The Rams are going into next season with quite the facelift.
How Hollywood. The coaching staff has been a revolving door as of late. Gone are Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips, Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel, and Running Backs Coach Skip Peete.
The contracts of Phillips and Fassel had expired, and they were informed a renewal would not be coming their way. Peete was fired by Head Coach Sean McVay, which given the drop off in the running game should not come as a huge surprise.
Continuing their theme of going young the Rams have replaced 72-year-old Phillips and 46-year-old Fassel with 37-year-old Brandon Staley as their new Defensive Coordinator, and 34-year-old Kevin O’Connell as their new Offensive Coordinator. How Hollywood.
Photo: What lies ahead for Former DC Phillips remains unknown, but he has expressed a desire to keep coaching. I don’t know if he’ll be able to snag another Defensive Coordinator position this offseason, but I would be very surprised if he did not find a home on someone’s coaching staff. John Fassel did not take long to find his new home. Fassel has already joined the new-look Dallas Cowboys coaching staff, filling the same position he had with the Rams.
The Rams appear to be prioritizing youth over experience.
Who are these new guys?
New DC Brandon Staley is coming over from the Denver Broncos’ staff, where he was the Outside Linebackers Coach. New Offensive Coordinator Kevin O’Connell is coming over from the Washington Redskins staff where he started as an Offensive Assistant until moving into the Offensive Coordinator role this past season.
Staley is coming from a defense that operated a 3-4 scheme under HC Vic Fangio, so one would assume the team would continue to operate in the 3-4 that Phillips instituted. It is highly unlikely McVay will surrender his offensive play-calling duties, so it remains to be seen what O’Connell’s addition makes to the offensive side of the ball.
The Running Backs Coach and Special Teams Coordinator positions are currently unfilled, however, judging by the way this offseason has gone thus far I do not expect them to remain open for much longer.
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