OFFICIAL 2025 Rams Defense Thread
- Thread starter Merlin
- Start date
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Alaskan Ram
Last Frontier Member
First guy I've put on ignore in the 12 years I've a been a member here. Then unignored him a few days later to give him a 2nd chance - - just in case I was the one being a dick. Nope. Shouldn't be allowed to troll here.
Dude is an AI bot developed by 9er fans. Diluting the board. And it Sucks. RoD is a phenomenal board where you can BS with great fans.
I personally, will not use the ignore again. It's my fault for getting triggered and feeding him. Mods can handle it when they've had enough.
Weren’t they (including McVay) calling Durant “Landshark” after the Shecocks game? I think that nickname may have already been taken before Landman got here.
What? Where are you getting this idea? I mean I know you for some odd reason don’t like McVay but why in THE hell would McVay have to take a pay cut in order to give Shula a raise? You think there’s some kind of salary cap on coaches? Have you ever even heard of this happening even once before?
It just seems really odd how you could have such a hard on for McVay when he’s the winningest coach in our history and has taken us to two Superbowls. Never mind we currently have the best record in the NFL and sit atop our division after slaughtering the whiners and beating the red hot Shecocks.
duanevalle22
Rookie
I certainly like McVay a whole lot better this season than the prior three. Actually this is by far his best coaching performance since becoming a head coach.... I just can't sit through his post game or any of his interviews, it gives me vertigo.
If it were up to me I would rather have Shula be the head coach and McVay become a Rams VP of "something or the other."
I lost a lot of respect for McVay in how he handled the Goff situation, and he apologized publicly and that made me feel a little better about him.
As for salary cap, I meant that jokingly that Kronke has some internal salary cap that he's willing to pay coaches, I didn't state the NFL did.
I just want the Rams to keep Shula because he has brought a certain persona / identity to this team that McVay doesn't bring...... But that doesn't mean McVay doesn't bring something to the party as well.
If we lose Shula it's really going to hurt the Rams next season.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #207
Haven't we gone down this road before?
They lost Wade Phillips, Zac Taylor, Kevin O'Connell, Brandon Staley, Raheem Morris and they have still remained one of the best teams in the NFL. I love Shula, his style, his production and his pedigree. But I don't think losing Shula is going to be any worse than any of those other assistant coaches. Why? Because McVay knows as much about defense as he does offense and he'll find the right guy to replace his best friend.
i dont think it will hurt to lose shula....
it's as if you don't think mcvay has any say in how the defense is going to run...
the mcvay/snead stamp is on every aspect of the rams...
and they are the best at getting the players that reflect mcvays control..
he only wants the best athlete with a high mental capacity...
you gotta be able to think, learn, AND react to be a ram...
i really love these guys' draft mentality...
it always leaves the draftniks on here scratching their heads until the results surface...
me included...
and yes... a new DC isn't, nor ever has been with mcvay, the end of the world... lmao
go rams
slo
it's as if you don't think mcvay has any say in how the defense is going to run...
the mcvay/snead stamp is on every aspect of the rams...
and they are the best at getting the players that reflect mcvays control..
he only wants the best athlete with a high mental capacity...
you gotta be able to think, learn, AND react to be a ram...
i really love these guys' draft mentality...
it always leaves the draftniks on here scratching their heads until the results surface...
me included...
and yes... a new DC isn't, nor ever has been with mcvay, the end of the world... lmao
go rams
slo
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #210
Yep. Coaching is a group lift. And the quality of your head coach can affect the quality of the coordinators and staff too, so it's a dynamic that gets graded as a whole on the field in terms of how well your players can apply the strategy.
I think what sets McVay apart is his feel for team culture. There is accountability in that locker room and you can't really put a price tag on that with today's athletes. Lot of these guys are not gonna be wired to take the coaching or correction on film day when they don't like the message. Or they won't be fully bought in. But with McVay's staff it's all-in every year.
And that same rule applies with the HC and GM dynamic. You have to be on the same page, your scouting working to get the coaches what they want, and then choosing the right guys to plug in. Rams do all those things and are always focusing on improvement. So there's lots of cred to go around to everyone. But at the center of it all is McVay. Before McVay came onboard the last time previously the Rams had a consistently good eye for talent was under Vermiel. Fisher and Snead did some good things, but they whiffed a lot too. McVay it went to that next level, where the roster has been consistently of a playoff quality. I think what we have built under him (and Les) is better than anything that has gone before it, in the history of this franchise.
The day McVay hangs 'em up I'm gonna be in mourning. Because I know what it means. I remember how fucking hard it is to win in this league.
Hope you are right on both counts, i.e. Shula won't go anywhere but if he does Pleasant will step in. He's done a great job with our DBs considering we have no Ramsey-type superstar back there.
duanevalle22
Rookie
I respectfully disagree
Even with the great defensive team we had during the SB Run, It didn't have that persona of a bunch of young cast offs pulling it together and becoming a great defensive unit like our current defensive group, and that all has to do with Shula. He's brought a unique mentality and identification to this defense.... almost similar to the "steel curtain" when you just feel the D is going to make something happen. Last time I felt this way about a Rams D is when we had Freddie Dryer, Jack Youngblood and Hacksaw Reynold were on the field together.
Who has the persona of a bunch of young cast offs? This defense was built through the draft, not by acquiring a bunch of cast offs. I agree Shula gets a lot of credit....as he should....but like the saying goes.....it not so much the X's and O's but the Jimmy and Joes. McVay will hire a good DC, you can bet on it. Like I said, we've been there before
Staley literally had the number one defense in every aspect for us in his one year as a D-coordinator. You're not hearing much about him nowadays.
I won't pretend that it will suck to lose Shula after this year, but our team's defense will survive and thrive under the coordinator after him - and that's all because it's McVay's mentality and identification of our entire team. Is he perfect? Absolutely not; no coach is perfect, but it would be so easy to do worse than McVay - and it's much harder to replace a brilliant head coaching mind than a brilliant defensive or offensive mind.
I'm sure Shula will be offered a HC job, but I hope he holds out for the right situation. Why leave his current gig for a HC gig with a poorly run team? He is young and will be a HC one day, I selfishly want that day to be later in the future than next season.
I didn't hear about it. I just made it up, but I wouldn't be surprised if I plagiarized by accident.
So McVay has had one losing season, missed the playoffs twice, taken us to two superbowls (one in his rookie year for Pete’s sake), won a Superbowl, has us in position for a pretty good playoff run and you think it’s the second year DC getting it done?
I’m with you on listening to his pressers and such but the guy is a phenomenal coach and you might just be the only one I’ve heard say otherwise.
Shula has done a great job so far but it’s a huge step to go from 2nd year coordinator to HC. Ask Staley. Hell. Even the fairly successful McVay offshoots can’t hold a candle to what McVay has been doing.
You also contend that Shula has done this with a nothing cast. Verse, Fiske, Turner, Young, are certainly not nothing. Fiske was 3rd in ROY voting. Turner was close his rookie year.
I would like him to stay as well. But given the choice between Shula and McVay, you may just be the only one that would pick Shula.
duanevalle22
Rookie
Those are all very good points!!
You're a big guy so I will assume you played football and I think you can understand this with coaches. There's a 1-2 punch certain coaches have and when "punch 1" is off "punch 2" takes the reins for the moment to get some things back on track and that's what I see with those two. It was the same type of coaching experience I had with Coach Elway and Coach Gilbert..... Same type of dynamic with McVay and Shula.
This team is young and very dynamic if by some miracle they can keep Stafford healthy this season and through the 2026 and 27, I think this team can win two or three trophies if we keep Shula and McVay paired.
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