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Well, we knew it couldn’t last forever.
The Oakland Raiders confirmed today that they hired Los Angeles Rams QB Coach Greg Olson to be their new offensive coordinator under Head Coach Jon Gruden, a move we’ve covered as it developed over the last week. To replace him, the Rams have promoted Zac Taylor, the Rams’ assistant wide receivers coach last season.
Taylor, who played quarterback at Nebraska though an NFL career never materialized, spent five years on the Miami Dolphins staff ending in a five-game term as interim offensive coordinator in 2015. A year later, he went back to college as the offensive coordinator for Head Coach Tommy Tuberville with the Cincinnati Bearcats. He joined the Rams’ staff last year to work under Wide Receivers Coach Eric Yarber.
One random coaching tree wrinkle? His brother, Press Taylor, is the assistant QB coach with the Philadelphia Eagles.
As for Olson, he’s enjoyed a long coaching career in the NFL and was always going to be in the mix for a promotion. Hell, I had him as the favorite on the Rams’ coaching staff to be the first to get a promotion to a head coaching spot.
The real question is if this will be the final coaching change of the 2018 offseason.
Coming off of a successful 2017 season in which the Rams won 11 games and organized the NFL’s highest scoring offense, attention was always going to be paid to this staff. With plenty of open positions remaining across the NFL to say nothing of the college level, opportunities exist. We just don’t know how many other coaches on the staff other than Olson would be interested in seeking a promotion after just one year together.
Suffice to say, the staff won’t be able to stay together forever, but hopefully Head Coach Sean McVay won’t get blindsided by any job offers to the members of his staff. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case with Olson.
Here’s wishing him well in Oakland and hoping Coach Taylor succeeds in his new job coaching up the quarterbacks.