Rams announce hiring of 3 new coordinators on McVay's staff
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Rams have hired Denver outside linebackers coach Brandon Staley as their new defensive coordinator.
The Rams also announced the hirings of offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell and special teams coordinator John Bonamego on Monday.
The three key members of Sean McVay's coaching staff will be formally introduced Wednesday, nearly a month after Staley got the job.
The 37-year-old Staley is an unorthodox choice to replace NFL veteran Wade Phillips, who was fired by McVay last month after the Rams missed the playoffs despite finishing 9-7.
Staley has only three years of NFL experience and has never held a coaching position with nearly as much prominence as his new job with the Rams. Before he spent last season with the Broncos and the previous two seasons in the same job with the Chicago Bears, he was a defensive coordinator at Division III John Carroll and FCS school James Madison.
O'Connell is the Rams' first offensive coordinator since McVay's rookie season in 2017, when current Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur had the job. McVay calls Los Angeles' plays himself, and he split the coordinator duties between assistants Shane Waldron and Aaron Kromer last season.
The 34-year-old O'Connell is a former journeyman NFL quarterback who spent the past three seasons on the Washington Redskins' staff, including last season as their offensive coordinator. He has also been a quarterbacks coach for Cleveland and Washington.
Bonamego replaces John Fassell, who left the Rams' staff after eight seasons to join the Dallas Cowboys.
Bonamego has been a special teams coordinator for 13 seasons during seven stints with five different NFL teams over the past two decades, most recently with the Detroit Lions last year. He also had a four-year stint as Central Michigan's head coach from 2015-18.
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