Just like that, the LA Rams defections of execs/coaches climb to six

In LA Rams News: The team has now lost a total of six executives and coaches so far.  The loss of cornerbacks coach is no surprise, but that does not make absorbing the loss of such a significant contributor to the Rams defensive success any easier. In fact, it makes it all the more difficult to do. The Rams should surely have seen this one coming, and yet did nothing to prevent it from happening.

In a normal season, an NFL team may dismiss a positional coach for failure to achieve their annual goals. Or perhaps an executive is lured away at the promise of a promotion, which delivers more responsibility and more compensation.  But it’s a trickle effect. Typically, it’s a slow drip-drop-depletion of talent. But the LA Rams outperformed expectations. Most analysts expected the Rams to fall to 6-10.

When the team failed to fail, it seems as though other NFL teams lay in waiting to cannibalize the team until it does exactly that. The latest coach to go? Cornerbacks coach Aubrey Pleasant has agreed to join the Detroit Lions as their new secondary coach, as we expected.

The LA Rams were quite fortunate after the 2019 season. At this time a year ago, the Rams replaced/added all three coordinator positions, and added running backs coach Thomas Brown and ST assistant coach Tory Woodbury. Of course, that happened rather quickly at the time. The Dallas Cowboys hired new head coach Mike McCarthy, who made it a point to fill vacancies on his new coaching staff by luring coaches away from the LA Rams.

The mood then among fans was permeated with apprehension, hope, frustration, and surrender, just like it is today. Many of the same obstacles from last year must be overcome once more, but a newly configured coaching staff, and from a new wave of NFL Free Agents and a new crop of rookies from the NFL Draft. Everything has changed, but in the end, much is simply another cycle of wash, rinse, repeat.

Deja vu all over again?

In 2021, the Rams are filling roles at all levels of the organization.  Depending upon the direction you see the Rams organization taking, and whether they need to alter course, that could be either a good thing or a bad thing, right?

The LA Rams lost assistant quarterbacks coach Liam Coen, as he has opted to become the offensive coordinator for the University of Kentucky Wildcats. He had turned down a similar opportunity to accept a promotion with Boston College after the 2018 season. But starting quarterback Jared Goff’s development has stagnated, and it may be a mutually agreed-upon decision for Coen to hire elsewhere.

Of course, the LA Rams lost one-year defensive coordinator Brandon Staley to the Los Angeles Chargers as their new head coach. He managed to recruit linebackers coach Joe Barry to join him there as their defensive passing game coordinator.

The LA Rams have two pending interviews/decisions left to be filled. Personnel consultant Ray Farmer interviewed for the Jacksonville Jaguars General Manager position. And Pass Game Coordinator Shane Waldron has interviewed for the offensive coordinator role with the rival Seattle Seahawks. No decision has been reached in filling the position for either team yet.

The Rams front office lost both Director of College Scouting Brad Holmes and Director of Player Personnel Ray Agnew to the Detroit Lions, as they assume their roles of General Manager and Assistant General Manager respectively. Two very talented and successful team executives, both key to the annual task of rebuilding the roster with fewer draft picks than the competition.

The LA Rams have now lost Cornerback coach Aubrey Pleasant, who will take on the secondary coach position with the Detroit Lions. The loss of Pleasant will be a difficult one to take in stride. Not only was he very good at helping the Rams to install defensive coverages to fit the overall defensive plan, but he was an incredible resource for developing young talented players.

Can the coordinators coordinate this year’s restoration?

Of course, the LA Rams have hired their two new coordinators already.  They have added Raheem Morris as the new defensive coordinator. Admittedly, Raheem Morris brings a lot of experience on both sides of the ball to the role, but what that will mean for the team is still subject to debate.  For the time being, we are still analyzing what this will mean to the Rams defensive strategy.

But we do need to clarify our earlier article about the Rams adding Joe DeCamillis to the coaching staff as the new ST Coordinator. At the time, no mention was made of the resolution of former ST Coordinator John Bonamego.  Per the LA Rams website, Bonamego has been retained with the Rams in a new role, entering his first season as the senior coaching assistant for the Los Angeles Rams. That is a positive move for the Rams, who add DeCamilis as the new ST Coordinator, but in doing so do not force him to start completely from scratch.

By our records, the Rams need to hire a new positional coach for linebackers, cornerback, assistant quarterback coach, and pass game coordinator (or its equivalent). We will certainly start work on our shortlist of qualified candidates and hopefully will have those available before the Rams hire the persons to fill those roles.

New information and events seem to be occurring at a much faster pace than ever before. The Rams will most certainly miss the talents of both Joe Barry and Aubrey Pleasant from this coaching staff. They were not only excellent at what they did, but they added a very positive track for young players to develop into NFL ready starters.

Ironically, both Barry and Pleasant were mentioned as candidates to fill the vacated defensive coordinator role a year ago. Now, after being passed over twice by the Rams for the chance to become the team’s defensive coordinator, both have found their career paths leading to new teams.