Nate Scheelhaase

Rams Add Two To Offensive Staff

The Rams have seen a number of coaching assistants depart for bigger jobs in 2024 on both sides of the ball. Today, the team filled two of the recently vacated positions on offense, bringing in one former offensive coordinator from the NFL and another from the college ranks.

Los Angeles was left with one of their two offensive vacancies when former quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator Zac Robinson departed to follow former defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to Atlanta, where Morris will now serve as head coach. Robinson will be Morris’ new offensive coordinator for the Falcons. The other vacancy came when former pass game specialist Jake Peetz left for the pass game coordinator role in Seattle.

To replace Robinson as quarterbacks coach, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Rams have hired the man Robinson will be replacing in Atlanta, former Falcons offensive coordinator Dave Ragone. Ragone has coached in the NFL since 2011, when he entered the NFL coaching ranks as the Titans wide receivers coach. He’s since served as the quarterbacks coach for both the Titans and Bears before taking the coordinator job in Atlanta.

In Ragone’s first season as a quarterbacks coach in 2013, he coached the duo of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Jake Locker in Tennessee for a season. Three years later, Ragone started a four-year stint in Chicago that would see him mentor the likes of Jay Cutler, Mitchell Trubisky, Matt Barkley, Brian Hoyer, Mike Glennon, and Chase Daniel. He would then move on to the Falcons as offensive coordinator. The team’s offense has struggled the past three years under Ragone as they have transitioned from Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota to Desmond Ridder. Though he doesn’t show many signs of slowing down, with quarterback Matthew Stafford recently turning 36 years old in Los Angeles, Ragone could be in place to assist with future transitions at quarterback again after dealing with plenty in Chicago and Atlanta.

To fill Peetz’s former role of pass game specialist, the Rams reached down to the collegiate ranks to hire Iowa State offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, according to Schefter. At only 33 years old, this will be Scheelhaase’s first NFL job, though he interviewed for the Eagles offensive coordinator job last offseason. After finishing a four-year playing career at Illinois, Scheelhaase stayed at his alma mater to coach from 2015-17.

In 2018, he made the move to Ames, starting off as a running backs coach. He spent the next two years as wide receivers coach, the two years after that as run game coordinator, running backs, and wide receivers coach, and the final year after that as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Under his direction of the offense, the Cyclones putting up middling stats, performing better in the pass game than the run game behind redshirt freshman quarterback Rocco Becht.

As the Sean McVay coaching tree continues to extend away from him, the Rams will continue to reload around him. This time, McVay brings in a veteran with experience working with an unstable quarterbacks room and yet another up-and-comer who is sure to continue rising under the watchful eyes of McVay.

Eagles To Retain Marcus Brady, Promote Alex Tanney To QBs Coach

The Eagles filled both their top coordinator positions Tuesday, promoting Brian Johnson to OC and hiring Seahawks assistant Sean Desai to head up their defense. These moves will feature some additional rearranging on staff; some of the shuffling became known today.

Alex Tanney is moving up the ladder to fill Johnson’s quarterbacks coach position. Tanney joins Davis Webb as recent Giants third-string quarterbacks to land QBs coaching jobs recently. Webb is set to become the Broncos’ QBs coach.

Webb, 28, and Tanney, 35, were teammates during the 2018 offseason and they have each made quick ascents to this key staff position. The Eagles hired Tanney as a quality control coach in 2021, marking the former NFL reserve’s first job since hanging up his cleats after the 2020 season. He has been promoted each offseason under Nick Sirianni, rising to assistant quarterback coach last year and now being set to play a big role in Jalen Hurts‘ development.

He will have some help on this front. In addition to Sirianni and Johnson, the Eagles are retaining Marcus Brady. Sirianni’s successor as Colts OC under Frank Reich, Brady will serve as a senior offensive assistant. The Eagles hired Brady shortly after the Colts canned him in-season. The former CFL quarterback-turned-NFL assistant is believed to have interviewed for the Jets and Rams’ OC jobs this year, but those positions respectively went to Nathaniel Hackett and Mike LaFleur.

The Eagles also looked to the college ranks before hiring Johnson and Desai. They interviewed Iowa State offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase recently, Zach Berman of The Athletic tweets. Scheelhaase has been on Matt Campbell‘s Iowa State staff since 2018. The Cyclones promoted him to OC this offseason. Georgia co-defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann interviewed for the Eagles’ DC job, Chris Low of ESPN.com tweets. After losing Todd Monken back to the NFL, the Bulldogs will keep their defensive play-caller. Schumann has been with Georgia since 2016 and has been the SEC powerhouse’s co-DC for the past four seasons. Neither Scheelhaase nor Schumann has worked in the NFL previously.

The Eagles also promoted T.J. Paganetti to assistant tight ends coach from the quality control level. Paganetti, who has been with the Eagles for nine years, was a quality control assistant during each of Sirianni’s first two seasons. He was the team’s assistant running backs coach from 2019-20, however.

2023 Offensive/Defensive Coordinator Search Tracker

As the head coaching carousel spun for several weeks, many teams made coordinator changes as well. Teams seeking new head coaches are conducting OC and DC searches, and a handful of other teams that did not make HC changes are also searching for top assistants.

This is a big year for offensive coordinator hires, with nearly half the league making changes. Here are the teams searching for new OCs and DCs. As new searches emerge, they will be added to the list.

Updated 3-1-23 (3:31pm CT)

Offensive Coordinators

Arizona Cardinals 

Baltimore Ravens (Out: Greg Roman)

Carolina Panthers (Out: Ben McAdoo)

  • Thomas Brown, tight ends coach, (Rams): Hired
  • Jim Bob Cooter, passing-game coordinator (Jaguars): Interviewed

Dallas Cowboys (Out: Kellen Moore)

  • Brian Angelichio, tight ends coach (Vikings): Interviewed 2/2
  • Thomas Brown, tight ends coach (Rams): Interviewed
  • Jeff Nixon, running backs coach (Panthers): Interviewed
  • Brian Schottenheimer, offensive consultant (Cowboys): Hired

Denver Broncos (Out: Justin Outten)

Houston Texans (Out: Pep Hamilton)

Indianapolis Colts (Out: Parks Frazier)

  • Jim Bob Cooter, passing-game coordinator (Jaguars): Hired
  • Tee Martin, wide receivers coach (Ravens): Interview requested

Kansas City Chiefs (Out: Eric Bieniemy)

  • Matt Nagy, quarterbacks coach (Chiefs): Hired

Los Angeles Chargers (Out: Joe Lombardi)

Los Angeles Rams (Out: Liam Coen)

New York Jets (Out: Mike LaFleur)

Philadelphia Eagles (Out: Shane Steichen)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Out: Byron Leftwich)

Tennessee Titans (Out: Todd Downing)

Washington Commanders (Out: Scott Turner)

Defensive Coordinators

Arizona Cardinals (Out: Vance Joseph)

Atlanta Falcons (Out: Dean Pees)

Buffalo Bills (Out: Leslie Frazier)

Carolina Panthers (Out: Al Holcomb)

  • Ejiro Evero, former defensive coordinator (Broncos): Hired
  • Vic Fangio, former head coach (Broncos): Interviewed
  • Marquand Manuel, safeties coach (Jets): Interviewed
  • Kris Richard, co-defensive coordinator (Saints): Interviewed

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans 

Los Angeles Chargers (Out: Renaldo Hill)

  • Derrick Ansley, defensive backs coach (Chargers): Promoted
  • Doug Belk, defensive coordinator (Houston): Interviewed
  • DeMarcus Covington, defensive line coach (Patriots): Interviewed

Miami Dolphins (Out: Josh Boyer)

Minnesota Vikings (Out: Ed Donatell)

New Orleans Saints (Out: Ryan Nielsen, Kris Richard)

  • Joe Woods, former defensive coordinator (Browns): Hired

Philadelphia Eagles (Out: Jonathan Gannon)

San Francisco 49ers (Out: DeMeco Ryans)

  • Vic Fangio, former head coach (Broncos): On radar
  • Chris Harris, defensive backs coach (Commanders): Interviewed 1/31
  • Kris Kocurek, defensive line coach (49ers): On radar
  • Steve Wilks, former interim head coach (Panthers): Hired