The Los Angeles Rams offense might be in store for a new look as the team decided to hire Mike LaFleur as their new offensive coordinator.
LaFleur has ties to the franchise and Sean McVay as he is the younger brother of former Rams OC and current Green Bay Packers head coach Mike LaFleur. The elder LaFleur spent time with McVay in the latter’s first year in Los Angeles, but now it’s the younger brother’s turn to make his mark on a veteran-laden roster.
At his introductory press conference, LaFleur discussed the opportunity and expressed his excitement, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I couldn’t be happier,” Mike said. “If I could have picked (out) of all the teams, there wouldn’t have been one that I would have rather gone to than here, for obvious reasons. They know how to win in this building, and there’s a lot of great people in this building. And when you can check those boxes and be genuine as a coach, as a player, as a staff member, what else would you want? So it was a really good process, somewhat of a quick process, but it was done the right way and excited to be here.”
Although McVay is expected to retain playcalling duties, LaFleur said he isn’t concerned about that and is instead focused on the other areas that need attention:
“My job right now is not even worrying about any of that,” Mike said. “Trying to get with Sean and the rest of this staff, trying to figure out A) the roster, (and) B) what we’re going to do offensively moving forward for this next team. So it’s not even on the forefront of my mind, I don’t even really care right now. It’s just getting this thing, this foundation going for the next season.”
With the New York Jets, LaFleur was tasked with designing an offense built around the backfield and that type of scheme knowledge and creativity should help the Rams who struggled to run the football. However, LaFleur will also get to experiment more in the passing game as he’s got a quarterback in Matthew Stafford who can make every other throw and is not afraid to take shots downfield.
It’ll be interesting to see how LaFleur and McVay come together to reimagine an offense that largely underwhelmed during the 2022 season. If they can get right on that side of the field, then L.A. should feel good about its postseason hopes.
