5 candidates LA Rams must consider for vacant DC role

Here are 5 top candidate whom the LA Rams must consider for the newly vacated DC role

Yes, the Los Angeles Rams won’t be bringing Wade Phillips back as defensive coordinator for 2020. So let’s add one more task to an already long list of tasks to be accomplished this off-season.  We had already discussed just the tip of the iceberg over the challenges facing the Rams this off-season.  What’s one more?

Well, perhaps the Rams defense did not warrant being the first place to take action?

The Rams defense is not bad.  While the week to week results were certainly all over the board, the defense actually improved slightly from 2018 to 2019. But this may not be as simple as a defense not meeting expectations.  After all, NFL coaches are very relationship-based in terms of who you know and where they are employed.

The Rams were not the best NFL defense in 2019, but nor were they the worst.  The team had some poor performances last season, but that was as much a matter of poor timing as negative impact to the team’s overall record.

Coaches are contacted constantly in the off-season for references and new opportunities. This Rams defensive coordinator feels like an outcropping of someone head coach Sean McVay knows and has been in touch with recently. And that timing will likely speed things along rapidly.  In the meantime, the Rams must now begin the arduous task of hiring a replacement for ousted Wade Phillips.  Here are 5 candidates the Rams must consider for the role.

Former Dallas Cowboys DC Rod Marinelli

Of course, the first place to come to mind are the defensive coordinators who had success despite the firing of the team’s head coach.  So it is with the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli.  Despite a defense which routinely helped Dallas compete, Marinelli will likely not be retained by newly hired head coach Mike McCarthy.  In fact, reports are now out indicating that the Cowboys have hired Saints LB coach Mike Nolan as their new defensive coordinator.

Marinelli is a solid hire, no two ways around it.  But that means the LA Rams will be competing for his services.  With so many other issues up in the air, does the team really need to take on a bidding war for their next defensive coordinator?

The pluses are that Marinelli is a turn key defensive coordinator.  He’s seen it all, done it all.  That is a solid basis to come in to mentor younger coaches and groom them for their own chance as defensive coordinator.

The minuses are simply that nagging question.  Isn’t that what the Rams just dismissed in the form of Wade Phillips?  After all, the guy was respected, well versed, and very likely to be the most capable of diagnosing and implenting any corrective actions require foe the LA Rams defense this off-season.   So I just don’t see this connection as likely.

Rams defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant

The LA Rams have reports out that Coach Sean McVay sent Pleasant to NFL Career development as Rams representative in 2019. In the early hours of the search for a new defensive coordinator, pundits and fans alike are scanning all the reference materials at their disposal to give even the slightest clue as to what the Rams might do for their next DC hire.

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Believe me, sending Aubrey Pleasant to an NFL career development seminar is a strong competitor for one of the least clues out there at the moment.

But Pleasant was a candidate for the Cincinnati Bengals DC job just a year ago.  After interviewing Pleasant, the Bengals then decided to go a different direction. While that allowed the Rams to keep their DB coach on staff, it also created its own set of problems. How long will the Rams keep Pleasant?  If he interviewed for one NFL teams defensive coordinator, how many more interviews will he take?

No, Pleasant did not get the Bengals job. Still, he has a great reputation with his players.  And the Rams have put up stout opposition to the opponents whenever the ball goes up into the air.  And in the meantime, he did put another season of NFL play on his resume.

Now Pleasant’s name is definitely written in ink on any list for future consideration for the next defensive coordinator role with the LA Rams. Despite Pleasant just completing his third season with the LA Rams, and seventh year in his NFL career, he has a great reputation in the league.    His experience seems just a bit shallow to assume total control of the defense. But it is enough to toss his hat into the ring, and once there, anything can happen.

Dallas passing game coordinator / defensive backs coach Kris Richard

Dallas DBs coach Kris Richard was once the former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator. It actually wasn’t that long ago when Richard helped to lead the Seattle Seahawks the best defense in the NFL.  He also helped create the Seahawks defensive backfield into the home of the legendary “Legion of Boom”.

Since that time, he’s been serving as the Dallas Cowboys passing game coordinator/defensive backs coach. Reports are now surfacing that the Cowboys may have a role for Richard under head coach Mike McCarthy.  But since the team has plans to hire Nolan as the defensive coordinator, Richard should be able to interview for the defensive coordinator role for other teams.

Richards has a lot going for him in terms of resume and fit. He enjoyed huge success in Seattle during his time there. And as he had Seahawks experience, it would certainly intrigue McVay to consider the potential upside of having a rival’s former coach on the Rams’ coaching staff.

But along those same thoughts runs the question of will Richards be a fit?  After all, the Los Angeles Rams have defensive position coaches already in place.  They need a true coordinator, a coach to come in and unify the game plan to sync up to what the offense is doing. Richards has more of a build-it-up-from-ground-level feel to him

Washington Huskies defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski

In any coaching search, there is always that one candidate which surprises everyone at first. Then, after a moment, everyone nods and smiles, realizing that the selection was more obvious than initially believed.  Right now, University of Washington defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkoski fits that description to a tee.

He may not be the first mind anyone thinks of, but don’t let that fool you.  He has enjoyed a solid career as defensive coordinator for the Washington Huskies since 2014.  Prior to that, he was the defensive coordinator for Boise State, where he was a coach with growing responsibilities for 19 years. .   It was former head coach Chris Petersen who brought Kwiatkowski, a.k.a. “Coach K” with him when he took over as head coach of UW.

Now Petersen has stepped away from the Huskies. That makes this the perfect time for a NFL team to try prying Coach K away as well.  The Rams would be the right team to consider doing so.

Coach K already coached two of the Rams up and coming stars on defense, safety Taylor Rapp and nose tackle Greg Gaines. And it was Kwiatkowski who coached up lower quality defensive prospects into NFL careers.  Right now, the Rams are nearly bumping up against the NFL salary cap ceiling.  Hiring a defensive coordinator with strong ties to college players cannot be overestimated for the Rams right now.

Coach K’s defense was one of the best throughout his career at the Pac-12, despite less lauded recruiting classes.  That’s because K focuses on work ethic, getting to know his players personally, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to help the team succeed. Place that type of dedication onto the coaching staff at the NFL level will only lead to good outcomes.

Rams assistant head coach/linebackers coach Joe Barry

Unless I’m way off track, the most likely scenario points in the direction of Rams assistant head coach/linebackers coach Joe Barry.  Why?  Well the send off for defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was awfully rosy, too rosy for a “you failed, clear out your desk” situation.

It more likely that the reason begins with the  USC interest in linebackers coach Joe Barry as their new defensive coordinator as the primary factor to precipitate this move by the Rams.

USC interviewed  Joe Barry for their DC role.  If it went well, and we assume that it did, that would have forced McVay’s hand to react immediately.  In an off-season where the team has more than it’s share of trouble spots to address, McVay would certainly want Barry on the staff.  That translates into Sean McVay’s only option -promote Barry within the Rams organization to keep him.  And the only way to do so?  Create a vacant position. After all, defensive coordinator for a premier NCAA football program > linebacker coach for an NFL team.

That would certainly connect the dots to events which have played out so far.  And Charles Robinson, senior NFL reporter for Yahoo Sports, seems to agree. Barry has been the assistant coach /linebackers coach for the LA Rams since 2017.  Previously, he was the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins for two seasons. His coaching career began in 1995, when he joined the USC staff as graduate assistant/defensive line coach.

He’s been a strong factor in the production of inside linebacker Cory Littleton, as well as Alec Ogletree, Mark Barron, and others. His promotion to defensive coordinator seems to make the most sense based upon what we know right now.  Of course, we really don’t know enough to have a strong opinion yet.  But the week is young.