As the Los Angeles Rams prepare for Super Bowl 56 on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, they are also dealing with an annual tradition of theirs: coaching turnover. Since Sean McVay became the head coach of the Rams in 2017, he has lost a coordinator every single year to either a head coaching opening, an offensive coordinator opening, or being fired. It started with Matt LaFleur leaving to join the Tennessee Titans in 2017 and then the Green Bay Packers in 2018. It continued with Zac Taylor becoming the head coach of the Bengals that same year, 2019 saw the firing of the believed Wade Phillips and 2020 was Brandon Staley's turn when he became the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

2021 is no different for the Rams, as offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell has been tabbed as the next head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. Once the Super Bowl is over, it will be O'Connell's task of coming up with a coaching staff. He likely doesn't want to ruffle any feathers in LA ahead of the big game, so as he is doing his early rounds of check-ins with former colleagues around the league, he will likely be calling their names first to schedule an interview. That's not to say that O'Connell won't be taking coaches from the Rams staff, just that he will likely wait until after the Super Bowl to conduct those interviews.

One coach that isn't with the Rams anymore that can already be contacted is former McVay assistant Aubrey Pleasant. This is Pleasant's first season with the Detroit Lions after spending the previous four years with the Rams. Pleasant also overlapped with O'Connell in Washington, so the two have a familiarity dating back at least seven years. Pleasant is being considered for the Vikings opening at defensive coordinator.

O'Connell is likely going to align himself with a trusted coordinator on both sides of the ball. On offense, O'Connell will likely need to have an experienced coordinator because he has never called plays in the NFL before. On defense, he needs to be able to hand it over to a capable coordinator the same way that McVay can delegate his defensive responsibilities and focus more on the offense. That is where Pleasant comes in, stay tuned for more info on this developing story.