Rams schemes & coaches — including big changes in 2026

How Rams’ Nate Scheelhaase Became Architect of the Aerial Assault
In an exclusive interview, the Los Angeles Rams’ passing game coordinator provided an insightful look at his work, life, and vision for the future

Brock Vierra

https://www.si.com/nfl/rams/onsi/los-angeles-nate-scheelhaase-became-architect-aerial-assault

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. When news broke last offseason that the Rams were able to retain offensive assistant Nate Scheelhaase, the move came and went from the news cycle but it’s impact has driven the Rams to new heights in 2025.

“He’s a great coach,” stated Rams head coach Sean McVay. “He has great leadership, great capacity for the game, similar to a lot of our other great coaches. First and foremost, he has great character. There’s an ability to be able to connect with all different types. There’s an ability to own the game from an all-22 perspective. He’s excellent. I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He’s a great person, first and foremost, and he has a great family. He’s been outstanding, working with the receivers, but he has a tremendous impact on our team and our group as a whole.”

McVay highlights an important point about Scheelhaase’s magic and it’s his ability to connect. Earlier this season, Scheelhaase was gracious enough to sit down with Rams On SI for an exclusive interview and now that reports have emerged that Scheelhaase is a name being looked at for offensive coordinator jobs next season, with some believing he has head coaching potential, here is an inside look into the man who helped Los Angeles retake the skies.

The Man Who Stands Ahead Of The Curve

Via information accumulated across the Rams’ entire 2025 regular season, it’s clear that Scheelhaase is not only a respected coach within the facility, he’s one of the brightest minds in football, blending his intelligence with his emotional understanding to form a platform for which the Rams have set repeated high marks.

“He’s a smart dude,” stated Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. “One, he’s incredibly efficient with finding stuff around the league and what people are doing and keeping up with the times, which is so important. He’s just eager to not just know what we’re doing or what the Houston Texans defense is doing, but he’s eager to know what the landscape of the league is and that’s a big factor.”

“As coaches we’re the best thieves out there. Someone does something cool, we’ll steal it, make it our own and call it our own then not cite our source. He does an incredible job at gathering that stuff. He’s awesome with the receivers. He’s awesome in front of the unit. I don’t think he really cares about his future, but his future in my opinion is really bright. He’s where his feet are and we’re really lucky to have him.”

Scheelhaase is the man keeping the Rams ahead of the curve, introducing new offensive concepts into the meeting room, giving the offensive staff more than enough to create new offenses such as the game-changing 13 personnel package.

I asked Scheelhaase about offensive innovation and what does the next evolution of offensive football look like in his mind. Scheelhaase, like most brillant offensive minds, believes offensive football rotates on a cycle and that the teams who are able to best weather the storms of change are those who control the controllables.

Nate Scheelhaase

“As many times as people ask me that question, the more important question that I ask myself is, what doesn’t change,” questioned Scheelhaase. “What in the last ten years, or the last five years, what’s not changing? What are the consistent foundational things that are important no matter what kind of offense, no matter how things are changing defensively, no matter how you’re trying to attack people, what are some, some of the like, mainstay, foundational, pillar, items that like, man, if you want to have good offensive football, this is what it takes.”

Looking at patterns across the game has been a key piece to Scheelhaase’s success. There are many similarities in Scheelhaase and Sean McVay’s school of thought, using pre-snap looks to induce poor decisions by painting similar pre-snap looks and then masking the play through similar actions on a variety of calls/ designs.

“I’m always like looking for the next idea, the best idea but I’m also trying to figure out, as much as anything, what has been tried and true throughout the last two, three, four, five years, that still is true today…I think that it’s cyclical,” cited Scheelhaase. “As far as, like, what happens in football, the ability to attack people both pre and post snap, Sean [McVay], his offenses, how that’s affected and influenced NFL offenses.”

“I always think the pre-snap operation is a huge part of what happens in the NFL,” continued Scheelhaase. “I think you’ve seen us do some stuff, the motions, the shifts, the personnel changes, the tempo, those things have infiltrated the NFL in a unique way and I think just continuing to watch what quarterbacks are doing pre-snap, and watch how that affects offenses in a positive way, that’s probably what I feel like I pay the most attention to.”

And it is in that through that since being named Rams’ passing game coordinator in the offseason, the Rams finished the season on top of several statistical leaderboards. Matthew Stafford is the NFL’s passing yards and passing touchdowns king, while being tied for second for fewest interceptions thrown by a quarterback who played 17 games. As a result, Stafford is in a dead heat with Drake Maye for the MVP award.

But while Scheelhaase steals concepts for the Rams to exploit, it was actually Scheelhaase who stole from the Rams originally, paving his path to Los Angeles.

A True Hustler

Not many men can produce multiple NFL-grade wide receivers out of a program with the history of Iowa State, but at the same time, not many men can replace Juice Williams and then set program records. That’s Nate Scheelhaase. A standout collegiate quarterback who parlayed his on-field success to a coaching career that took him from his alma mater, Illinois to Iowa State, where he climbed up Matt Campbell’s coaching ladder to be his offensive coordinator, before being hired by the Rams for the 2024 season.

Back in 2022, when Scheelhaase was Iowa State’s wide receivers coach, he stole McVay concepts built for Cooper Kupp to turn wide receiver Jaylin Noel from a little-known prospect into a household collegiate playmaker.

“I remember sitting with Jaylin Noel after the LA Rams 2021 Super Bowl year, and watching Cooper Kupp stack, choice, decision-making based on coverages and, I mean I literally remember after his freshman year, watching that cut up and just showing him all the different looks that Cooper Kupp got, and saying man, we’re going to do this play with you this next year.”

“And then Jaylin ran a ton of that, I mean, all throughout his time there at Iowa State. So there was an appreciation, for Sean, the offense, of what they were doing here, for Cooper Kupp. So those things happen naturally.”

In the three years after the 2021 season, Noel recorded 206 catches for 2,586 and 18 touchdowns. The Houston Texans drafted Noel and Iowa State teammate Jayden Higgins, whom Scheelhaase recruited and coached, in the 2025 NFL Draft. Scheelhaase was on the opposite sideline for their debuts in week one.

Higgins and Noel made their first NFL catches in that game.

Why Scheelhaase Is Built to Lead

Regardless of what happens, there’s is a very slim chance Scheelhaase isn’t an offensive coordinator next season. He has the knowledge, the experience, the ability to successfully teach, and the resume for the job. He was interviewed twice last season, by Tampa Bay and Jacksonville, and to be frank, I thought the Jaguars’ job was a done deal.

Scheelhaase came back for a reason and that reason is to get a premier coordinator job in 2026, whether with the Rams or with someone else, while putting another year of experience within the McVay system under his belt. But when it comes to the prospect of Scheelhaase being a head coach, here’s why I believe he will be one within the next five years.

Scheelhaase, a very personable professional, spoke about the times his professional life crossed over with his personal, with that exposure benefiting both sides. Back at Iowa State, long before NFL wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson was making millions with the Houston Texans, he was making sure Scheelhaase’s eldest son was okay while Scheelhaase and his wife would run out of the house.

“Xavier Hutchinson literally babysat my oldest son,” stated Scheelhaase. “His girlfriend really was the one who babysat my son, but my son would be most excited about Xavier Hutchinson coming over. My son’s stows away the jerseys that he has…it’s more than just football with those dudes like Xavier Hutchinson.”

The Family Man Turns Into the Teacher

While Scheelhaase is a family man, having started his home in Ames, Iowa, before moving to Southern California, his job is what pays the bills and for any coach, the struggle of balancing work and home life is one that often leads to failures that affect both sides.

Whenever there are problems with either, they bleed into each other and that’s where Scheelhaase has the leg up. As someone who was in the collegiate ranks, who is now working at the highest level in the NFL, he has an ability to impact young players in a meaningful and beneficial way.

Scheelhaase joked that some of the receivers he’s worked with during his time with the Rams had never been in a huddle at the collegiate level. They’ve also only been utilized in one way, taking away the mental aspect of the position, leading players to be behind the eight ball once they get to the league.

Thus, Scheelhaase’s whole philosophy is about finding things that players know, concepts they’re comfortable with, designing his offense around those concepts while introducing new ideas with common tones. That system has led to instant success and a buy-in from his group.

A True Team Builder

Why has Los Angeles been such a fit for Scheelhaase? It’s because the Rams mimic the feelings of collegiate ball. There is a time and a place for everything and having an emphasis on fun has been the calling card for the franchise’s ability to get through tough times.

“Coach McVay, what’s cool about him is if you’re like, picturing an image of college football, the right culture, environment, five years ago, and what you want to build,” stated Scheelhaase. “The connection that you want the coaches and the players to have amongst each other. That’s what this place feels like. I feel like I’ve heard players say before, you know, the University of Los Angeles Rams and there is a little bit of that college feel that we have because of the connection that’s made, the authentic, real connection that’s made from a relationship standpoint that I do think is unique.”

“Again, for me, this is the only NFL environment that I’ve seen so I’m not able to compare to a lot of places, but I do know people love coming to work here every day and I do know that there’s a certain culture and environment that is the tone that’s set by Coach McVay, the rest of the staff, that is appreciated on a player level, on a coaching level, and that’s that is unique to our place, our environment.”

Why do I think he’ll be a head coach soon? Because that’s who you’re bringing into the facility. Those were the same words echoed by Davante Adams when he first came to the Rams and continue to be the standard for the team.

What is the biggest scheme story in football right now, per Kevin Stefanski?

"Immediately my mind goes to split safety zone. I give coach Fangio all the credit…it's putting an umbrella up on a lot of offensive schemes."

How has that changed offenses? This was AWESOME. pic.twitter.com/aKVi0yPSuf

— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) April 3, 2026