Shane Waldron

Rams Won’t Hire OC To Replace Matt LaFleur

After losing offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur to the Titans earlier today, the Rams don’t intend to hire another OC, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Instead, Los Angeles announced that it has named offensive line coach Aaron Kromer the club’s new run game coordinator, while tight ends coach Shane Waldron will become the Rams’ pass game coordinator.Sean McVay (Featured)

[RELATED: 2018 NFL Coordinator Tracker]

While the Rams’ offensive staff has undergone an overhaul this offseason, head coach Sean McVay is still in place to call plays for a unit that ranked sixth in offensive DVOA a year ago. But there have been changes: former quarterbacks coach Greg Olson became the Raiders’ offensive coordinator, so Los Angeles promoted assistant wide receivers coach Zac Taylor to fill the void. The Rams also added former UCLA play-caller Jedd Fisch as a senior offensive assistant.

Although Kromer and Waldron won’t be calling plays for the Rams, they will presumably help assemble the club’s weekly gameplan. Kromer has coordinated an offense before — the Bears from 2013-14 — but has spent the majority of his career as an offensive line coach, while Waldron previously served as an offensive assistant with the Redskins, where he worked under McVay.

Coaching Notes: Redskins, Rams, Panthers

The Redskins have interviewed Chargers assistant defensive backs coach Chris Harris and longtime NFL coach Tim Lewis for their vacant secondary coach position, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link) reported last month that new Los Angeles head coach Anthony Lynn would retain Harris and several other defensive coaches, but the Chargers may simply be allowing Harris — whom Jones says is considered a “rising star” — to pursue a promotion. Lewis, meanwhile, has experience as a coordinator, and has spent time with the Steelers, Giants, Panthers, Seahawks, Falcons, and, most recently, the 49ers.

Here’s more on the 2017 hiring cycle:

  • Washington had hoped to promote assistant defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant to lead its secondary unit, but after the two sides couldn’t agree to a deal, Pleasant is instead following former Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay to Los Angeles, per Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post, who reports that Pleasant will join the Rams in an unspecified role. Another ex-Redskins coach, Shane Waldron (who had worked as offensive quality control assistant) will also depart for Los Angeles and become the Rams’ new tight ends coach, tweets Marvez. Finally, the Rams have also agreed to hire ex-UCLA wide receivers coach Eric Yarber for the same position, writes Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com.
  • The Panthers announced they’ve hired former Stanford RBs coach Lance Taylor as their new wide receivers coach. Taylor served as Carolina’s assistant WRs coach in 2014, working under Ricky Proehl, who resigned from the Panthers’ staff last month, and played for Carolina offensive coordinator Mike Shula at Alabama. The Panthers also announced the hiring of former Rams defensive quality control coach Jeff Imamura as their new assistant defensive backs coach.
  • The Bills announced they’ve hired John Egorugwu (defensive quality control), Marc Lubik (offensive quality control/assistant QB), Matt Smiley (assistant special teams), and Bill Teerlinck (assistant defensive line). Buffalo also confirmed the previously-reported hiring of former East Carolina wide receivers coach Phil McGeoghan to the same role.
  • Mark Uyeyama will not return as the 49ers‘ director of human performance, reports Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Uyeyama was instrumental in developing sports sciences that predated the hiring of Chip Kelly, and had worked under the last five San Francisco head coaches.

Staff Notes: 49ers, Washington, Rams, Cowboys, Vikes

The latest coaching staff updates from around the NFL:

  • The 49ers’ Chip Kelly is hiring Dana Bible as a senior advisor, according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan (Twitter link). Bible’s last NFL experience came as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator in 1998. He hasn’t worked since 2012, when he was an assistant at North Carolina State.
  • Washington has hired Kevin Carberry as assistant offensive line coach and Shane Waldron as offensive quality control, Tarik El-Bashir of CSNMidAtlantic.com tweets.
  • The Rams hired former Georgia tight ends coach John Lilly to the same position, sources tell Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
  • The Cowboys are hiring Michigan defensive backs coach Greg Jackson to coach the safeties while Joe Baker will coach cornerbacks, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
  • The Vikings have named Brent Salazar their strength and conditioning coach, Chris Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. Salazar was previously the Chiefs’ assistant strength coach for nine seasons. He’s replacing the fired Evan Marcus in Minnesota.

Connor Byrne contributed to this post.