The Los Angeles Rams are in position to have their coaching staff raided in 2026.
That's because three of head coach Sean McVay's assistants are candidates for head coach jobs, including offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, defensive coordinator Chris Shula and passing-game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase.
According to reports, all three have at least been requested for one interview, so all three leaving is very much on the table.
If you ask Vinnie Iyer of the AllSportsPeople, he predicts all three will indeed leave Los Angeles for head-coaching gigs in 2026.
Iyer pegs Scheelhaase to the Cleveland Browns, LaFleur to the Las Vegas Raiders and Shula to the Tennessee Titans.
"Don Shula's grandson, Dave Shula's son and Mike Shula's nephew is ready to return the family legacy to the NFL. The 39-year-old Rams defensive coordinator is a rising star and would be ideal for the Titans to do a 180 from offensive-minded bust Brian Callahan," Iyer said of his Shula to Titans prediction.
"LaFleur would make a lot of sense coming from being the Rams' offensive coordinator under Sean McVay to lead Las Vegas into a lot more promise in the Tom Brady part-owner era with Fernando Mendoza as the presumed new rookie franchise QB in 2026," Iyer said of LaFleur to the Raiders.
"Between Scheelhaase, the Rams' 35-year-old passing game coordinator, and the Jaguars 30-year-old offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, the Browns are making it clear they want to pull this year's Kellen Moore hire and get much younger than the young 43-year-old Stefanski, but also stay offensive-minded in their hire," Iyer said after predicting Scheelhaase to the Browns.
With the Browns and Raiders likely to have young quarterbacks under center in 2026, hiring McVay disciples would be a wise move, with the biggest downside being their lack of head-coach experience, which could scare both teams away.
Then again, the Browns had some success with their last head coach, Kevin Stefanski, who was a first-time head coach when he was hired.
And, the Raiders just got done with 74-year-old Pete Carroll, so a departure to a first-time head coach certainly isn't impossible.
The same potential negative could be said about the Titans, who just got done with a first-time head coach in Brian Callahan who turned out to be an utter disaster.
Whatever the case may be with those teams, there remains a very real possibility that McVay will see significant changes to his coaching staff this year.
Staff Writer
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