The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles area of California. The Rams have competed in the National Football League (NFL) since 1937, one year after their formation in Cleveland, Ohio as a charter member of the second incarnation of the American Football League. [1] The team moved to Los Angeles in 1946 where they became the city's first professional sports team. [2] They first played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before moving to Anaheim, California in 1980, where they played their home games at Anaheim Stadium. [3] The Rams moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1995, and remained there for two decades until they returned to Los Angeles after the 2015 NFL season. [4] Currently, they are members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) and play their home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. [5] [6]
From among the 28 head coaches throughout the team's history, Sid Gillman, George Allen, and Dick Vermeil were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recognition of their contributions as coaches. Joe Stydahar and Bob Waterfield were also inducted into the Hall of Fame, although they were recognized for their contributions as players, not coaches. [7] Five coaches have been recognized as coach of the year by major news organizations: Adam Walsh in 1945, Pool in 1952, Allen in 1967, Chuck Knox in 1973, Vermeil in 1999, and Sean McVay in 2017. [a]
Damon Wetzel was the Rams' first head coach in 1936. Although team was scheduled to play against Boston Shamrocks in the AFL's Championship Game, the Shamrocks forfeited the game after unpaid players on that team declined to participate in it. [1] The Rams then moved to the NFL the following year and hired Hugo Bezdek as their new head coach. During his tenure, however, he coached the team to only a single win in his first year. [12] He was later fired after three games to start the 1938 NFL season and was replaced by assistant coach Art Lewis, for the remainder of the season. [13] The Rams continued to struggle under subsequent head coaches Dutch Clark and Aldo Donelli, none of whom had a winning percentage of over .400. [12] The team finally found success under Adam Walsh who guided the Rams to the franchise's first NFL Championship in 1945. Walsh remained head coach during the team's relocation to Los Angeles before being replaced by Bob Snyder in 1947. His tenure lasted only one season, due to then-owner Dan Reeves firing him prior to the start of the 1949 NFL season and replacing him with newly minted advisor Clark Shaughnessy. [14] For the next three seasons, Shaughnessy and his successor Joe Stydahar, who was previously the team's line coach, led the team to three playoff berths including the franchise's second NFL Championship in 1951. [12] [15] The following season, however, tensions between Stydahar and backfield coach Hamp Pool led the former to resign and the latter succeeding him as head coach. [16] Pool led the team to a playoff berth as did his successor Sid Gillman. [12]
After Gillman left to coach the Los Angeles Chargers in the newly formed third incarnation of the American Football League, the team languished from 1960 to 1965 under head coaches Bob Waterfield and Harland Svare whose tenures yielded winning percentages no higher than .279. [17] [12] In 1966, the Rams hired George Allen as head coach where he led the team to two playoff berths in five seasons. After Allen stepped down, Tommy Prothro served as head coach for two seasons until he was succeeded by Chuck Knox. From 1973 to 1980, Knox and his successor Ray Malavasi guided the team to seven NFC West division titles and eight playoff berths including an appearance in Super Bowl XIV at the end of the 1979 NFL season, their first in team history. After the 1982 season concluded, Malvasi was replaced by John Robinson. [18] During his time as head coach, Robinson led the team to six playoff berths and one division title. He is still the Rams' leader in years as head coach (9), regular season games coached (143), wins (75) and loses (68). [19] After a 3–13 finish in 1991, Robinson was fired and Knox was rehired as head coach where he remained with the team for three seasons prior to the Rams' relocation to St. Louis. [20] [21]
For the Rams first two seasons in St. Louis, Rich Brooks served as head coach before being replaced by Dick Vermeil. [22] Despite two consecutive seasons where the team finished last in their division, Vermeil alongside a rejuvenated offense nicknamed The Greatest Show on Turf led the Rams to a win during Super Bowl XXXIV at the end of the 1999 NFL season, marking the franchise's first Super Bowl title. [23] Upon Vermeil's retirement at the conclusion of the aforementioned season, offensive coordinator Mike Martz was named his replacement, leading the Rams to four playoff berths in five seasons. [24] [12] After Martz took a medical leave of absence after five games into the 2005 NFL season, assistant coach Joe Vitt was hired as his replacement for the remainder of the season. [25] From that point on until 2016, the Rams entered a twelve-year period poor results under the leadership of head coaches Scott Linehan, Steve Spagnuolo, and Jeff Fisher, with the latter's tenure occurring during the team's return to Los Angeles. Vitt, Jim Haslett and John Fassel also served as interim head coaches during that period. [12] The Rams fortunes turned around with the hiring of Sean McVay as the 28th and current head coach of the team. Upon his hiring in 2017, he became the youngest head coach in league history. [26] McVay has led the Rams to five playoff berths and a victory in Super Bowl LVI during the 2021 NFL season. [27] The aforementioned win made McVay the youngest head coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl championship. [28]
† | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team plays its home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which it shares with the Los Angeles Rams.
Sidney Gillman was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in making football into the modern game that it is today. He was inducted as a coach into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Michael Martz is an American football coach. Best known for his coaching tenure with the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL), he served as the offensive coordinator for the Rams' Greatest Show on Turf offense in 1999 that led the franchise to its first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXIV. Martz subsequently served as the head coach of the Rams from 2000 to 2005, where his teams reached the playoffs four times, won two division titles, and achieved a franchise-best 14–2 record in 2001 en route to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Michael Anthony Munchak is an American former professional football player and coach. After playing college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, Munchak played as a guard for the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL), from 1982 until 1993 and was a nine-time selection to the Pro Bowl. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001.
Richard Albert Vermeil is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles for seven seasons, the St. Louis Rams for three, and the Kansas City Chiefs for five. Prior to the NFL, he was the head football coach at Hillsdale High School from 1960 to 1962, Napa Junior College in 1964, and UCLA from 1974 to 1975. With UCLA, Vermeil led the team to victory in the 1976 Rose Bowl. Vermeil's NFL tenure would see him improve the fortunes of teams that had a losing record before he arrived and bring them all to the playoffs by his third season, which included a Super Bowl title with the Rams.
Joseph Lee Stydahar nicknamed "Jumbo Joe", was an American professional football player and coach. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.
Raymond William Richards was an American football player and coach on both the college and professional levels, including head coach for the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL).
John Edward McVay was an American football coach and executive. He rose through the coaching ranks from high school, through the college level, and to the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Miami University in Ohio, starring as a center.
The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The team is now known as the Los Angeles Rams.
The San Jose State Spartans football team represents San José State University in NCAA Division I FBS college football as a member of the Mountain West Conference. Since its first regular season in 1898, the team has produced over 90 All-America team members, won 18 conference championships, and sent 139 players to the NFL, including Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Bill Walsh and Dick Vermeil. The Spartans head coach is Ken Niumatalolo.
Sean McVay is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He became the youngest NFL head coach in the modern era when he was hired by the Rams in 2017 at the age of 30. McVay is also the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl and be named NFL Coach of the Year. Prior to becoming Rams head coach, he served as a tight ends coach and offensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins.
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The team plays its home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which it shares with the Los Angeles Chargers. They are headquartered at the Kroenke Warner Center complex in Woodland Hills, California.
John Fassel is an American professional football coach who is the special teams coordinator for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the special teams coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys. He also served as a special teams coach for the Baltimore Ravens, Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Rams, as well as interim head coach for the latter.
Jared Thomas Goff is an American professional football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, setting Pac-12 Conference single-season records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. Goff was selected with the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2016 NFL draft. He had a breakout season in 2017, leading the Rams to their first playoff appearance since 2004. The following year, Goff led the Rams to Super Bowl LIII. He received Pro Bowl honors in both seasons.
Troy Hill is an American professional football cornerback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He has previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Browns, and Carolina Panthers. He played college football at Oregon.
Jake Peetz is an American football coach who is the pass game coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins and Jacksonville Jaguars. He also coached collegiately at Alabama and at LSU where he was offensive coordinator. Peetz has worked for three head coaches twice in his career: Nick Saban (Alabama), Sean McVay, and Jack Del Rio.
The Mob Squad is a nickname that was officially used by the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League during both their last season in St. Louis and their first seasons back in Los Angeles. The nickname referred to the team's return to glory in Los Angeles under such players as Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, Jared Goff, Cooper Kupp, and head coach Sean McVay. The naming also extends to fans of the Rams, primarily used by multiple booster clubs around Southern California.
The Sean McVay effect is a term used to describe a trend beginning in 2018 regarding the hiring practices of National Football League (NFL) teams towards employing young head coaches that specialized in offensive strategy, but would later be expanded to describe the trend of hiring young head coaches in general. The phrase originates from Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, who when hired at 30 years old in 2017, became the youngest NFL head coach in the Super Bowl era (1966–present). McVay rapidly changed the culture of the organization and turned the Rams into the league's highest-scoring offense, resulting in the team becoming perennial title contenders and eventual champions in Super Bowl LVI. In light of McVay's quick success, NFL teams increasingly began to hire relatively younger coaches.