Three Candidates to Replace Chris Shula If He Leaves Rams

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. On Friday, Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula received his first request for a head coaching interview and with the prospect of Shula moving on, here are three premier candidates to replace him.

Aubrey Pleasant

This is the obvious pick and the one that I support the most. When Raheem Morris left for the Atlanta Falcons head coaching job, the decision essentially came down to Chris Shula and Aubrey Pleasant, despite flirtations with a potential return for Brandon Staley.

While Shula got the nod, Pleasant has continued to grow as a coach and has been as responsible for the success of the defense as anyone on the coaching staff. He's a known, respected voice, he coordinates the Rams' secondary, and entering the season, the secondary was built to give the defensive line enough time to get to the quarterback, thus wouldn't it be beneficial to build on that foundation with someone who understands the system, while that mind would have the pen to design even more complex coverages, giving the line even more chances to get home. Plus under Pleasant, I believe the Rams will blitz more with their defensive backs.

Raheem Morris

Morris was recently fired by the Atlanta Falcons and honestly, while the decision is understandable, I truly feel that with a different offensive coordinator, Morris' third year in Atlanta would've yielded at least a division title because his defense was humming.

Morris was the Rams' defensive coordinator from 2021-2023, helping the team win Super Bowl LVI while conducting their defensive rebuild with Kobie Turner and Byron Young finishing their rookie years as the number one and number two leaders on the rookie sack leaderboard. While there are questions about Morris' ability to lead this Rams' squad, as Quentin Lake didn't break out until he left while Nate Landman looked like a fringe NFL linebacker in Atlanta, there's also a lot of reasons to believe that if given the job to only coordinate a defense instead of being a head coach, Morris will once again produce.

Brian Flores

This might be a shocker as I was fairly critical of his approach in Miami but time tends to wash away mistakes and missteps and to be honest, the further Flores separates himself from his New England past, the more his resume has started to build. Flores, who is currently a free agent coach, has only had one head coaching interview so far and from what I've interpreted, if he doesn't get the Raiders head coaching job, he won't get one at all and he hasn't even been requested to be interviewed by the Raiders...yet.

So why would Flores jump from Minnesota to Los Angeles? Flores wants to be a head coach and the best way to become one in the modern era is to be attached to Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, or Nick Sirianni. Shanahan and Sirianni don't have openings and the Rams would.

Why would McVay go for it? He might not but if he is interested, he can always call up Kevin O'Connell and ask what Flores has been like during his time up North because the on-field production speaks for itself.

Jan 4, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay looks at his play sheet during the second half against the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

It appears every Bill Belichick coach that drops the Patriot act suddenly becomes successful and happier as a person so this could be a franchise changing opportunity to have the brain trust of McVay and Flores under one roof, in an environment that promotes productivity and fun.

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