Sports
Rams Hire Falcons Quarterback Coach Matt LaFleur as Offensive Coordinator
Rams coaching staff for 2017 included three who coached with head coach Sean McVay in the 2016 season when he was with the Redskins.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- The Los Angeles Rams coaching staff for the 2017 season will include Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks coach Matt LaFleur as offensive coordinator.
The staff includes three holdovers from the 2016 season -- special teams coordinator John Fassel, running backs coach Skip Peete and assistant offensive line coach Andy Dickerson.
Three of the coaches whose hirings were announced Wednesday coached with Rams coach Sean McVay in the 2016 season when he was the offensive coordinator with Washington's NFL team -- assistant head coach/linebackers coach Joe Barry; cornerbacks coach Aubrey Pleasant and tight ends coach Shane Waldron.
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McVay also hired a teammate from Ohio's Miami University, Chris Shula, as assistant linebackers coach.
Shula spent the past two seasons as a defensive quality control coach with the then-San Diego Chargers. He is a grandson of Pro Football Hall of Fame member Don Shula and a son of former Cincinnati Bengals coach David Shula.
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The Rams announced the hiring of Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator on Jan. 19.
The other coaches whose hirings were announced Wednesday were:
- quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, the Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator the past two seasons;
- offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, the Buffalo Bills' offensive line coach the past two seasons and Chicago Bears offensive coordinator/offensive line coach in the 2013-14 seasons;
- offensive quality control coach Zak Kromer, a position he held with the Bills in 2016. He is the son of Aaron Kromer;
- wide receivers coach Eric Yarber, UCLA's wide receivers coach from 2012-2016;
- assistant wide receivers coach Zac Taylor, the Miami Dolphins quarterbacks coach from 2013-15;
- defensive line coach Bill Johnson, the New Orleans Saints defensive line coach for the past eight seasons;
- safeties coach Ejiro Evero, the defensive quality control coach for the Green Bay Packers in 2016 who was a member of the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff from 2011-2015;
- defensive quality control coach Thad Bogardus, a member of the Denver Broncos coaching staff the past two seasons; and
- strength and conditioning coach Ted Rath, who had the same capacity with the Miami Dolphins in 2016 and Detroit Lions from 2009-15.
-- City News Service, photo courtesy of the L.A. Rams
