Los Angeles Rams introduce OC Kevin O’Connell, DC Brandon Staley, ST’s John Bonamego

Today, the Los Angeles Rams finally held their press conference introducing the new additions to the coaching staff, including Offensive Coordinator Kevin O’Connell, Defensive Coordinator Brandon Staley, and Special Teams Coordinator John Bonamego.

If you missed it, you can catch the video here:

After getting a chance to watch the presser, I came away with some interesting notes from Head Coach Sean McVay, as well as the newly appointed OC, DC, and ST’s coaches.

McVay on DC Brandon Staley:

• Mentions the success Vic Fangio has had defensively for a while, and that it plays a role in the hopeful future of Staley
• Fangio spoke very highly of Staley

Staley talking about McVay:

• Outside Linebackers Coach Chris Shula one of his good buddies, kept in touch about players/personnel
• Has watched McVay from afar, very familiar with the scheme/players, was impressed with what McVay has been able to do in short time as HC
• Talks about former Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips’ legacy in Denver, talks to guys like EDGE Von Miller about his reputation (his rep is amazing if you didn’t know, shocker)
• Looks at the opportunity as a new beginning. Notes the foundation laid by everyone (McVay and company)
• Structurally will be “a lot of carryover”, aka a 3-4 base D
• Talks about players performing a lot of the same jobs and same roles on defense, no wholesale changes
• Schematically/situationally some nuances will be different
• Excited to work with DT Aaron Donald and CB Jalen Ramsey. Knows Donald’s background from Pittsburgh, knows Ramsey’s from coaches from at Florida State

McVay on OC Kevin O’Connell:

• Met at QB collective when he was working with Washington (McVay that is)
• Operated under the same structure/hierarchy with LaFleur from before (HC being the playcaller, OC helping gameplan but not calling plays)
• Thinks it will be beneficial for QB Jared Goff to work with O’Connell
• Will find what the best version of the 2020 offense is together with the help of the entire coaching staff

McVay on new ST’s coach John Bonamego:

• Met him years ago through former Offensive Coordinator Matt LaFleur
• Passion, experience, love for the game
• Vetting process all came back positive
• Excited to work with the new people, build relationships
• Excited about his work with the Detroit Lions
• O’Connell, Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Liam Coen, and Pass Game Coordinator Shane Waldron will work with QB’s, but O’Connell will assume the “typical” responsibilities of a QB coach ala LaFleur years ago

Bonamego on his special teams personnel:

• Learning his personnel, routine, building communication
• Good relationship with P Johnny Hekker from pre-draft stuff, familiarity with all three guys from draft work (Hekker, K Greg Zuerlein, LS Jake McQuaide)
• Learning what they can do, do well, and put them in those positions

McVay on new RB coach Thomas Brown:

• Gurley and Brown know each other, but didn’t crossover at Georgia
• Earned the right to be here because he’s a great coach
• Thomas is someone they kept in touch with, in case they moved on from former RB’s Coach Skip Peete

McVay on replacing Strength and Conditioning Coach Ted Rath:

• In the process of replacing Ted Rath, nothing certain yet, will talk to some guys at the end of this week/next week
• Next month they want to finalize that decision

Those points were most of the interesting talking points in the presser. If you haven’t seen it yet, the Rams also released their 2020 coaching staff with proper designations: