Though no fault of his own, Sean McVay probably couldn’t have picked a worse year to overhaul his coaching staff. The coronavirus pandemic has modified the offseason significantly, preventing teams from practicing in OTAs and even working out together at the facilities.
It’s also made it difficult for teams like the Rams to get their new coaches acclimated – and they have a lot of new coaches. Kevin O’Connell has arrived as the offensive coordinator, while Brandon Staley and John Bonamego are coming in as the new defensive and special teams coordinators, respectively.
They’re doing plenty of work over Zoom conference calls, but those can’t replicate the value of being on the field in practice.
That’s especially true for Staley, who has never called defensive plays in the NFL. OTAs and minicamp would be extremely helpful for the first-time coordinator, but he doesn’t have that benefit this year – and he may not have the preseason to work on calling plays, either.
Staley acknowledged that fact and emphasized the importance of practices when it comes to communicating with the on-field signal caller and getting plays into the defense.
“It’s important. You’ve got to treat practice like games. That’s where I was talking about practicing with purpose,” Staley said on a conference call last week. “Being off the field, having a walkie-talkie, making that as game-like as possible with the communication to the person who has the green dot and Sean putting together really purposeful practice plans which are more, move the ball, live situational, think on your feet, being able to respond to what’s happening on the field in real time.”
McVay and his staff have a lot to cram in this offseason before the regular season begins, and it won’t be easy if training camp and the preseason are cut short, too. Staley is excited about that challenge, though, and doesn’t think the potential of an eliminated preseason will be a big deal if it comes to that.
“We’re going to have to do all that and that’s going to be the exciting part in terms of the challenge of getting up to speed but I wouldn’t anticipate it being that big of a deal,” he said.
The Rams don’t yet know who will wear the green dot on defense, which designates the player who will relay calls to the rest of the unit. It could be Micah Kiser if he’s a starting linebacker, or possibly John Johnson at safety.
Staley will have to work on developing a relationship and seamless communication with whoever it is, which training camp and the preseason would help with.