Rams Chris Shula's Head Coaching Candidacy Takes Another Hit

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. During the NFL offseason, the league had a record 10 head coaching openings and for the first time in a long time, defensive coaches began to feel the love after the Sean McVay effect spurted an NFL renaissance of offensive-minded hires.

The problem is that only three of those hires were defensive coordinators and only Jesse Minter is the only coach who was hired that didn't have any head coaching experience. Minter, who was hired by the Baltimore Ravens, is also a former Ravens assistant.

It appears the only defensive coordinator hired to be a head coach without any head coaching experience or association with the franchise who has hired them since the offseason before the 2024 season is Seattle's Mike Macdonald and this offseason proved that despite Macdonald's success, NFL owners aren't ready to buck old trends.

Majority of defensive coordinators that get hired either played or coached for the organization that makes them their head man or they have head coaching experience.

This offseason, Jeff Hafley and Robert Saleh were the other defensive coaches hired. Hafley is the former Boston College head coach while Saleh is the former head coach of the New York Jets.

And for Shula, who already has to compete against former Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, and likely Raheem Morris as well, another coach appears to be ready for their second shot in the top chair.

Watch Out For Schwartz

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer believes former Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator and Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz will be the biggest defensive name during the next hiring cycle

While Breer believes Schwartz likely path is as an assistant in 2027, I'll say that whenever there's interest as a high-valued assistant, there's always a question of if they're head coaching material.

"Jim Schwartz is set up to be the belle of the defensive coaches’ ball in 2027," stated Breer. "The Raiders sniffed around on Schwartz and saw him as an ideal coordinator to sit opposite Klint Kubiak, given his five years of head coaching experience. Others certainly had interest."

"But in the end, with every defensive coordinator job spoken for, save for the one he just left, Schwartz is set to follow through on the idea of taking a year off and returning in 2027."

"It makes sense. And first and foremost, it makes sense because there’s a really good chance that the best defensive coordinator opening next year will be in the old home where Schwartz won a title eight years ago. Eagles DC Vic Fangio considered walking away after Philly won it all last year, almost did it this year, and that, of course, leaves him very much year-to-year going forward."

"So if Schwartz were to, say, take the Raiders’ job now, he’d first have to get out of his deal in Cleveland (which has a year and a team option for 2027 left on it), and he’d likely be doing a two- or three-year deal that could make it tough for him to go to Philly, if he so desired, after the 2026 season. Sitting out, on the other hand, would be much cleaner, and give him a better chance of landing what could be the best assistant-coach job of the ’27 market."

Jun 3, 2025; Woodland Hills, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula at press conference during organized team activities at Rams Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

"Ultimately, Schwartz’s goal is to become a head coach again. The best path to getting there is to coach another elite defense. The best way to make that happen is to get with the best talent possible, and Philly would be a good place to find that, with Schwartz’s standing relationships there, and in particular with GM Howie Roseman, a nice bonus."

"At 58, as an older defensive coach, good as he’s been, Schwartz will really have to thread the needle to get another shot at running his own show. So he has to be strategic in how he goes about it. And I’d say, based on what I know, he is being strategic with all this, even if emotion played a role in his initial decision to move on from the Browns."

A potentially tough blow to Shula.

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