After two decades in St. Louis, the Rams relocated back to their longtime home of Los Angeles for the 2016 season.
While there were some trying times at the start of their second stint in L.A., the Rams turned a corner when they hired Sean McVay to be their head coach.
The 39-year-old has led the organization to playoff appearances in six of his first eight seasons at the helm, including a Super Bowl LVI win in 2022.
The Rams have set themselves up nicely for the future and president Kevin Demoff believes their best years are still ahead of them, via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“I don’t think this organization’s ever been in a better place since we returned to Los Angeles than we are entering the 2025 season,” Rams President Kevin Demoff said last week at the NFL Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida. “The football team is in amazing shape. The fan base is doing fantastic. I think organizationally, we found our footing and what we do really well, and where we can continue to grow and get better. We have an amazing group of people, an amazing group of leaders. I truly say this, I don’t know any other organization that could have pulled off what we did for the wild card game on three days’ notice. I hope no one else ever has to try. But the fact that we could do that and do it capably well didn’t surprise me, and I hoped we would never go through anything like 2018 again. But it was a reflection of just what an amazing group of people we have, how they’re adaptive and visionary and can work together.
“We’re still better in crisis than we are in normal times. I’ll always try to fix that. That’s probably true of most, but we’re nearly a decade back into this journey, and I take great pride organizationally when you come here and you watch the NFL Films cut-up, and there’s a ton of Rams imagery and there’s the things we’ve accomplished, and the rookies of the year and the Super Bowls and the expectations.”
Demoff added that the Rams have been inspired by the recent success of other teams in L.A., including the Dodgers, Lakers, Kings and Galaxy:
“There’s one thing I hope we continue, (which) is never losing that sense of what’s next, and never being satisfied. There’s a difference between being appreciative about what we’ve built and being satisfied, and I don’t think anybody is satisfied,” Demoff said. “We’re excited always about what that next challenge is, that next opportunity is for us, because you’re in a city that demands the best.
“The thing I think that’s always about exciting about being in Los Angeles, and I said this in 2021, winning one title doesn’t mean the next 20 years – Dodgers won a title last year. The Lakers are chasing one. Galaxy won one last year. In the last year, you’ve seen two major titles, and clearly here, the Lakers are threatening to win one. The Kings are good. This is a city of excellence, and if you don’t bring your best every day, you’re going to get swallowed up. And I think that’s what motivates our staff and our group. The one thing I always want is a passion or delivering for our fans and for each other, and as long as we have that, I think we’ll be in great shape.”
The 2025 season will mark the Rams’ 10th since returning to L.A. and if Demoff’s comments were any indication, expectations are at an all-time high.
L.A. will have one of their best rosters on paper in recent memory after signing Davante Adams in free agency and seeing tremendous growth from their younger players last season.
The Rams will also have the added benefit of continuity within the coaching staff, which hasn’t always been the case due to the team’s success.
Rams give Cooper Kupp final send-off
Cooper Kupp has been a big part of the Rams’ success in recent years, but was released at the start of free agency and went on to sign with his hometown Seattle Seahawks.
Kupp has not made the move to Washington yet and got to participate in one final workout with his former Rams teammates before he begins a new chapter of his career.