The next Sean McVay might already be on Rams coaching staff

Is Rams passing game specialist Nate Scheelhaase the next Sean McVay?

When the Los Angeles Rams hired Sean McVay in 2017, they arguably caught lightning in a bottle. McVay was just 30 at the time and the youngest NFL head coach in the modern era. Since then, every coaching cycle teams have been looking to find the next Sean McVay.

Hiring a head coach that young had rarely worked in the NFL with John Madden being the exception. Lane Kiffin went 5-15 before being fired by the Oakland Raiders. The Rams had hired young before in the 1962 when they brought Harland Svare in to be the head coach. Svare won 14 games between 1963 and 1965. Dave Shula went 19–52 as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals when he was hired at 32. Another recent example was Josh McDaniels who was a disaster with the Denver Broncos.

However, teams saw what the Rams found in McVay. This was a young, offensive mind that took the NFL by storm. In the old NFL, McVay would have had to put in years as a coordinator before maybe getting the opportunity to interview over the course of a few cycles. McVay had been an offensive coordinator for just three years before the Rams hired him.

Teams have tried to replicate that and it has typically resulted in coaches being poached directly from McVay’s staff. There was the initial joke that if you had shared a coffee with Sean McVay, it increased your chances of being a head coach. However, hiring from McVay’s coaching staff has worked. Zac Taylor went from quarterback coach to coaching the Bengals. Matt LaFleur, Kevin O’Connell, and Liam Coen have all gotten opportunities with all having some playoff success. That’s minus Coen of course because he just got hired. Out of the NFL’s 31 other head coaches, five of them have previously worked on McVay’s staff.

While McVay has developed his share of head coaches, there are also three offensive coordinators around the NFL who have previously been part of the Rams offensive coaching staff. Said McVay, “We’ve had a good track record of some guys that have gone on that have been successful drawers and are now successful coordinators or head coaches.”

The Detroit Lions got a taste of what it was like to lose a lot of their coaching staff after being on top. As Andrew Whitworth noted, “I believe the Rams call this January.”

Teams wouldn’t continue to take from McVay and his staff if the results didn’t speak for themselves. McVay offensive coaches have had a lot of success around the NFL whether as coordinators or head coaches. Teams will continue to look at McVay’s staff because of those results. The Jacksonville Jaguars nearly followed that same path once Coen was hired as their head coach.

Based on my understanding of the situation, Rams offensive assistant and passing game specialist Nate Scheelhaase was one of the leading candidates for the Jaguars non-play-calling offensive coordinator role under Coen. While it was Grant Udinsky who finally got it, Scheelhaase was legitimately considered.

Out of all of the high-level people that I spoke to in Mobile at the Senior Bowl, everybody said that Nick Caley was the most likely member of the Rams coaching staff to leave. However, Scheelhaase’s time was coming. He is somebody that the NFL has its eye on and someone who is thought of very highly among league circles.

It’s pretty easy to understand why that’s the case. He was listed in 247Sports’ “30Under30” as one of the top rising coaches in 2019. The 33rd Team had Scheelhaase on their 25 coaches under 40 to watch while Tom Pelissero of NFL media listed Scheelhaase as well among his coaches to watch in future years.

Again, it makes sense why the NFL would have their eyes on Scheelhaase. He’s followed the same development path McVay and others in that coaching system. When McVay was an assistant in Washington, one of his duties was drawing plays for Kyle Shanahan. McVay noted how valuable it was to get exposure to how Shanahan looked at the game. Now Scheelhaase is doing the same for McVay in Los Angeles.

Taylor did it in 2017 and then it was Liam Coen in 2018 and Zac Robinson in 2019. All three coaches led top six offenses in success rate in 2024. They all ranked inside the top-12 in EPA per play.

Every Tuesday, offensive assistant and passing game specialist Nate Scheelhaase enters the Rams facility and turns head coach McVay’s vision into the weekly game plan. Said Scheelhaase, “Whenever you get the opportunity to learn from somebody that’s done it at that high of a level and just hear some of the ‘why’ it definitely grows you faster and farther than probably what you anticipated beforehand.”

Scheelhaase will be the next coach that the NFL looks at on the McVay coaching staff as teams try to replicate that model of success.

Throughout McVay’s tenure, he’s always looked at bringing in fresh ideas and future leaders to his coaching staff. McVay hired Coen from Maine after running back Josh Mack led the FCS in rush yards per game. Robinson came over to the Rams from Pro Football Focus. Thomas Brown had success as a running backs coach at the college level and was brought on to the same position in 2020. The same can be said about Ra’Shaad Samples and Jake Peetz as well as more recently with Ron Gould.

That’s not to say that it always works, but McVay has typically targeted up-and-coming coaches at the collegiate level to add to his staff. Scheelhaase was the latest example of that type of hire when he was brought on last season.

Scheelhaase was brought on from Iowa State where he started as the running backs coach in 2018 before moving up to wide receivers coach and then offensive coordinator. With Scheelhaase in charge of the running game, current New York Jets running back Breece Hall had his best season, with 1,572 yards and 21 touchdowns. In 2023, they were one of the more explosive offenses in the nation. As the Des Moines Register noted,

“Scheelhaase, widely considered one of the best young assistant coaches in college football, spent just one season as Iowa State’s offensive coordinator. He oversaw significant improvement from a group that ranked among the country’s worst prior to his arrival.”

Scheelhaase’s influence extended beyond his immediate coaching responsibilities. Even before becoming offensive coordinator, he was an integral part of the staff during quarterback Brock Purdy’s rise, contributing to the offensive identity that defined the Cyclones.

However, it’s not just the football aspect that makes coaches great in the NFL. A coach like McVay is not just good with the schematic aspect of an offense. Coaches like Adam Gase and Josh McDaniels can scheme an offense. Being able to emotionally connect with players is just as important.

“He’s a great football coach and a great football mind,” said Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, “I think he’s done a really good job of not only from a football ‘x and o’ standpoint, but he has that humility, that character, and that vision to lead the football team from the offensive coordinator standpoint.”

Everybody who comes in contact with Scheelhaase only has good things to say. Hall said of Scheelhaase when he was promoted to offensive coordinator, “I think he’s going to be great…I know how dedicated he is to making this offense as explosive as possible – the best it can be. I think with him, we’ll be able to do that.”

In 2023, Iowa State led the nation with 11 touchdown plays of at least 50 yards.

The leading wide receivers on that team were Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. Both Higgins and Noel are draft eligible this season and in 2023 they each had over 800 yards receiving and six touchdowns. Noel and Higgins could be players that the Rams look at in the NFL Draft and could be an interesting fit with Scheelhaase already having familiarity with both players as their former offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.

“First of all, he’s highly intelligent,” said Higgins. “He’s a great coach and always going to be prepared. He’s one of the best men I’ve ever met.” Added Noel, “Every day he’s coming in with the same mindset wanting to make young people better. Him being so young, his intelligence of the game is off the charts. He’s just a connector. He connects guys and makes guys want to play for him. Every day you step in the building, you’re going to get 100 percent from him.”

That ability to connect is also part of what makes McVay a special coach, especially at such a young age. As Whitworth has stated,

“I got signed there and, you know you join the youngest head coach, and here you are, you know I’m eight years older than this guy…He is one of the rarest people I’ve ever had the opportunity to be around, from that focus level, but also the ability of who he is as a communicator.”

The Rams will have the benefit of retaining Scheelhaase for at least one more year after he passed on the opportunity to be the offensive coordinator for the Jaguars. With Caley gone to Houston, it wouldn’t be surprising to see McVay promote Scheelhaase to the open tight ends coach and passing game coordinator role. That was a position that McVay held himself before becoming the offensive coordinator in Washington. From there, Scheelhaase will either get promoted to offensive coordinator in Los Angeles or elsewhere.

One thing though is certain. Every team is looking for the next Sean McVay to lead their football team. Coincidentally, the next McVay might already be on the Rams coaching staff.