Sean McVay and the Rams aren’t unfamiliar with losing coaches. They watched Greg Olson, Matt LaFleur and Zac Taylor all leave in the last two offseasons, becoming either offensive coordinators or head coaches elsewhere.
What they’re not completely used to is choosing to move on from coaches. They moved on from Wade Phillips and running backs coach Skip Peete this offseason, also losing John Fassel – who’s contract was up – to the Dallas Cowboys.
McVay has begun tweaking his staff, hiring Kevin O’Connell as his offensive coordinator and Brandon Staley as his defensive coordinator to replace Phillips. Jared Goff is sad to see Phillips, Fassel and Peete go, but at the same time, he’s excited about the future with the new coaches coming in.
“You love what Wade did for us. You can’t ever look past that,” Goff said, via the Los Angeles Times. “You’re so grateful for what he did. And losing Bones is tough, and Skip. … But it is exciting. You see the fresh faces.”
The hire that affects Goff the most is O’Connell, who joins the Rams staff after being the Redskins’ offensive coordinator in 2019. Like Zac Robinson, who’s also a Rams assistant, O’Connell is a former NFL quarterback who was drafted by the Patriots.
Goff is looking forward to working with him and getting his perspective on things.
“Adding a guy like him — he can add a lot of value and add a lot perspective,” Goff said. “It will be great.”
The addition of O’Connell is easy to understand and doesn’t come with much risk. He most likely won’t call plays, but he can help McVay the way LaFleur did in 2017. It’ll also allow Shane Waldron (quarterbacks coach) and Aaron Kromer (O-line coach) to focus on their position groups rather than also being co-coordinators.
However, with Staley replacing Phillips, McVay is taking a chance on a coach who’s never been a coordinator. That doesn’t make Staley unqualified, but it’s quite the change going from a 72-year-old legend like Phillips to a 37-year-old outside linebackers coach with Staley.
“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” Goff said.