What to know about the Rams’ new assistant coaches — and their top priorities

Jourdan Rodrigue

https://theathletic.com/2420944/2021/03/04/what-to-know-about-the-rams-new-assistant-coaches-and-their-top-priorities/?source=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Last week, Rams head coach Sean McVay spoke publicly for the first time since the end of the 2020 NFL season, and discussed, among many topics, his new roster of coaches — including turnover at defensive coordinator for the third time in three years, external hires and a few internal promotions.

“(I’m) very excited about the coaching staff,” he said. “I feel really great about just the quality of men, the character that these guys have, the way that they communicate, the way they develop and build relationships with the players, with the coaches. I think our staff camaraderie is something that’s going to be instrumental in how we progress, and how we continue to evolve and improve in all three phases.”

But it’s one thing to sign a new staff of assistant coaches, and another thing to dive into the offseason work with them. And as McVay alluded, there is work to be done in every phase.

Below are the most notable promotions and staff changes for the Rams’ assistants and coordinators — plus insight and analysis on what the top priorities in these roles may be:

Coach: Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris

Morris was McVay’s top choice for the role after former defensive coordinator Brandon Staley accepted the Chargers head coaching job. The two have a foundation of friendship that spans the better part of a decade and multiple coaching staffs. Morris enters a challenging position as the third defensive coordinator Rams players have had in three seasons — but as a former head coach who also took over a flailing Falcons team as interim head coach last season, Morris’ abilities certainly stood up to the task.

“Here’s what the Rams will get with Raheem Morris: accountability,” The Athletic’s Falcons beat writer Tori McElhaney said in January. “When he was named interim head coach here in Atlanta, one of his very first acts was holding meetings with the leaders and veterans of the team. He was frank. He needed to see more from them — more production, more leadership, more accountability, more fire, more …

“The aggressiveness with which this defensive unit played is what stuck out to me the most in regard to what Morris brought in his time as interim head coach.”

Morris interviewed for the Falcons’ permanent head coaching job, but they ultimately hired Arthur Smith. Still, reporters noted, Morris’ impact on the players and staff was notable despite the chaotic situation.

“The Falcons were a better team with him as interim head coach, and he’s still only 44, with the rare skill set of NFL coaching experience on both sides of the ball,” said The Athletic’s Tampa Bay beat writer Greg Auman, who covered Morris when he coached the Buccaneers.

McVay said that Morris has a “zest for life” and an energy about him that will immediately appeal to his players.

“You never leave Raheem Morris not feeling better about yourself,” McVay said. “The capacity, the command that this guy has — the charisma and the presence. … When you’re looking at what you’re looking for from a coach, he checks all the boxes. He has an incredible ability to communicate and to relate to so many different types of people. I think he can help them reach their highest potential.”

Biggest priority
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Avoid drastic regression. Morris will introduce some of his own defensive concepts and schematic wrinkles to a Rams defense that ranked No. 1 in many major categories in 2020 (including preventing points and total defense) but there is not going to be a complete overhaul of the Vic Fangio/Staley system already in place. That’s a good thing because it would require the Rams to learn a third new system in three years.

“You kind of formulate the things that you do around your players,” Morris said last month. “Staley did a great job of doing things that his really good players could do. He did a great job of doing the things that the guys are capable of doing here. There’ll be a lot of things that’ll be similar. There’s a lot of things that were similar from when (former defensive coordinator) Wade (Phillips) was here. … The guys that you have here are really talented, they’re great players, and they look forward to playing the game the right way.”

Some regression toward the mean on either side of the ball, particularly after a standout season, is pretty standard in the NFL. It also doesn’t mean “going from good to bad” — it means that, if we consider a defense that ranks first in most categories to be an “outlier” (well above the mean statistics and performance across the league), then departure from so dramatic an outlier is normal.

Where the Rams would like to stay, even with inevitable change in on-field personnel, is reasonably above the mean. An example of “drastic” regression would be going from ranking No. 2 in scoring to No. 22 over the course of three seasons.

Coach: Special-teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis

DeCamillis, 55, first worked as an NFL special-teams coordinator in 1988 with Denver, before moving on to the New York Giants, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Dallas and Chicago, followed by second stints in Denver and Jacksonville, where he spent the last four seasons. His Jaguars units ranked No. 24, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 18 in DVOA since 2017. The Rams finished the 2020 season ranked No. 30 in special-teams DVOA, dropping from No. 23 the previous year.

Biggest priority

Creating a consistent return game.

DeCamillis’ ability to develop kick and punt returners was lauded by McVay when he was hired. The Rams were, to put it politely, inconsistent in both of those phases in 2020 — but it’s not all just about who is touching the ball.

“The better the blocking schemes are, and the better holes you have to run through, the better the return is going to be,” DeCamillis said. “Now, where you get special is when it’s a guy that has (former KR/PR/WR) Devin Hester-type ability. Those types of things, that’s where you can really become special.”

DeCamillis didn’t rule out continuing to develop Nsimba Webster in that role, and the Rams brought in a possible kick return specialist candidate in running back Raymond Calais — but he barely saw any action and then finished the season on injured reserve.

Some may have pointed toward a little inconsistency from punter Johnny Hekker in 2020 as a possible priority as well — however, based on Hekker’s career track record it’s not hard to imagine he’ll bounce back in 2021. DeCamillis certainly believes that will be the case.

“I think he’s a great punter, and hopefully next year he has a better year,” DeCamillis said. “That’s my hope. That’s what our goal is.”

Coach: Running backs/assistant head coach Thomas Brown

Brown’s promotion was well deserved and a smart move by McVay, who has made it clear throughout the season the running backs coach quickly became one of his most trusted and relied-upon assistants. It would not be surprising to learn that Brown drew interest from other teams this past offseason, too. Promoting him to the assistant head coach role not only is a way to keep Brown on staff, but also give him a deserved increase in responsibility. Brown will also soon become a draw for other teams in head coaching and coordinator cycles, and McVay said earlier this year he believes Brown will be a head coach in the NFL.

“I could go on and on about him, what he’s meant to me, going back to our relationship, even competing against one another in high school,” McVay said. “But he’s got such a refreshing security about himself, an ability to command the room and communicate.”

Most importantly, McVay said, Brown disagrees with him on some things.

“I think what I’ve always appreciated about our interaction in the last year that we’ve spent together (is that) he’s always going to tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear, and sometimes that’s hard to find as a head coach,” he said.

Biggest priority

Building off of Cam Akers’ momentum at the end of the 2020 season.

McVay called Akers an “every-down back” earlier this month, and that could point toward Akers continuing in the lead-back role he assumed in the latter part of the year.

Akers suffered a rib injury early in his rookie season, so his carries and development were limited through the first half of the season. But in his final seven games (including two playoff games), Akers rushed for 645 yards on 141 carries (4.57 yards per carry) with four touchdowns. He also missed the Rams’ Week 17 game against Arizona while recovering from a high ankle sprain. Brown worked closely with Akers to help him make the jump from college to the NFL. It’s feasible the Rams move away from a heavily rotating “committee” approach they started the 2020 season with, and more toward working Akers into the lead share of carries and using speedy, versatile backs Darrell Henderson and Xavier Jones for complementary carries. Henderson’s injury history also points toward this being an efficient plan.

Brown will also work with McVay, offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell and offensive line coach Kevin Carberry to coordinate the run game on the offensive side.

Coach: Offensive line coach Kevin Carberry

Carberry worked with McVay for one season in Washington and replaces veteran offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, whom the Rams say they “mutually” parted ways with in February. He was most recently the offensive line coach at Stanford.

“Sean likes him from their days in Washington, and he’s going to do Sean’s stuff, so it’ll be a lot of stretch and outside zone,” The Athletic’s national college football insider Bruce Feldman said. “At Stanford, David Shaw really likes the power, and Kevin Carberry liked duo as well, so they were bigger on that in the run game.”

Like Kromer, Carberry is a disciple of storied offensive line coach Bill Callahan — of whom McVay is also an admirer.

Biggest priority

Restocking depth and any position changes in free agency and helping find Andrew Whitworth’s eventual replacement.

Carberry’s influence on personnel and scheme will be of great interest this offseason. Stanford was productive in its run game in a truncated 2020 season with Carberry coaching the offensive line. Because Stanford only played six games, it’s less valuable to look at the rushing yards per game, and more at touchdown production — Stanford scored 15 rushing touchdowns in 2020, and their lead back averaged 4.4 yards per carry while complementary backs averaged 4.2 yards per carry.

Meanwhile, the Rams have big personnel decisions looming, starting with the future of center Austin Blythe. The center position is a priority for the Rams, and Blythe was considered a priority when the offseason began — but he also was a Kromer-influenced signing. Would Carberry have others in mind?

And, while longtime stalwart left tackle Whitworth expects to return in 2021, the Rams need to find the player who will ultimately replace him — and because they don’t have a first-round pick until 2023 and limited finances because of their core contracts, this player could very well be a draft-and-develop guy picked as early as in this spring’s draft.

Coach: Defensive line/run game coordinator Eric Henderson

Henderson has been the Rams’ defensive line coach for the past two seasons and now will also coordinate the run defense under Morris. Similar to Brown, it was a wise move to increase Henderson’s role on the defense — not only because he has the trust and respect of his players and is an excellent teacher, but also because it would not be a surprise if Henderson also drew outside interest as the Rams worked out his contract.

Staley’s defense accepted lighter fronts in favor of a mathematical advantage in the back half, especially on passing downs, so it will be interesting to see how much of that philosophy carries over in 2021. The Rams ranked No. 3 in run defense last season and No. 4 in defending rushing touchdowns.

“(As) run game coordinator, he’ll really head up a lot of the front mechanics, the different things in terms of how we want to defend people in some of those run downs,” McVay said. “(That) is going to be a really big deal and a real credit to what he’s done.”

Biggest priority

Develop along the interior.

Henderson draws extensive praise from his defensive linemen for his ability to teach and develop, and that will be important for the Rams over the next few seasons as they will likely be unable to bring in high-dollar signings to complement the rotation that features Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers and A’Shawn Robinson. Developing players who turned into key role players such as Sebastian Joseph-Day and Morgan Fox is an underrated, but highly beneficial, facet of Henderson’s tenure.

Coach: Secondary coach Ejiro Evero

Evero interviewed for the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator position, a job that was given to former Rams linebackers coach Joe Barry. Promoting Evero was the necessary step for the Rams’ defense this offseason, particularly after losing cornerbacks coach Aubrey Pleasant to a secondary coach role in Detroit. Evero was a crucial teacher of Staley’s system in last year’s virtual offseason, which places heavy reliance on safety help and hybrid roles, as well as safety command of the secondary in general.

Biggest priority

Continue to develop young safeties and help find depth at cornerback.

It would be hard for the Rams to lose John Johnson III, who called the defense under Staley in 2020 and played a versatile safety position. But the Rams have been lucky to develop some really talented young safeties under Evero over the last few years, including Taylor Rapp, Terrell Burgess, Jordan Fuller and Nick Scott. The staff sees Fuller as the player who could command the defense in a similar role to Johnson’s.

But Evero also assumes responsibility of the cornerbacks in 2021, and in doing so must establish depth alongside star Jalen Ramsey and blossoming talent Darious Williams. Though Burgess and David Long could play nickel safety and nickel corner roles, retaining or bringing in a versatile cornerback such as veteran Troy Hill (or a similar player) helps unlock Ramsey’s autonomous movement across the defensive backfield and is a real asset to the system.

Coach: Linebackers coach Chris Shula

Shula worked solely with outside linebackers in 2020 but will now expand to the entirety of the position. McVay said Shula will also work with Evero to coordinate the back seven.

Biggest priority

Depth and development on the edge and the inside.

The Rams need to restock their edge rusher depth with a veteran player, whether that is upcoming free agent Leonard Floyd or another player. They should also draft an edge rusher who can serve in a rotational/development role in the short term and mature into a three-down player.

Inside linebacker is a big question this offseason, as it is historically not a spot of heavy financial or draft capital investment by the Rams. The rotation of Micah Kiser, Kenny Young and Troy Reeder flashed positively in spots, but also had difficulties when stretching horizontally. Adding side-to-side speed and sureness of tackling would be beneficial, whether that player is already on the roster or they find him in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft.

Coach: Assistant secondary coach Jonathan Cooley

The Rams had to promote Cooley to retain him, as he had multiple opportunities outside the building. McVay sounded glad to do so.

“I think (Cooley) is another young, sharp up-and-coming coach who has a great command of the game,” McVay said. Cooley will now complement Evero in the secondary, and though his official title was defensive assistant/quality control in 2020, throughout training camp and in-season practices he could be seen working quite a bit with the cornerbacks and helped install the “star” package for Ramsey.

Biggest priority

Complement Evero without a current cornerbacks coach, help develop younger players.

When McVay and Morris cited some staff continuity from Staley’s system to Morris’, Cooley was one of the coaches they had in mind who could help communicate and tweak that language. He played for and coached with Staley at John Carroll, which was where Staley unrolled his defensive system in full for the first time.

Also: Offensive assistants Nick Jones and Chris O’Hara were added to the staff.

Jones, a former player who was on a handful of NFL practice squads, also held assistant coaching positions at his alma mater Georgia, Coastal Carolina, Air Force, Colorado State and was a diversity coaching fellow for the Falcons in 2020 (so he has a Morris connection as well). O’Hara has held offensive quality control roles in Jacksonville and Washington since 2014.

Tight ends coach Wes Phillips was also promoted to pass game coordinator

…so will work with O’Connell and McVay in both roles and may lend an extra voice in play design.

The Rams also added two new assistants on the defensive side in Marcus Dixon (assistant defensive line coach) and Dwayne Stukes (assistant special-teams coach).

Both are former players who have previous assistant coaching experience. Dixon and Henderson have a longtime previous relationship while Stukes was with Morris in Tampa Bay as both a player and an assistant coach.

Zooey wrote:

blaming Sanders for this.

I blame Sanders for the Donald rib injury

Rams Brothers@RamsBrothers
As the “all eyes on Sean McVay” narrative plays itself out, it will be important to monitor McVay’s ability to delegate.

The best coaches (Reid, Belichick) have a ton of trust in their staff. The O’Connell hire was the first baby step. This year, it’s a brand new challenge.

ProFootballTalk@ProFootballTalk
For anyone who cares, you will routinely be lied to over the next few weeks by reporters who pass along inflated or otherwise false numbers in order to stay in the good graces of #sources.

Likely @Raiders target https://t.co/xBHguvvOVp

— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) March 3, 2021

Matthew Stafford is one of the best QBs in the NFL when it comes to making big-time throws, ranking among the leaders in that category https://t.co/wHRdtGlPd9

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) March 1, 2021

Marshall Faulk highlights vs The Bengals during the 2003 season.

#28 had 154 yards and 2 touchdowns pic.twitter.com/vAqaVvvBnw

— RAMS ON FILM (@RamsOnFilm) March 1, 2021

Matthew Stafford pocket awareness and arm strength. 🤤 #Rams #LARams #NFLTwitter #NFL pic.twitter.com/OpD9KC29vP

— Gio Gio (@CoachGioo) February 28, 2021

Here all of the Rams’ option routes from 2020 https://t.co/4ozQY8p4OV

— alex byrne (@Abyrne44) February 28, 2021

The DB on the following play does a great job keeping some of his cushion and not opening up outside pic.twitter.com/BBK8upRucc

— alex byrne (@Abyrne44) February 28, 2021

The Rams must have averaged close to 15 yds an attempt and an almost 100% rate and no Int when running choice

Similar numbers to @CoachW_Francis

Here are some of their best reps: pic.twitter.com/UA0nokcM4s

— alex byrne (@Abyrne44) February 28, 2021

The reason this wasn’t the best idea was because Kupp is gonna win every time when he’s 1-on-1 on choice pic.twitter.com/dgMolfzjet

— alex byrne (@Abyrne44) February 28, 2021

Here is another good illustration https://t.co/Al5Apin3YU

— alex byrne (@Abyrne44) February 28, 2021

This is an important difference as the whole point of choice/lookie is to win inside

To win inside the receiver needs to cross the face of the defender

Guys like Michael Thomas can do this easily without help, but the smaller, quicker guys like Crowder can struggle with it

— alex byrne (@Abyrne44) February 28, 2021

Matthew & Kelly stafford rocking rams gear in Mexico #Rams pic.twitter.com/F5aIN1Hcrm

— 𝓘𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓮 (@LArams4L) February 28, 2021