When Sean McVay was hired by the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, he not only took over as head coach, but also as the de facto offensive coordinator. He was an offensive-minded coach who would call the plays on that side of the ball, taking full control of Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and the rest of the Rams’ playmakers.
McVay had an offensive coordinator on his staff that year in Matt LaFleur, but he wasn’t the play caller. He left after one season, taking the same job with the Titans in 2018 before being hired as the Packers’ head coach last offseason.
That 2017 season was the last time the Rams had an offensive coordinator on McVay’s staff, but he brought back that title this offseason. After a disappointing 2019 campaign, McVay hired Kevin O’Connell as his offensive coordinator.
But why now? Put simply, McVay wants to figure out a way to field the best version of the Rams offense next season, which wasn’t the case in 2019.
“We’ve operated under a very similar structure before Kevin, our first year when Matt LaFleur was in that same role. When you look at Coach Kromer, Shane Waldron – those guys will continue to play instrumental roles and really, it’s always a collaboration of the coaching staff and how we formulate the best game plan to attack the opposing defense and ultimately put our players in the right spots with our weekly rhythm and how that translates to that three-and-a-half-hour window,” McVay said Wednesday during the introductory press conference for his new coordinators. “But his ability to communicate, his big picture – I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for Jared to work with somebody like him because of some of the things that he’s done that maybe I haven’t gotten exposed to. So 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 put that together with our players in mind.”
It’s interesting that McVay mentioned Goff specifically, as it seems O’Connell will be working closely with the quarterback. The Rams announced their official coaching staff Wednesday and absent was a quarterbacks coach – a job previously held by Shane Waldron in 2019 and Zac Taylor in 2018.
That’s because O’Connell will assume that role, with the help of assistant QBs coach Liam Cohen and Shane Waldron, as well.
“In a lot of instances, Kevin will assume those roles, working with those guys,” McVay said. “But whether it’s Liam Cohen that’ll be in that room, Shane will still have some interaction. But ultimately, Kevin will take on the typical responsibilities of a quarterbacks coach, very similar to what Matt had done a couple years ago.”
Having an offensive coordinator who also serves as the quarterbacks coach will not only help McVay in the game-planning process, but also take some pressure off of Waldron, who remains in his role as the pass game coordinator.