LA Rams ST coach John Fassel going to Dallas Cowboys

LA Rams coaching carousel continues as special teams coach John Fassel will join Dallas Cowboys coaching staff. Will more coaches be on the move?

When it rains, it pours. The LA Rams just lost a significant piece of their coaching staff in the form of special teams coach John Fassel.  Reports are now popping up everywhere that he will be joining the Dallas Cowboys and head coach Mike McCarthy.

If you are keeping score, the Rams are now without:

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips
Running backs coach Skip Peete
Special teams coach John Fassel

And the coaching carousel is only now just warming up. Not to alarm anyone, but linebacker coach Joe Barry has interviewed for the defensive coordinator job at USC. Defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant interviewed for the Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator role in 2019. And with the play of the Rams DBs last season, you can bet his name will pop up in the interview circuit again this year.

Winds of change

Ready or not, Rams fans, changes are coming. It’s clear that head coach Sean McVay wants more oversight on the Rams organization as a whole.  And that means that he wants a stronger connection and input to areas of the Rams he had  previously remained hands off.

More attention directed elsewhere has to come from somewhere. That likely means that McVay will need to surrender some of his hands-on of the offense.  So that adds another offensive coordinator position to the mix:

Offensive coordinator (vacated by) Sean McVay

Transforming into …   what exactly?

So what’s coming?  Well, it’s all speculation at this point, but we have some thoughts on that. The Los Angeles Rams were embarrassed in Super Bowl 53 by the New England Patriots. In that game, McVay realized that even one of the best traditional teams in the NFL can be outflanked by more versatile coaching.

The Patriots neutralized the Rams offense. The lesson simmered in McVay’s mind throughout 2019 and the endless waves of injuries. The team could not adapt quickly enough to win enough games to get into the playoffs.  Now, in 2020, it seems that Sean McVay has had enough.

The LA Rams failed to renew Wade Phillips, dismissed Skip Peete, and failed to counter offer on John Fassel.  This is not an oversight.  This feels like deliberate actions taken to fast track organizational change.  If you don’t like head coach Sean McVay, these changes will likely be painful to endure for you.  The team will move far closer to McVay’s philosophy now.

As it stands, Fassel’s departure appears to open the door to promote assistant ST coach Matt Daniels.  Likewise, the defensive coordinator role could be going to either DB coach Aubrey Pleasant or LB coach Joe Barry. Right now, the is no heir apparent for the running backs coach on staff.  Change is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It’s just a different thing.  Coach McVay clearly believes change is necessary. And he is getting his wish.