The Los Angeles Rams have announced the addition of three more members to complete head coach Sean McVay’s staff with running backs coach Thomas Brown, new assistant special teams coach Tory Woodbury and defensive assistant/quality control coach Jonathan Cooley.
The Rams have ushered in some significant changes to their coaching staff following a disappointing 2019 NFL season in which they fell short of the playoffs with a 9-7 record following a Super Bowl run. Although their departures were headlined by defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and special teams coordinator John Fassel, it is clear that they experienced plenty of turnover across the board.
Brown is entering his first year as an NFL coach after spending his nine-year career at the collegiate level. He was a former running back himself at Georgia and finished his career as the fifth-leading rusher in program history. He spent two years in the league before making the transition to becoming a coach.
Woodbury was hired as an in-house option after spending the last three seasons with the Rams as a scouting assistant. He will now go from learning under Fassel to helping out another established veteran in John Bonamengo get the special teams back on track.
Like Brown, Cooley will also be making the transition to the NFL as a rookie coach in the 2020 NFL season after spending some time at the collegiate level. He is already somewhat familiar with the coaching staff after working together with new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley when the two were at John Carroll University.
McVay’s hires have followed a particular trend of bringing in a more youthful approach to potentially help spark a resurgence in the 2020 campaign. While his staff may be inexperienced, he is taking a bet on them just like the Rams did with him when he became the youngest head coach in NFL history prior to the 2017 NFL season.
