the Buccaneers en route to the team's first championship in Super Bowl XXXVII.
That season, the Buccaneers' defense allowed a league-low 12.3 points per game, the third-lowest average allowed by an NFL team since 2000.
He served as a defensive assistant in 2003 and as an assistant defensive backs coach from 2004-05.
Morris began his collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Hofstra in 1998, where he was responsible for coaching the offensive scout team, developing scouting reports and handling video breakdown and computer input and analysis.
Morris played collegiately as a safety at Hofstra from 1994-97, and received his Bachelor of Science degree in physical education.
Morris, an Irvington, N.J. native, was presented the Key to the City in his hometown during "Raheem Morris Day" on June 5, 2009.
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