LA Rams lose coach (Waldron) to a Division Rival: Deja Vous?

The LA Rams offense has now officially been cordoned off (with pylons) as “under construction, this sidewalk is closed.”  The wheelhouse of head coach Sean McVay, the offensive wunderkind of the NFL, has watched his team’s offensive output recede for two straight years.  Not just a trickle, but the offense that once wowed the likes of the entire NFL has become, well, rather vanilla.

And so, it feels as though the team is reworking the offense. And why not? The team’s ability to put up points has fallen precipitously from 2017 when they were the most proficient offense in the entire league.  In 2018 it was the second-ranked offense. In 2019, it finished as the 11th-ranked scoring offense.  And this season, it plummeted like a bus plunging off a cliff and was the 23rd-ranked scoring offense.

These numbers speak volumes. And, as a result? Rams offensive coaches are signing on elsewhere, perhaps even being shown the door:

Assistant quarterback coach Liam Coen had accepted a position to become the University of Kentucky’s offensive coordinator days earlier. Now, former quarterback/tight end coach Shane Waldron, who most recently held the role of passing game coordinator with the LA Rams, jumps ship to become the offensive coordinator of division rival Seattle Seahawks. Waldron is now the seventh executive/coach to leave the Rams organization this year. Only Personnel consultant Ray Farmer’s future as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ GM is pending.

You don’t really like to see an assistant coach go to a division rival (and be OK with such a move) unless behind the scenes, some version of a “Hey, you need to find a job elsewhere” conversation took place, and they are moving in an entirely new offensive direction.

Gurley gone? The impossible happened

A year ago, similar whispers took place about the Rams parting ways with running back Todd Gurley. Nah, that would never happen, many said.  . . . but it did happen.

And what was the precursor move to letting Gurley go? They canned his running backs coach, Skip Peete. It was thought to be an unrelated move at the time, but now, in hindsight, it seems like a  move that’s eerily similar to what’s happening behind the scenes with Goff.

In the words of Yogi Berra, “It’s Deja Vous all over again.”

Peete was the position coach for Gurley and one of the few position coaches retained by McVay. At that time, we suspected that replacing Peete was a signal to Gurley that the team sought rapid improvement. Instead, it merely signaled the intent to move on from Gurley altogether.

In other words, the Rams kicked the legs of the stool out from underneath Gurley first, then let him go. Is the same thing happening to Goff?

Sure seems as if the Rams are employing a similar strategy.  The team has parted ways with assistant quarterback coach Liam Coen. Now, the team is saying farewell to former QB coach and pass game coordinator Shane Waldron, both coaches who had worked extensively with Goff over the years.

With no one to vent to, talk to, commiserate with, Goff is effectively being placed on an island with his only support being Kevin O’Connell, who was specifically brought on board by McVay to coach up Goff.  And, when the Chargers came sniffing around hoping to poach O’Connell, he’s the one coach the Rams said ‘NO!’ to leave.

When we get behind closed doors

One can easily imagine a behind-closed-doors chat (or two or three) has taken place where O’Connell has expressed his misgiving about Goff ever growing into the franchise QB the Rams once envisioned (and paid handsomely to become).

As Goff now finds himself in a quarterback’s room stacked with three mobile dual-threat backups, seems likely that Waldron’s replacement will be a coach with experience in a running QB scheme.

Further, when the GM of your team admits it is possible to move on from Goff (despite his front-loaded guaranteed money contract) you’re subtly telegraphing messages to the rest of the league that you’re moving on and open to listening to possible trade offers.

Waldron, now in his seventh year in the NFL and fourth with the Rams, followed McVay over from the Washington Football Team’s coaching staff. His departure signals the Rams have lost patience with Goff, as well as his supporting staff. It’s also a scorched-earth policy to kick the support legs out from underneath Goff, to do everything in their power to make Goff uncomfortable.  (as if ranking 23rd among  NFL offenses was not reason enough).

There’s an eerie parallel between our franchise QB situation and one that’s playing out in Philly with another highly-paid and regressing QB in Carson Wentz. That meltdown cost a Super-Bowl- winning head coach to be cast aside. Perhaps the Rams just want to avoid that scenario themselves, by allowing the lion’s share of the assistant coaching staff to go their separate ways. But I suspect there is much more to Waldron’s departure behind the curtain than meets the eye.