Rams could lose important coach to Buccaneers thanks to Liam Coen saga

The LA Rams face the potential loss of a critical positional coach, all thanks to the Liam Coen saga

Los Angeles Rams, Sean McVay, Liam Coen
Los Angeles Rams, Sean McVay, Liam Coen | Harry How/GettyImages

When the LA Rams reassembled the coaching staff for the 2024 NFL season, the team kept a fine eye on the ability of new coaches to communicate and coach up rookies and younger players. Having been to the top of the mountain after the 2021 NFL season, the front office and HC Sean McVay that the team would need to reconstruct a new championship roster.

The team powered through 2021 with seasoned veteran and All-Pro caliber players like DT Aaron Donald, CB Jalen Ramsey, and even WR Cooper Kupp. But the players who were so instrumental in that Super Bowl LVI victory were getting older. Some have since been traded or signed with new NFL teams. Two veterans: LT Andrew Whitworth and DT Aaron Donald, have since retired.

None of these events escaped the strategy of the Rams in forming the coaching staff last season. As the team hired new coaches, a common theme began to emerge. New coaches had amazing track records for developing young quarterbacks. Here is an extract of some of the team's coaching hires from one year ago:

  1. John Streicher | Game Management Coordinator | Story Link
  2. Dave Ragone | QB Coach | Story Link
  3. Nate Scheelhaase | Offensive Assistant, Pass Game Specialist | Story Link
  4. Jerry Schuplinski | Senior Offensive Assistant | Story Link

You may note that each new coach listed has a more detailed story link to shed more details about what they bring to the Rams superb coaching staff. But perhaps one of the most underrated hires from one year ago is the addition of Rams QB coach Dave Ragone. He is a name that is quite familiar to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as he was the offensive coordinator for three seasons for the nearby Atlanta Falcons.

Now he is interviewing for the vacant offensive coordinator job with the Bucs. But wasn't that job held by former Rams OC Liam Coen?

Well, that was the belief of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they agreed to make him the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the NFL. But that was instantly altered when the Jacksonville Jaguars announced that Coen had agreed to become their new head coach.

That left the Bucs without an offensive coordinator. It also left their starting quarterback, Baker Mayfield, facing a new offensive strategy.

It makes sense for the Buccaneers to reach out to a positional coach from the LA Rams coaching staff. Mayfield reclaimed his love of playing football in his mid-season heroics of starting for the Rams in 2022. And that newfound love of the game has catapulted him into a starting quarterback who can lead the Buccaneers to the NFL Playoffs.

So he is a vital component to the Bucs future success. If the Buccaneers pry Ragone from the Rams, they are getting an elite quarterback whisperer.

Coach Ragone does not sugar coat facts. He holds players accountable, but does not do that from a place of cold barking of commands. Ragone has given and gotten a great deal of quality experience with the Rams. If this is his moment to return to the role of offensive coordinator, so be it.

Coach Ragone is a solid coach. He has great skills at leading young players to achieve the best version of himself in terms of football production. Hopefully he will return to the Rams staff. The LA Rams need his ability to coach up young quarterbacks now more than ever. But I won't allow my selfish hopes to dictate Ragone's career opportunities.

I'm confident that the Rams will find a new quality coach for 2025 if that is how this story turns out. As always, thanks for reading.

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