Recent Forum Topics › Forums › The Rams Huddle › O’Connell’s role
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February 13, 2020 at 10:28 am #111287
znModeratorSean McVay says Kevin O’Connell has a ‘mastery’ of QB position
NBC Sports Washington
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/sean-mcvay-says-kevin-oconnell-225859169.html
Kevin O’Connell, who served as Washington’s offensive coordinator a year ago, was one of the many members of the Redskins staff in 2019 that was not retained under the new regime of Ron Rivera.
Rivera considered keeping the 34-year-old as his offensive coordinator but ultimately hired former Panthers’ OC Scott Turner to fill the position. Days later, O’Connell was hired by the Los Angeles Rams and Sean McVay, who served as the Burgundy and Gold’s offensive coordinator prior to being hired as the Rams head coach in 2017.
On Wednesday, the Rams formally introduced O’Connell, along with three other staff hires. McVay, who did not hire an offensive coordinator the past two seasons, spoke glowingly of O’Connell.
“I’ve always watched him from afar,” McVay said. “I’m a fan of coaching, I’ve been really impressed with from when he was a player and the seamless transition that he’s made into coaching – his mastery of the position. Just the charisma, the presence, all those things were things that excited you about getting an opportunity to work together.”
Although the two never crossed paths in Washington (O’Connell joined the Redskins staff just days after McVay left for LA), the two have known each other for quite some time. McVay said that once they met, they immediately clicked, and have a lot of “similar connections.”
McVay raved about O’Connell’s ability to communicate with his players, and believes the addition of the offensive coordinator will be an enormous help for quarterback Jared Goff.
“His ability to communicate, his big picture, I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for [QB] Jared [Goff] to work with someone like him, because of some of the things that he’s done, that maybe I haven’t gotten exposed to,” McVay said.
Despite the Redskins’ offensive struggles a season ago, the 34-year-old was strongly considered for the same role under Rivera. O’Connell was given full play-calling reigns following the departure of Jay Gruden in Week 5, and showed growth in the role throughout the season.
Many believed he would have the chance to remain in Washington and grow as a coordinator alongside young quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Now, O’Connell will be tasked with getting Goff to return to his 2018 form, when he led the Rams to the Super Bowl.
McVay is considered one of the young, bright offensive minds in the sport. His immediate success as a young head coach sparked a trend in the NFL, paving the way for guys like Matt LaFleur, Zac Taylor, Kliff Kingsbury and Joe Judge to all earn head coaching jobs before their 40th birthday.
Despite the great reputation McVay has in the sport, he expressed his desire to learn from O’Connell.
“I’m really excited about learning from him, working together and us positively pushing each other, to ultimately figure out what’s the best version of the 2020 Rams offense and how does that look as we continue to try to put that together with our players in mind,” McVay said.
February 27, 2020 at 10:17 pm #111688znModeratorWelcome to Rams Revealed, a weekly podcast hosted by Voice of the Rams J.B. Long, featuring a different Rams player each episode. Subscribe to get an exclusive look inside the team.
Ep. 25: Rams OC Kevin O’Connell on bringing a fresh perspective
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February 27, 2020 at 10:18 pm #111689znModeratorDick84
The “Rams Revealed” podcast interview with new OC Kevin O’Connell was great and, I think, very insightful.
-He mentioned how much the oline will benefit from having so many young guys get action this year. He mentioned them growing and improving. This will be a huge record-scratch for people who think the oline personnel just flat-out sucks and can’t get better… and for those who think the roster will look drastically different. O’Connell’s interview screams to me “getting better from within.”
-He talked about really admiring the 9ers run scheme and studying it.
Why not? I mean.. they ran Mike Person, Ben Garland and Laken Tomlinson at interior line.. and absolutely ran over the Packers. Who DOESN’T think that scheme had the majority of impact? I don’t see the Rams adding a fullback.. but I think Mundt is probably gonna keep seeing the field a bunch.. unless Everett has a blocking epiphany this offseason. O’Connell did mention the Rams being primarily an “11 personnel” team.. .but added that throwing more looks at the defense will be a thing. They can’t create the problems the 9ers can with Juszczyk with Mundt.. but they can certainly block decent with him in there.
February 27, 2020 at 10:19 pm #111690znModeratorHaving a full-time offensive coordinator again will benefit the Rams in 2020, based on LaFleur’s experience
Stu Jackson
https://www.therams.com/news/having-a-full-time-offensive-coordinator-again-will-benefit-rams
INDIANAPOLIS – Packers head coach Matt LaFleur knows what it’s like to be a full-time offensive coordinator under Rams head coach Sean McVay, having done so in McVay’s first season in Los Angeles.
The Rams will have someone in that very role for the first time in three years after hiring former Redskins offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell this winter. Returning to that arrangement stands to benefit Los Angeles this upcoming season.
“Number one, it freed him up so he didn’t have to do everything in terms of all our install or all the film review within, whether it’s just with our players. It freed him up to do head coaching duties as well,” LaFleur told theRams.com at the NFL Scouting Combine, when asked about the impact of that partnership. “So I think it was more or less just always being on the same page and and somebody that could relay that message, not only to the other coaches, but to the players.”
McVay and LaFleur worked together under then-Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan for four seasons from 2010-2013. When they reunited in 2017, LaFleur helped guide Los Angeles to top-10 regular season finishes in total yards (361.5 per game, 10th), passing yards (239.4, 10th) and rushing yards (122.1, eighth). L.A won their first NFC West divisional title since 2003 and reached the postseason for the first time since 2004, then LaFleur was hired by the Titans to be their offensive coordinator for the 2018 season.
“Sean and I had a rapport going back to Washington where we worked together, and so we were kind of trained the same way and grew up at the same time in this profession,” LaFleur said. “So we were always on the same page, and he could always bounce stuff off me and I knew where it was coming from. And I think that just to help get everybody on the same page.”
While O’Connell and McVay’s time in Washington did not overlap, both worked under former Redskins head coach Jay Gruden – O’Connell during Gruden’s last three seasons and McVay during his first three. O’Connell joined Gruden’s staff in Washington in 2017 – the year McVay left to join Los Angeles – starting out as quarterbacks coach in 2017 before eventually moving up to offensive coordinator in 2019.
Consequently, there’s a good chance O’Connell will be able to sync with McVay similar to the way LaFleur did having worked under the same head coach.
“At the end of the day, it’s just being an extension of him. It takes a lot to do that,” O’Connell said when he was officially introduced earlier this month. “The experience and the success that this offense has had, you really want the players to look at you as an extension of the head coach.”
McVay hopes to replicate the regular season success of 2017 – with one exception.
“He’s not leaving after a year hopefully, all right,” McVay said at that introductory press conference, laughing.
February 27, 2020 at 10:33 pm #111693znModeratorJosh McDaniels’ preferred offensive coordinator, Kevin O’Connell, takes a different job
January 10, 2020
On Friday night, the Los Angeles Rams made the move to hire Kevin O’Connell as their next offensive coordinator. O’Connell spent the 2019 season as the Washington Redskins offensive coordinator and will now work under Sean McVay.
O’Connell, 38, was a former New England Patriots third-round draft pick in 2008 but spent just one season as a backup quarterback with the team before bouncing around the NFL.
And while O’Connell was only with the Patriot short-term, his hire on Friday actually may actually be of some significance for the team.
As the MMQB’s Albert Breer detailed on NBC Sports Boston’s “Boston Sports Tonight”, O’Connell was going to be McDaniels’ offensive coordinator if he got the Browns or Panthers job. So could O’Connell taking another job signal that McDaniels isn’t the favorite in Cleveland?
And so my guess, and I don’t know this, but my guess is that if Kevin O’Connell had an offer on the table from the Rams — and let’s remember, that’s also going to be a non-play-calling job — if he had an offer on the table from the Rams, chance are he checked in with Josh first.
And at the very least, it seems likely that Josh didn’t walk away from the meeting today with the job. Now what I can say, there were good feelings coming out of the meeting. I also think Kevin Stefanski, the Vikings offensive coordinator, is still in this. I would also say that the 49ers defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh, is a dark horse here.
Essentially, it’s impossible to know if O’Connell’s hire means anything about McDaniels at the moment. As Breer said, he probably checked in with McDaniels before taking the job. And McDaniels did meet with the Browns for seven hours on Friday and him joining the Browns may be one of the two “likely results” for this hiring situation.
But if McDaniels doesn’t know definitively whether he has the job or not, O’Connell would probably have trouble turning down a coordinator spot with the Rams.
The McDaniels situation will likely have a resolution at some point in the coming days. The only way it could extend further is if the Browns favor either Stefanski or Saleh and the team of their favored coach advances in the playoffs.
But if that happens, the answer on the Browns coaching search will likely become clearer. And the longer there is no news about the hire, the better it will be for the Patriots’ chances of keeping McDaniels.
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