Tampa Bay Bucs Fire Raheem Morris, Where Could Coach End Up Next?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers chose not to prolong the inevitable, firing head coach and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and his entire staff on Monday morning.

Morris, who coached the Buccaneers for three seasons, clearly has a tarnished reputation after the team ended their 2011 season 4-12, losing their last 10 games in a row. However, Morris has quite the decorated defensive background, and it's not likely he will be searching for employment for long.

Morris spent his entire time in the NFL with the Buccaneers, in various defensive roles, before being promoted first to defensive coordinator and then head coach in December 2008 and January 2009, respectively.

It's likely that Morris' next position in the NFL won't be as a head coach. At 35 years old, he's still quite young, and with more experience—and success—he could find himself with the position sometime in the future.

In the short-term, Morris will likely be a defensive coordinator or defensive assistant in 2012, with the Pittsburgh Steelers top on the list of potential landing spots.

Morris served as defensive quality control, defensive assistant and defensive backs coach and assistant during his multi-year tenure with Tampa Bay, working alongside current Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. He could be brought on to the Steelers staff as a defensive assistant and ostensibly be groomed to eventually take over for current defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, who, at 74, is going to be considering stepping down in a handful of years.

However, if Morris wants more responsibility right away, perhaps the Philadelphia Eagles could be a good landing spot. It's no secret that former offensive line coach-turned defensive coordinator Juan Castillo needs replacing, and Morris has a very solid defensive background.

Morris' leadership is lacking, however, as evidenced by his inability to reign in the young Buccaneers roster this season. With the Eagles defense more a collection of individual playmakers rather than a cohesive unit, Philadelphia may be looking for someone who coaches with more discipline to replace Castillo.

The St. Louis Rams could also be an enticing landing spot for Morris. With the team parting ways with head coach Steve Spagnuolo, he of the defensive background, the Rams could be searching for a defensive coordinator while installing a more offensively-minded veteran head coach.

While the Rams are a young team, they have more overall discipline and locker room leadership than the Buccaneers have, making it a less volatile situation than it was for Morris in Tampa. The Rams ended the 2011 season with one of the very worst defenses in the league, and Morris could be just the shot in the arm that the squad needs to improve.

Regardless of where he ends up, it's almost certain that Morris' days in the NFL are far from over. Though he won't be a head coach in 2012, look for him to have a defensive position with one of the many teams in need.