zn wrote:

when Sean McVay went through the experience of seeing New England largely change its stripes in the Super Bowl in terms of how it attacked the Rams, it gave him some food for thought in terms of being able to turn a scheme on a dime.

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Sean McVay looked at the Super Bowl, a 13-3 loss, and concluded that his DEFENSIVE scheming needed to be upgraded?

Charles Robinson@CharlesRobinson
It was more a tweet about where his thought process on defensive evolution started. Certainly isn’t meant to convey that McVay rooted his decision in that moment alone.

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
For sure. And that’s completely how it comes across. And that doesn’t mean thought wasn’t given to the offense either. But yet only one major coaching move has been made since then.
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Charles Robinson@CharlesRobinson
Wade suspected the writing was on the wall when the team parted company with DL coach (and Phillips confidant) Bill Johnson last offseason. There were some indications the defensive staff was going to get younger and more scheme-driven under McVay moving forward.

From the team perspective, I think there was some frustration over relying on the fundamentals of playing sound football rather than a premium placed on scheming and changing looks to expose weaknesses. Too much reliance on just beating strength on strength.

Something interesting: I truly believe that when Sean McVay went through the experience of seeing New England largely change its stripes in the Super Bowl in terms of how it attacked the Rams, it gave him some food for thought in terms of being able to turn a scheme on a dime.

McVay not only wants to be more involved in some of the defensive conceptualizing moving forward, but he wants coaches challenging themselves to be more creative every single week based on the opponent. Be better physically in-game, but think better mentally in preparation.

Joe Curley@vcsjoecurley
`My guess on letting Wade Phillips leave? Maybe coach McVay believes Aubrey Pleasant is ready to take over as defensive coordinator. It’s been two years since McVay sent Pleasant to the NFL career development symposium as a Rams representative in 2018.

It bears mentioning that the defense performed the best of the Rams three phases in 2019. Defense was 9th in DVOA. Offense was 16th. Special teams was 23rd

Lindsey Thiry@LindseyThiry
According to sources, don’t expect any other shakeups on the defensive side of the ball today. However, once a new defensive coordinator is named, the staff will be evaluated. Also, some assistants are among candidates for positions at college level, so could be further changes.

Moving forward, it will be very interesting to see who Sean McVay hires as the Rams defensive coordinator. Wade Phillips’ ran a 3-4, so there could be at least a short-term setback with personnel if they switch to a 4-3.

Cian@Cianaf
Rams defensive coordinator is probably the worst job in football. Limited talent and you’re not getting anything to upgrade it, but there are still massive expectations in a franchise where nobody is ever going to blame McVay when things go wrong.

DOWNTOWN RAMS [DTR]@DowntownRams
Really feel for Wade. Maybe his best defense with the #Rams and is a year removed from coordinating one of the best defensive performances against arguably the greatest postseason QB of all time.

Rams to move on from Wade Phillips as DC

Nick Shook

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000001094960/article/rams-to-move-on-from-wade-phillips-as-dc

The Rams’ move into their long-awaited new home will not include Wade Phillips.

Los Angeles is not bringing back the veteran defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per a source informed of the situation. Phillips’ contract expired with the end of the 2019 season and the Rams are declining to renew it.

In terms of yards allowed per game, the Rams actually improved from 2018 to 2019, going from allowing 358.6 per contest (19th in NFL) in 2018 to to 339.6 yards per outing in 2019 (13th in NFL). Phillips’ defense also did this while weathering the loss of Aqib Talib to a rib injury (before ultimately trading him to Miami) and John Johnson to a shoulder injury, trading Marcus Peters to Baltimore and incorporating Jalen Ramsey into Los Angeles’ secondary in the middle of the season.

But as pretty much everything went with the Rams this season, shellackings at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys outweighed season-long measurements and ultimately shaped perception of the defending NFC champions, who couldn’t manage to make a return trip to the playoffs. With the 72-year-old Phillips’ contract expiring, now seemed to be the right time for the two parties to go their separate ways.

Phillips made it clear Monday he’s not done coaching, as long as a team will have him in 2020.