With LA Rams OC Liam Coen back to NCAA, who is next up for Rams?

The LA Rams have not confirmed it. The University of Kentucky has not yet confirmed it. But for all intents and purposes, at the end of the 2022 NFL season, the LA Rams will lose offensive coordinator Liam Coen to the NCAA, as he is slated to return as the offensive coordinator in 2023, the same team and the same role that he had held in 2021.

Of course, the LA Rams offense has struggled throughout the 2022 NFL season. That could be a reason for Coen to be comfortable leaving the Rams organization after just one season as the team’s offensive coordinator. Because he is still under contract with the LA Rams, and the season is still going on, there is little to be reported just yet unless the Rams outright released Coen from his current contract.

More work for Rams OC

Since the Rams had added free agent quarterback Baker Mayfield, Coen’s workload has increased significantly. The Rams organization has historically tasked the offensive coordinator with the direct support of the quarterbacks on the Rams roster, and Mayfield’s arrival has required that Liam Coen focus on getting him up to speed with the Rams’ playbook

What was Liam Coen’s legacy with the Rams’ offense? At times he was an enigma, but at other times, he showed some panache. He never did get TE/WR Jacob Harris on track. And if not for the injuries assaulting the Rams receivers, we may never have known that WR Tutu Atwell is indeed an NFL-caliber receiver. But the injuries happened, and Atwell made the best of his opportunity.

The Rams’ offense struggled, yes. But far too many are willing to take the cheap route of just blaming someone and calling for them to be fired.  Unfortunately, the offensive problems on the team this year were complex and multi-layered, and will by no means be resolved just by firing someone. Instead, let’s pause a moment to appreciate the contributions of Coen to the Rams organization this year.

Coen’s creativity should not be overlooked

Coen was not calling the plays for the LA Rams. He was not the loudest voice in the room, nor did any decisions that ran aground on the offensive side of the football come from him. Coen was the trouble-shooter, the deep dive specialist who was assigned the unenviable task of getting non-productive players to be more productive. He was tasked with figuring out ways to get the Rams running attack back on track. He was more effective than many realize.

The LA Rams offense simply sprang more holes in the dam than Coen had fingers to plug up. And much of his troubleshooting had less to do with bad plays as much as the quality of the Rams starters dropping significantly due to injuries, and his efforts to compensate by reinventing the wheel with the players who were available on any given Sunday.

What did Coen do this season? Look closely

The result was a lot of work for a new offensive coordinator, and not much to show for it. Or was there? Perhaps the answer is that you simply have to give it a closer inspection to recognize how Coen has impacted the team this year.

That has led some to question Liam Coen’s legacy in his one-year stint as the LA Rams offensive coordinator. How can it be summed up any better than this? The Mayfield Miracle.

While that may not have given either the Rams or OC Coen enough reason to seek a longer-term relationship, it was truly one of the most memorable games I have ever witnessed. And yet, here are, pondering the question that nobody has dared to ask: Who is next?

A trio of internal candidates

The trick to getting the right guy in as the offensive coordinator is to find someone who suits the unique way that the Rams have constructed the role. It’s a role that does not call the plays on game day and only offers input to the creation of the offensive playbook.

This role serves as a quarterback coach on steroids, working with the QBs and getting them up to speed on plays and philosophies. It’s also a bit of QC, often looking at underperforming players on the Rams roster, troubleshooting the challenges hampering their full optimization, and then developing an action plan to improve their performance.

Jay Gruden

The first name to consider is the LA Rams ‘consultant’, Jay Gruden. He holds a long-standing relationship with McVay, and that has an intrinsic trust that no other person is likely to bring to the table. And the best part is, he is already a consultant for the team.

Gruden may or may not be someone you appreciate, but the truth is that he has a long-standing relationship with Rams HC Sean McVay, and their chemistry has been the foundation of what McVay has developed in his NFL offenses. There is no reason to believe that Gruden is a ‘Yes man,’ when it comes to McVay. But he has been a consultant to the worst LA Rams offense in Sean McVay’s tenure. I would have expected his role to have a more direct impact on identifying some of the questionable decisions over starting roles before they were allowed to create more problems for this offense.

Greg Olson

If you love a passing game that features multiple tight ends, and a strong commitment to the running game, then you are likely pulling for the Rams to hire Senior Offensive Assistant Greg Olson as their next offensive coordinator.

Olson is the closest modern-day throwback to “Ground Chuck” former LA Rams head coach Chuck Knox. He loves to run the football, as was the case during his four-year tenure as the Raiders’ offensive coordinator after serving one season as the LA Rams quarterback coach in 2017.  Olson loves smash-mouth football, and you could easily envision his style flourishing with the San Francisco 49ers. Is his offensive philosophy too diverse from that of McVay? It’s hard to envision Olson remaining quiet after falling behind by a touchdown, only to watch the Rams abandon a productive ground game to risk multiple turnovers and negative plays by going pass-only on offense.

Thomas Brown

It’s almost impossible to ignore the impact of Coach Thomas Brown’s return to oversee the team’s running backs. The effects were almost instant, and the team has gotten consecutive 100-yard rushing efforts out of veteran RB Cam Akers, a player who was nearly traded earlier in the season.

The LA Rams have been grooming Brown with an ever-increasing role on offense to eventually become an offensive coordinator. Is this the year that he assumes that role? Of the three possible internal candidates, Brown’s potential makes the most sense.

After all, it’s one thing to tell a guy that you are grooming him for an offensive coordinator role someday. It’s a completely different matter altogether if the Rams are shopping for an offensive coordinator, and do not extend an offer to the guy that the same team has been grooming for two years.

Will the Rams explore external candidates too? Probably. But if Liam Coen returns to the University of Kentucky to assume their offensive coordinator role once more, then the most likely next offensive coordinator for the LA Rams will be Thomas Brown.