LOS ANGELES RAMS HIRE MIKE LAFLEUR AS NEW OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
The Los Angeles Rams have hired former New York Jets coach Mike LaFleur as their new offensive coordinator, the team confirmed Friday.
As per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, LaFleur was the Rams’ top target since he became available a few weeks ago. The 35-year-old left the Jets following a disappointing season “to pursue other opportunities” and will now work with head coach Sean McVay. LaFleur replaces former offensive coordinator Liam Coen who left earlier this month to return to the University of Kentucky as its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Having worked previously with the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons, Mike LaFleur is back in the NFC and will be the second LaFleur to work with head coach Sean McVay. The Rams’ head coach worked with Mike’s older brother, Matt LaFleur in both Washington and Los Angeles, and together built a reputation for orchestrating some of the best offenses in the league.
Mike LaFleur spent the last two seasons in New York, moving to The Big Apple in 2021 with head coach Robert Saleh, whom he worked with for four years in San Francisco (2017 -2020) when Saleh was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator.
LaFleur began his NFL coaching career as an offensive intern in 2014 with the Cleveland Browns and worked predominantly with the team’s offensive line. A student of Kyle Shanahan, with whom he worked in Cleveland, LaFleur followed Shanahan to Atlanta and spent two seasons as an offensive assistant on the Falcons’ coaching staff. He ended up working with the tight ends in 2015 and then the wide receivers in 2016.
In 2017, 29-year-old Mike LaFleur packed his bags for The Bay to continue his master class under Kyle Shanahan when the Minneapolis-born offensive coordinator won the job to be the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. LaFleur would spend four seasons in San Francisco, first as the passing game specialist and wide receivers coach (2017), then as passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach (2018). He would then handle passing game coordinator duties exclusively for the next two years (2019 and 2020).
Although the Jets ranked 29th in points scored and points scored per drive this season, and had the second-fewest passing touchdowns in the league, most of the blame in East Rutherford didn’t fall on LaFleur as the team was ravaged by injuries to some key offensive players and inconsistency from starter Zach Wilson. Looking forward to a new type of offense, the Jets hired former Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator this week.
The LA Rams will hope Mike LaFleur shows his expertise and unique outlook of an NFL offense in 2023, a trait that kept him in and around Kyle Shanahan’s coaching staff for seven years, and across three NFL teams.
The Rams ranked 27th in passing, rushing, and scoring this year. The team also ranked 32nd in total yards and was last in the NFL in total offense, a stat that LaFleur will look to change in 2023. The NFC West team also finished bottom in the division with a 5-12 record, the worst season-after performance by a champion in NFL history. LaFleur will now try to turn things around as he upgrades player quality and moves on from Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, and Mike White to Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield, and Cooper Kupp.
Entering his seventh season, McVay has been the play-caller and de facto offensive coordinator for the Rams. The title of offensive coordinator on his staff has traditionally been heavy on administration, overseeing meetings, and game-planning. The 37-year-old is expected to relinquish the play-calling role in 2023 as the Rams plan ahead to what should be a bounce back season for the Super Bowl LVI champions.
The Los Angeles Rams passed over three members of the Rams staff in appointing Mike LaFleur – quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson, associate head coach Thomas Brown, and senior offensive assistant Greg Olson. All three staff members interviewed to become the offensive coordinator for the Chargers in the past two weeks and are expected to be considered for multiple openings across the league.
The Rams, however, are still in the market for assistant coaches and will look to replace offensive line coach Kevin Carberry, who also departed this month.
With General Manager Les Snead insisting that the team will “remodel” rather than “rebuild” this offseason, many pieces will be on the move in the spring and into the summer with the Los Angeles Rams. The team will get Matthew Stafford back in 2023, as well as both wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson, and will look to upgrade, among many things, the receiver room and the offensive line through trades, the draft, and free agency.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: TJ Yates. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.