Lack of coaching continuity is hurting the LA Rams potential

Recently the LA Rams lost their brand new defensive coordinator to their tenant at SoFi Stadium. The Los Angeles Chargers had a coaching vacancy at the head coach position and Brandon Staley couldn’t refuse.

This isn’t the first time the Rams have lost a coordinator/position coach for a head coach vacancy and it won’t be the last. That isn’t a knock on Rams head coach Sean McVay, in fact, it’s quite impressive how he continuously grows his coaching tree.

Still, every time someone from the Rams staff gets hired, they take an experience and sometimes poach lower-ranking staff to take with them.

Currently, McVay has had three members of his coaching staff who branched from his tree to take on a head coaching position. In order, they are Matt LaFleur (2017 – became OC for the Tennesee Titans before taking on the head coaching role for the Green Bay Packers), Zac Taylor (2017-2018, who took on the head coaching role of the Cincinnati Bengals), and now Brandon Staley (2020, who left to assume the head coaching role of the Chargers).

The average time it takes to go from a McVay’s staff to head coach for people who leave is 1.3 seasons with this organization, 1.6  total years if you count LaFleur’s year in Tenessee. Not only can the loss of coordinators hurt the Rams, but after they leave, they recruit position coaches to join them on their new team as well.

Former Rams quarterbacks coach Greg Olsen, 16 years of league experience, was poached to be the Raiders Offensive Coordinator in 2018. Former Rams linebacker coach, Joe Barry, with 20 years of league experience, was hired to be the Charger’s new defensive passing game coordinator/linebackers coach in 2020.

And most recently former Rams CB coach Aubrey Pleasant, with eight years of league experience, who was praised by the organization yet passed up for a promotion to defensive coordinator, left to be the Detriot Lions secondary coach and passing game coordinator in 2021.

In fact, while the Raheem Morris hire is a good hire to replace Staley, he was the Atlanta Falcons Interim head coach and was interviewed to make it full time. It’s only a matter of time before somebody looks to hire him as a head coach as well.

The Rams are a factory of coaches, producing quality people who understand the game. Yet they are also a turnstile in the organization.

People leave as soon as they reach their potential for a promotion elsewhere, taking their experience and talent with them. They also spread coach McVay’s ideas, making them more common around the league which makes his offensive scheme easier to solve. It is for that reason the Rams must learn to retain as much in-house knowledge as possible.