Sean McVay shows he's taking more control with hiring of Brandon Staley

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So Ram

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I dont want to come off like I dont like the hire, I do. It's just ballsy. If Staley underperforms, we dont have the comfort of relying on someone else in the organization to take over. Kind of like when Fisher hired Walton as our DC when William's was suspended. Walton didnt work out so Fisher took over midway through the season. But this is what Mcvay does. He likes to give people opportunities to further their career. He did it this preseason when he gave the play calling duties to Waldron, so he gets the experience in case he gets scooped up next season. I'm just hoping it's the right move.

Did Aubrey Pleasant interview last season for a HC job ??
Joe Barry has been a DC with Washington & Detroit in his career. He will still be a big part of The Rams defensive play calling.
My guess is Staley with be in the booth & Barry on the field ???? Just a thought for now ??? During the end of the game against Arizona Weddle was always next to Mcvay ???
 

So Ram

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I've heard McVay wants the defensive game plan to react more to what opposing offenses are doing. Wade had his scheme and didn't deviate from it. McVay wants it to be more flexible and able to adjust during games.

Its obvious he feels he's ready to oversee the whole operation like the older veteran coaches do. I just hope he doesn't put too much on his plate and gets overwhelmed. It could work though. He's a smart guy with a photographic memory when it comes to all the plays they ran.

Just to counter. Sean McVey just hired an offense of coordinators. What happens to the two offensive coordinators the Rams already have on their staff. Do Mcvay have more input or less input into the office now and does that change make vase responsibilities as a play called?
 

I like Rams

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Did Aubrey Pleasant interview last season for a HC job ??
Joe Barry has been a DC with Washington & Detroit in his career. He will still be a big part of The Rams defensive play calling.
My guess is Staley with be in the booth & Barry on the field ???? Just a thought for now ??? During the end of the game against Arizona Weddle was always next to Mcvay ???
Pleasant never I interviewed for a HC gig that I know of and Barry's D was awful when he was a DC. I have more faith in Staley than I do Pleasant or Barry, and I dont think I'm alone.
 

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Just to counter. Sean McVey just hired an offense of coordinators. What happens to the two offensive coordinators the Rams already have on their staff. Do Mcvay have more input or less input into the office now and does that change make vase responsibilities as a play called?
McVay didnt have an "OC" this season or last. He had position coaches like Waldron who was the qb coach as the "OC".
 

LesBaker

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Our magical Leprechaun wants more control of the game flow.

I'm not sure. I do think this is probably a hire so he can stay away from dealing with the defense more.

I hope so anyway.

The whole article by DaSilva is nothing more than his opinion that he shaped into an article using a few useless facts to convince his readers he’s right. But no sources was used and no quotes were even used. His hypothesis may or may not be correct, but I shall wait until there is actually something that gives me fuel to debate or discuss with.

It's true it's just an opinion cloaked by a headline that makes it seem factual.

It's the typical thing from the LA media. Which frankly covers the Rams for shit.

Overall they rank about 47 spots below many posters on this board.
 

jap

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I'm not sure. I do think this is probably a hire so he can stay away from dealing with the defense more.

I hope so anyway.

I believe Sean wants to be a mostly passive defensive supervisor who can occasionally interject plays if he feels they are necessary. He will probably get more involved with game day defensive planning, even if it is just to get a summary from his DC. He may act similarly with special teams. I still expect him to be mostly involved with offensive game day planning. Sort of like Bill Belichik.
 

BonifayRam

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Brandon Staley sees the field from a unique perspective BY Stu Jackson/Tuesday, Feb 11, 2020


New Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley's college playing days consisted of preparing against the side of the ball where he has spent the majority of his coaching career so far.

Unorthodox as the quarterback-turned-defensive coordinator route may seem, it has played an instrumental role in his career and uniquely shaped the approach to his job.

"What being a quarterback has done is really opened up my lens, and from a defensive perspective, try and get the player to understand what he's looking at and how they're operating," Staley told theRams.com. "And so, it's really meant a lot to me in my career. I would say that it's been the biggest benefit for me."

200111-STALEY-NEW-16x9


The decision to make the switch, according to Staley, was not his but former Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak's.

In 2006, Staley joined Novak's staff as a defensive graduate assistant after his college career as a quarterback concluded. According to a story published on broncos.com last November, Novak loved that angle because a quarterback is responsible for all 22 players on the field.

"You have to command the huddle, you have to be able to reach everybody on the team," Staley told broncos.com. "And as a defensive graduate assistant, that's kind of your role. You're running the scout team, you're kind of the quarterback of the scout team. He really liked that."


Novak's guidance paid off, as Staley was named 2016 FootballScoop Division III Coordinator of the Year in his final season overseeing John Carroll's defense 10 years later. The award's recipient is chosen by previous winners. The Blue Streaks ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense, sixth nationally in pass efficiency defense, third nationally in total defense and 13th nationally in rushing defense that year.

At the professional level, it remains a prudent approach as NFL offenses evolve and attempt to exploit defenses by spreading them across the line of scrimmage and creating mismatches in space.

Take, for instance, the 2018 season when all 32 NFL teams combining to score a new league record 1,371 touchdowns and the second-most total points with 11,292, according to a January 2019 article by the New York Times.

"A quarterback is responsible for all 22 players on the field," Staley said. "As a defensive coordinator, when you operate like that, you know the tempo and the rhythm that you have to be able to function at to be able to compete with these guys. There's only 32 starting quarterbacks in the world and they're all really, really special. So if your defenses can't operate at the same speed that the quarterbacks and the offenses do, then you're just going to be behind."
Perhaps it's no surprise that a former quarterback sees communication as a cornerstone of his defensive philosophy, and Staley has current Broncos head coach Vic Fangio to thank for that.

Fangio gave Staley his big break into the NFL, hiring him as outside linebackers coach for the Bears defensive staff in 2017. When Fangio departed two years later to become the Broncos head coach, he brought Staley will him to fill the same position in Denver. Staley credits those three seasons working alongside Fangio for accelerating his growth as a coach.

"You got to think about being a great teacher for your players, and I think that's something that Vic is exceptional at," Staley said. "To be a defensive coordinator in the NFL for over 20 years and to do it at the level he's been able to do it at and now as a head coach, to have that type of consistency, you have to be a really good teacher, you have to be a really good communicator. You have to be someone that people believe in, you know, as a leader."

Staley said there won't be "wholesale changes" to the Rams defense.
The 3-4 scheme will remain, and the transition sounds a lot like the one he made at the beginning of his coaching career.

"The roles and responsibilities of a lot of the guys is going to remain the same, just, schematically, and maybe fundamentally, situationally, there'll be some some new things for them," Staley said. "But in terms of the jobs that they're going to be doing, they're going to be doing the same job. So I think that gives the players a lot of confidence to know that, 'Hey, I'm going to be performing the same role. Just maybe a little bit different.'"
 

yrba1

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It's quite risky considering an offensive minded coach like McVay is looking to take reigns on defense now, looking forward to seeing how this new approach pans out though as it will give our defense the element of surprise; something we lacked under Phillips.

Could end up transforming McVay into an inverse Belichick (minus the cheating)
 

Merlin

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Could end up transforming McVay into an inverse Belichick (minus the cheating)
I remember reading a quote on twatter re: how people didn't realize how involved McVay had been on the defensive side. IMO he picked Wade's brain and learned his scheme, then decided he wanted a more varied approach like the Pats used on him to win that Super Bowl.

If Staley gets what he needs in terms of personnel (that is crucial particularly at LB & 5T) and gets this defense up into that elite range he's going to be hired away immediately, certainly within his first year or two with us.

So yeah, I do think there's merit in the discussion of McVay being a guy who could potentially master both sides of the ball like Belichick. That's rarefied air for a HC but the beauty of it is when he gets poached he can help his replacement settle in quickly.

One thing that McVay probably does need to do at some point is give up play calling. When you do that as a head coach and don't like the overall trend (which you can see when you're not in the grass making the calls) you can remind your play caller to get back to running the ball, taking shots downfield, focusing more on protections on certain down/distance, etc. But that change is undoubtedly some years down the road and that's fine.
 

RamFan503

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I remember reading a quote on twatter re: how people didn't realize how involved McVay had been on the defensive side. IMO he picked Wade's brain and learned his scheme, then decided he wanted a more varied approach like the Pats used on him to win that Super Bowl.

If Staley gets what he needs in terms of personnel (that is crucial particularly at LB & 5T) and gets this defense up into that elite range he's going to be hired away immediately, certainly within his first year or two with us.

So yeah, I do think there's merit in the discussion of McVay being a guy who could potentially master both sides of the ball like Belichick. That's rarefied air for a HC but the beauty of it is when he gets poached he can help his replacement settle in quickly.

One thing that McVay probably does need to do at some point is give up play calling. When you do that as a head coach and don't like the overall trend (which you can see when you're not in the grass making the calls) you can remind your play caller to get back to running the ball, taking shots downfield, focusing more on protections on certain down/distance, etc. But that change is undoubtedly some years down the road and that's fine.
My old boss and former NFL Europe coach hated bellifat but also said he is such a great coach because he has learned and is very involved in all three aspects - offense, defense, ST. He was pointing out how active he was no matter which "team" was on the field.
 

BonifayRam

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The Rams officially announced the hirings of three new coordinators on Monday and they aren’t done making additions to the coaching staff.

Jonathan Cooley is making the move from Akron defensive backs coach to the team’s defensive staff. Cooley changed his Twitter profile picture to a Rams logo and Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports reports he’ll have the title of defensive assistant/quality control coach.

Cooley coached at John Carroll when new Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley was on the staff there at 2013. He’s also coached at Kentucky, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Kent State and spent time with the Rams as a Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellow in 2019.

The changes to the coaching staff are the first responses to the Rams’ slide from NFC champs to out of the playoffs last season. Changes to the roster will be the next step as the Rams head toward their first year in a new stadium.


View: https://twitter.com/BruceFeldmanCFB/status/1227108154665627648