The Los Angeles Rams made headlines with their decision to part ways with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips this offseason.
The Rams endured a rough 2019 NFL season after missing the playoffs with a 9-7 record just a year removed from playing in the Super Bowl. As a result, general manager Les Snead and head coach Sean McVay opted to usher in some significant changes to the coaching staff.
Los Angeles has since replaced Phillips with an unknown commodity in Brandon Staley as their new defensive coordinator. It appears Staley has already reached out to the two biggest stars on his side of the ball in defensive tackle Aaron Donald and cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
According to Gary Klein and Arash Markazi of the L.A. Times, Donald is admittedly excited about what Staley has planned:
“I know just talking to Coach, and hearing his mindset, what he’s going to bring,” Donald said. “I’m excited to see.”
Ramsey added that he was happy to get some immediate insight from Staley as they begin to get ready for the 2020 season:
“I was appreciative of him letting me know … and exited to hear kind of the game plan of how things were planning to be moving forward,” Ramsey said.
It is encouraging to see that Staley has not wasted any time in getting his key players acclimated with the new scheme. While the departure of Phillips will continue to be a storyline heading into the 2020 NFL season, the comments by Donald and Ramsey indicate that the relationship is off to a positive start.
There has been plenty of speculation regarding Staley’s inexperience and whether or not it is the right fit for such a high-profile job with the Rams. His resume is still rather green after serving as the linebackers coach for the Chicago Bears and Denver Broncos under head coach Vic Fangio over the last three seasons.
Despite their recent struggles, the expectations in Los Angeles remain as high as ever as they prepare to open up the 2020 NFL season at SoFi Stadium. Staley will now be responsible for utilizing the star power at his disposal to its full potential.
Fortunately, that should not be too difficult with players of Donald and Ramsey’s caliber. Then again, their performance last season was hardly the issue since the defense largely remained an area of strength for the Rams despite their massive turnover with injuries and trades.
Although Staley has seemingly hit things off with Donald and Ramsey, the onus will ultimately fall on McVay to get this team back on track by restoring the offense to its former glory.
