Rams move on from Wade Phillips, expected to lose special teams coordinator John Fassel

Changes are coming to the Los Angeles Rams, and this is only just the beginning.

After a 9-7 season that ended without a postseason berth, the team has decided not to renew the contract of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. The Rams, who were 17th in defensive DVOA when they won the NFC Championship, finished 9th in 2019. After winning a Super Bowl as the Denver Broncos DC, Sean McVay brought on Wade to run his defense in 2017, and it’s been mostly a success. It’ll be interesting to see if the Rams intend to keep the 3-4 alignment or switch things around.

While not set in stone, someone also not returning to the team is longtime special teams coordinator John Fassel, who was hired by Jeff Fisher between 7-9 years ago. Fassel has overseen many excellent ST units, and Seattle Seahawks fans know all too well about the success of his trick punts and field goals over the years. Much like Phillips, Fassel’s contract was up at the end of this season but I’m sure they were keen on retaining his services. Instead, he’ll apparently be taking the same job under Mike McCarthy’s new Dallas Cowboys staff.

On a lesser note, the Rams fired running backs coach Skip Peete, which when said rapidly sounds like you’re incorrectly pronouncing a brand of peanut butter.

For all the high hopes of being a title contender again in 2019, this season was a comparative flop and they’ll enter their fancy new stadium in Inglewood with plenty of tweaks across the board, including in logo and uniforms.