With the 2025 hiring cycle approaching, Rams coaches aren’t headlining candidate lists.
Every offseason, it seems as if the Los Angeles Rams coaching staff gets purged. It’s part of what makes what Sean McVay has done with the Rams since 2017 even more impressive. All of the other 31 teams want the next McVay. It also doesn’t hurt that coaches who have left the Rams tend to be successful. Out of the four coordinators that have left McVay’s staff to be head coaches, only one of them has been fired.
As the NFL heads into the season’s second half, coaches are going to get fired. The New York Jets already fired Robert Saleh. Doug Pederson with the Jacksonville Jaguars and others are sure to follow. As The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported last week, “The upcoming coaching cycle could be very big.” To no surprise, Russini noted to keep an eye on coaches like Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, and Ben Johnson.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media put out a list of the 22 young coaches to watch during the 2025 hiring cycle. None of the 22 were Rams coaches. Former McVay assistants such as Ejiro Evero, Liam Cohen, Zac Robinson, and Thomas Brown could be candidates this offseason. With that said, none of those guys are on the current Rams’ staff.
With that said, Pelissero listed Chris Shula, Aubrey Pleasant, Mike LaFleur, Sean Desai, Nate Scheelhaase, and Nick Caley as coaches to watch in future years. Scheelhaase and Shula made Connor Orr of The MMQB’s newcomers list.
On most lists releasing at this point, not a single Rams coach is listed within the top 20. In one sense, that could be a good thing as McVay will finally be able to develop some continuity. Shula may be a name that sneaks into lists later in the year, especially if the Rams defense continues to play well. However, at this point, it seems unlikely that he’s on the radar of many teams this year.
This doesn’t mean that McVay won’t make any changes to his coaching staff or there won’t be new head coaches that steal from his staff. For example, a newly hired head coach could certainly take Nick Caley or Dave Ragone to be their offensive coordinator. If Mike LaFleur were to return for a third season, he would be the longest-tenured offensive coordinator in the McVay era. The Rams could also make a change on special teams once again with Chase Blackburn.
However, for the most part, McVay’s coaches should remain intact, which bodes well for a 2025 season in which the Rams will be looking to take that next step.